Software drives benefits

While most manufacturers scrutinise factors such as production cycle times and raw material lead times, a considerable number fail to subject everyday administrative tasks to the same level of examination. Estimates, quotations, sales orders, purchases, scheduling, invoicing, job costing, tool management, finished goods and material stocks are all production overheads that cost money and eat into profits. According to Planit, which promotes Jobshop production planning and control software, ERP/MRP systems are viewed by many companies as a strategic weapon to streamline and automate business processes, so as to improve efficiencies. Benefits start when a company has around 15 employees. However, there is no upper limit because systems like Jobshop are fully scalable. Thus there is no restriction on manufacturing equipment, such as the number of machine tools, which can managed. Planit says that typical benefits for Jobshop users include a 2-5 per cent increase in sales, thanks to improved customer service; and a 3-5 per cent decrease in raw material costs, through better visibility and less panic-buying. Inventory should be reduced by an impressive 30 per cent, which helps companies achieve world-class stock turns – 18 per annum for an engineering company; and overhead costs should be reduced by around 5 per cent through improved productivity. One company that has recently adopted Jobshop is Market Bosworth, Leics-based JJ Churchill, a precision engineering company that has around 5,000 live part numbers. Currently seven Jobshop terminals on the shopfloor are used to collect data with a swipe or bar code pen, including job start, job end, and quantities of good and bad parts. This is uploaded to Jobshop by the production controller several times a day to keep the management team up to date. Although the company had 20 Jobshop floating licences, recent business growth required more, so it has increased the number to 40 in total. "Jobshop is about the flow and control of both information and material," says logistics manager Mark Atkinson. "It allows us to get the right part machined at the right time. If it's a schedule or a spot order, we are confident that Jobshop can handle it." According to PSL Datatrack, one positive approach to the current economic conditions is to fortify your business now and prepare it for the fightback. Geoff Gartland, product development manager at PSL Datatrack, says: "It's easier to implement a system when employees have time to commit." One company deciding to invest in improved business administration using DataTrack is sub-contract specialist Staub Engineering of Chippenham. According to managing director Roger Day, DataTrack is a product that has been developed in collaboration with its market and that shows in its user interface. Image: Staub Engineering benefits from PSL DataTrack's claimed unique Status Board "Our business would be much harder without DataTrack," he says. "It keeps us lean and gives me the time to plan and look after customers. The system offers traceability, flagging if a certificate of conformity is required, so we can collaborate more effectively with our clients." Indeed, DataTrack deals with traceability at all levels, as well as the demands that customers place on sub-contractors. Job records are linked and documentation is automated. PSL configures the system for customers and suppliers so that operatives do not have to remember everything or refer to clients' fees. TRADITIONAL NOT GOOD ENOUGH Another sub-contract machining company to invest in production control software is Thetford-based Warren Services, where traditional manual production and business processes were no longer suitable. After evaluating a variety of software providers, Warren Services selected Redthorn, with a seven-user system duly installed with three data capture touch screens. Users underwent 10 days of training before the system went live within three months. "We are very pleased with the functionality of the system," says office manager Ian Nixon. "The benefits that Redthorn has provided include improved stock control, improved job costing and better monitoring of job profitability. Overall, we find the Redthorn system to be fast, accurate, flexible, user-friendly and reliable." Elsewhere, Guildford-based BRP Composites, a manufacturer of components for Formula One racing teams, has installed ProgressPlus, supplied by Berkeley Myles. BRP claims its adoption has enabled it to maintain and secure new contracts, while operations manager Peter McKenzie says that the system has allowed the company to pass stringent quality audits undertaken by potential and existing clients. "One of the main reasons for implementing the system is that Formula One teams require full traceability throughout the lifecycle of product," he says. "The new system has improved the robustness of our processes and reporting mechanisms significantly, including invoicing and purchasing orders, bringing considerable efficiency savings across the business, and giving our clients confidence that their components will meet stringent design specifications and be delivered on time." At railway sector specialist Brecknell Willis of Chard, Somerset, NMS production scheduling software from Seiki Systems is being used to great effect. Both the company's train-borne equipment department and the electrification department rely on the company's machine shop for component parts, and it is Seiki Systems' NMS and finite capacity scheduler modules that allow production and material controller Steve Crimp to control the flow of parts through the machine shop. From his desk, via the Seiki Systems software, he can access live data from the shopfloor. Terminals within the workshop allow machine operators to log on and off of jobs, with up to 1,800 jobs loaded on the system at any one time. "Although currently there are just 900 jobs, you still would not want to do this any other way," says Mr Crimp. Image: Brecknell Willis of Chard, Somerset, uses NMS production scheduling software from Seiki Systems The software provides graphical views of each machine loading and enables the operator to view a queue of the work due on the machine. Mr Crimp can manipulate the queue from his office, so rush orders can be dropped in and projects on longer delivery deadlines can be pushed back. Full visibility on screen of each machine on the shopfloor means that he simply rolls the mouse over the machine image to see exactly which job it is working on. Any machine problems are compensated for by reducing hours available, in which case the software simply cascades the orders forward and readjusts the schedule. One of the main benefits the Seiki Systems software has provided, with its ability to schedule work accurately, is to eliminate the need to break down jobs to run urgent ones. Prior to installing the software, everything at Brecknell Willis was managed manually on Excel spreadsheets with paper 'work-to' lists. Box item Free software; no catch Match-IT is about to launch a new version of its production control software product aimed specifically at cash-strapped small precision engineers. The software is absolutely free and available now to download from www.mtf7.co.uk. The supporting documentation and help desk is not yet fully ready, but there is enough to get going – again all free. According to Match-IT, there is no catch: just download and go. First published in Machinery, May 2009