As a design and manufacturing specialist for complex light metal products, Heggemann focuses on two target groups: On the one hand, the company supplies the automotive industry in the premium segment, for example Bugatti or Porsche, for which prototype and pre-series components, chassis components and tank systems are developed and manufactured; on the other hand, the aerospace industry with a complete supply chain for structural and interior components, aircraft landing gear and engine components is the second target group.

At its site in the immediate vicinity of Paderborn Airport, the supplier employs around 220 people who manufacture high-tech products on a production and assembly area of over 15,000 m². The extensive production technologies offered by Heggemann include all machining processes (CNC turning and milling), forming and joining technologies (tube and profile bending, pressing, laser cutting, welding, soldering, bonding, hybrid joining), surface and heat treatment as well as destructive and non-destructive quality testing - including the associated documentation.

Illuminating the supply chain

A high level of complexity is reflected in production: every month, employees carry out around 22,000 different work steps in a complex, nested sequence to manufacture around 1,500 different products. In the past, this meant a large number of different processes and systems in production. In the view of Niels Kreutzträger, Operations Manager at Heggemann, too many for modern, lean and flexible production in the sense of Industry 4.0.

In order to gain an insight into this thicket, the project team first examined all processes and systems as part of a supply chain analysis, from quotation preparation at ERP level to project management, production planning and production, right through to shipping. Sales and production components are closely interlinked in the company, as Kreutzträger reports: "Due to the complexity of the product, coordination with production is already required during the quotation process in order to verify delivery dates. Once the order has been placed, responsibility is transferred to project management, which neatly prepares all target times and work sequences for production. Especially when you have such a wide range of processes and interfaces, you have to keep interdepartmental communication transparent so that there are no losses. This is where we came in with the introduction of a standardized project management process to ensure adherence to deadlines and high product quality." An analysis of the existing software systems in production revealed the following weaknesses: the existing detailed production planning using the Proalpha ERP system used at Heggemann was too rigid.

"Individual work processes could not be moved flexibly using drag & drop and were anonymous, i.e. hardly traceable for the user. It was also not possible to visualize the effect of shifts on competing orders. It was not possible to simulate different planning scenarios at all," reports the plant manager, "our production planning always worked with a backlog, and future planning was never realistic due to missing or old operating data." The rigid PDC solution (production data acquisition) that had been used up to that point was mapped stand-alone without networking with the ERP via a secondary system. In short, production offered plenty of potential for optimization.

Heggemann planned to automate the transfer of information and speed up processes by introducing a powerful detailed planning system including ERP communication. The introduction of a new PDA system was to provide the detailed planning with MES master data from production seamlessly and in real time. The project team evaluated various MES solutions from different manufacturers: the solution from the company's own ERP provider seemed too rigid and inflexible to the project team. "After detailed consideration of all leading providers, it quickly became clear to us internally that Proxia was the MES solution that best met our requirements in terms of performance, modern software technologies, expandability and future-proofing in a complete system from a single source."

Implementation of BDE

The new Proxia production data acquisition system was particularly impressive in terms of its ease of use: "The software interface of the PDA solution is as simple as an ATM. Every worker can get to grips with it without any major training and can make their entries quickly and accurately without having to interrupt their work."

Kreutzträger and his team have equipped all 75 production resources (machines, systems and assembly workstations) with tablet PCs for manual touch input of operating data in order to record all the operating data and thus obtain reliable MES master data from production. "We deliberately opted for tablet PCs, firstly because of their mobility and secondly because of their flexibility."

The implementation of BDE also laid the important foundation for lean production and the continuous improvement process, as the plant manager sums up: "The MES master data is an essential factor for Industry 4.0. The transparency created by the seamless data collection alone allows us to see where the bottlenecks and optimization potential lie in our production."

Interface for ERP data

In a further step, the new detailed planning solution from Proxia was implemented in the internal supply chain process. The control center is supplied with operating data from the PDA software from the store floor level and with all order, project and deadline data from Proalpha from the ERP level. To ensure smooth data transfer between Proalpha and the control station, a special software interface was required to transfer the individual ERP data and ensure error-free data feedback from the control station. This was implemented by the external IT specialist Take-IT, which had already been involved in other software projects at Heggemann, in close coordination with all partners involved in the project. A key factor for Niels Kreutzträger: "The data transfer between ERP and detailed planning has been completely smooth and stable since day one."

First rough, then detailed planning

In practice, the now optimized internal supply chain process looks like this: As soon as a customer places the order, work preparation creates a production order in the ERP with correspondingly valid target times based on the real MES master data from production. First, a best-case rough planning with unlimited capacities is carried out in the ERP. In the subsequent real-case planning with the Proxia control station, central detailed planning takes place with regard to all available, limiting production resources (such as machines, materials and employees) and the actual capacity utilization. With the subsequent feedback of the detailed planning to the ERP system and the data comparison, a deviation/bottleneck analysis is carried out.

Niels Kreutzträger: "The introduction of MES has enabled us to go through a cleansing process. By recording MES master data, we were able to streamline workflows and create the necessary transparency."

© Proxia Software

With the help of the simulation in the Proxia control station, those responsible can run through different planning scenarios and carry out optimum production planning under different premises. In the new control center, simulations can be easily carried out, compared and saved in all conceivable variants. For example, it is possible to block capacities or competencies for sales and production management. Once the detailed planning has been optimally defined according to the corresponding parameters, the data is transferred to the PDA software of the tablet PCs in production and the processing of the orders begins. Feedback on the order progress in the process is sent directly from the PDA software to the ERP via detailed planning.

Continuous improvement process

In addition, Niels Kreutzträger's team began introducing a production journal across all departments in the entire plant with the systematic recording of all planning-relevant, decentralized information, thereby creating greater efficiency in communication and a reliable basis for deriving measures for a CIP (Continuous Improvement Process). Every day, the department heads receive an overview in the production journal so that they can track the times exactly. The analysis of planned/actual times on a daily basis ensures continuous improvement of the master data and therefore the quality of planning. Another crucial point for Kreutzträger: "Now we can use the Proxia software and the new system to continuously identify, develop and implement optimization potential throughout production."

The new MES not only plays a role in the internal workflow; the tool is also used indirectly when Heggemann relies on external suppliers and service providers - for example for surface coating or heat treatment. External suppliers are integrated into the supply chain via a special B2B portal that is linked to the ERP system. In this portal, the supplier has the option of entering order confirmations and making changes, for example. In the event of order changes, suppliers have the option of making modifications via the B2B portal. The ERP system reports the information back to the MES so that external suppliers can be integrated directly into the supply chain. Customers can also be proactively informed of any changes to delivery dates.

The introduction of the Proxia solution has resulted in far-reaching changes to the company's organization: production decisions are now made centrally in one place. All relevant information can also be accessed there. The MES master data required for this is provided by the tool in a bundled form. It also guarantees that project managers and scheduling are provided with the relevant information in good time.

Author: Michael Naumann is a freelance technical journalist from Munich.