Control is the goal

At a time when manufacturing is emerging from some of the worst trading conditions anyone can remember, production control software developers are reporting strong gains in sales figures. Berkeley Myles Solutions (0141 440 1987), for example, which produces Progress Plus, says it has added nine more sites in the first quarter of this year, on top of eight in the last quarter of 2011, and is projecting record turnover of £1.15 million for the end of its financial year in June. The growth spurt has allowed the company to increase staff numbers to 13, including a new IT graduate, and it is planning to begin an apprenticeship programme to develop a flow of skill sets for the future. POSITIVE CUSTOMERS "Customers in manufacturing are extremely positive about market conditions and are revisiting systems across the board, so that they will be in a position to manage orders more effectively, as they materialise," says Tony MacBride, director at Berkeley Myles. "There is a sense that SME manufacturers have seen the end of the recession within the past couple of years and are now making every effort to control their businesses better, with the fundamental aim of gaining and retaining a competitive edge." Berkeley Myles has made significant inroads among smaller manufacturers typically employing less than 200 people – its software is now installed at more than 230 such companies across the UK. Its proposition is that these enterprises have exactly the same need to streamline, automate and integrate the management and control of their production and administrative processes as larger companies, for whom this level of software is more usually designed. Progress Plus tracks open work orders and collects information about production. This data – such as production duration, quantity of material used, actual man-hours worked and the number of discards – is then used to track, manage and develop every aspect of the manufacturing process. Berkeley Myles says that the latest version of Progress Plus incorporates a radical redesign, and a system that is cleaner, more functional and easier to install and use. One satisfied customer in 2012 is Hymid of Brixham, Devon, which specialises in twin-shot plastic injection moulding for medical, specialist instrument and measurement products. The company has pursued a programme of continuous improvement and this led to a commercial decision to purchase Progress Plus and adopt it as the operating platform for the business, migrating all historical systems and processes to take advantage of its functionality."We have already seen a return on our investment, in terms of informed management data, increased operating margins, and efficiencies. However, Progress Plus has also challenged the culture within the business and acted as a catalyst for positive change management," says Sarah Dransfield, director. "It has given us one central store of company information, accurate product costings, more efficient reporting, reduced document errors, increased accountability and upskilling in IT of employees." Hymid now uses Progress Plus for customer enquiries, sales and works orders, and printing of finished product labels, despatch notes, certificates of conformity, invoice raising, purchase orders and purchase order invoice matching, transfer of financial transactions to SAGE, and inventory items with full bill of materials and routings. Another Devon subcontract manufacturer benefiting from the recent adoption of production control software is Barnstaple-based ND Precision Products, a specialist in mould tools, press tools, jigs and fixtures. Prior to investment, the company relied upon manual administration methods, including, for example, using emails for raising quotations. This approach would typically result in problems, such as missed payments, under costing and, consequently, losses on some jobs. Since installing PSL DataTrack from Prospec Systems (08456 345931), ND Precision has not only been able to reduce lead times, but also to accurately cost all the manufacturing processes involved for even the most complex bespoke contracts. Even with a large number of prototype jobs, PSL DataTrack allows the company to predict and confirm its tooling requirements and then manage effectively the complex nature of these engineered solutions. Today, ND Precision Products uses a number of PSL DataTrack modules, including 'Sales Order Processing', for the creation and administration of quotations, works orders, components stocks and deliveries, as well as 'Works Capacity Planning' and 'Purchase Order Processing'. The latest 2012 version of DataTrack (www.machinery.co.uk/40980) is designed to meet needs for the management of complex supply chains at subcontractors. It includes financial trading controls and consignment tracking, as well as other new facilities, such as electronic document management and automatic email generation, allowing the subcontractor to tailor services to individual customer requirements. ANNIVERSARY SOFTWARE Seiki Systems (01273 680411) is also offering a 2012 version of its NMS production management solution (www.machinery.co.uk/39884) – the 20th anniversary edition of the company's core shop floor production management system module (NMS is pictured) According to Seiki, manufacturing intelligence is about having visibility and control of what's happening on the shopfloor. It is also about recognising the shopfloor as a critical element in the business planning process, demanding closer integration to top floor business intelligence systems. As a result, new features of NMS 2012 include: an enhanced user interface; written in the latest .NET development framework; a 'databased' data collection module; interactive and configurable live status and machine utilisation; and a new OEE and analysis module. NMS provides historical analysis of the productivity of each resource, as well as live progress and times of operations for individual work orders. It allows internal stakeholders to set and monitor KPIs, make informed investment decisions and take action to resolve downtime issues that could be costing money. This level of visibility can lead to measurable business improvements and supports lean initiatives by reducing the time spent searching for reasons behind lost productivity – instead working to resolve/prevent identified causes. Almost all new functionality in the current release of Javelin manufacturing software for production control and management has been requested by users. "From time to time, we're able to take certain customer requests and customise their system. Then, if it's deemed appropriate for more widespread use, we can take that functionality and put it in the next release as standard. Previous releases have mainly had a split of around 60:40 between functionality, we have instigated ourselves, and from users. But, in the 2012 edition, almost all of it has come from customers," says general manager Paul Holmes. And Javelin, which is part of Vero UK (01233 506100), is certainly not resting on its laurels. Company developers are already working on improved functionality for the next release, while there are also plans for an online training programme, which is expected to be available before the end of spring this year. Last but not least, the latest version of 'TRICORN:Production' from Tricorn Systems (01252 821889) now allows the attachment of file links to any entity within the system, such as quotes, parts, materials and works orders, for example. The system will also allow the inheritance of links when an item with a file attached is used on another entity. For instance, if a scanned material certificate of conformity is attached to a batch of material, wherever that material is used the certificate will be available to view, print or email. Tricorn says it now has over 200 customers in the UK. First published in machinery, May 2012