The family-run, medium-sized company Haver & Boecker, headquartered in Oelde, Westphalia, combines two divisions - wire weaving and machine manufacturing - under one roof - with great success. "With a team of qualified engineers and specialists, we now develop and manufacture around 700 packaging machines for the basic materials industry every year. We also offer innovative complete solutions from processing technology to storage and packaging through to shipping technology," says Andreas Bauer, Production Manager at Maschinenfabrik. When it comes to production optimization, Maschinenfabrik has been relying on the MES solution 'cronetwork' from IT service provider and MES supplier Industrie Informatik since 2002. As part of projects such as "Integrative information systems and modern order control with ERP and MES", a wide range of different modules have been introduced over time. PDC, MDC, detailed planning and personnel time are just some of them, and further measures are already being planned.

However, it all started with a control station in 1998, when the company opted for the graphic-electronic control station FI-2 from IDS Scheer. When the 'state-of-the-art product' was taken over by Industrie Informatik in 2000 and further developed under the name cronetwork Detailed Scheduling, Haver & Boecker did not have to think twice. "We were looking for continuity. Industrie Informatik's clear positioning as a provider of professional MES solutions for discrete manufacturing convinced us," says Bauer. The continuous growth and fast response times made the call for a new solution even louder. "We wanted to capture the data where it was generated. We were looking for a way to improve transparency in order to be aware of current order situations at all times," says the Production Manager. The introduction of a high-performance MES was a logical step in order to be able to manufacture our wide range of services economically and with optimum consideration of existing capacities in the long term," reports Bauer.

Important requirements that the new system had to meet were a fast response to process changes, early indications of deviations from the plan and the ability to configure and adapt to the respective work task. The production planners in the company needed to be shown the current production situation as transparently as possible - and ideally online. "Even back then, Cronetwork was user-friendly and intuitive," says Bauer, explaining the decision in favor of the MES system from Industrie Informatik. Another important step from 2011 was the gradual preparation for the upcoming introduction of SAP. The previous client-server environment was converted to a web-based solution and both production data and personnel time recording were now carried out via touch PCs in all production areas.

In harmony with SAP

Since the launch of SAP at the turn of the year 2013/2014, all production employees have been managed and administered using 'cronetwork PZE'. Together with modules for production data acquisition (PDA) and detailed planning, order control is now carried out after approval via a certified interface from SAP to the MES. The evaluated order data is reported directly back to SAP Controlling (CO).

One of the packaging systems manufactured by Haver & Boecker: The Integra FFS Edition specializes in filling in tubular film.

© Haver & Boecker

"Our most important goal during the implementation was to prepare the MES modules PDC and PZE so that employee notifications and order data could be integrated into the SAP system as quickly as possible. This made it possible to report employee bookings and order data to our new ERP system without errors from the very first day after the go-live," says Andreas Bauer. Order data can now be transferred from SAP production planning (PP) to the MES. After scheduling the orders in the planning board, the detailed plan dates are returned to SAP. The time frame is specified there and the MES uses a defined planning strategy to optimize the order within this period and reports deviations at an early stage. Feedback is sent to SAP PP (order confirmations) and SAP CO (overhead cost reports).

The MES solution now supports Haver & Boecker's day-to-day production in a variety of ways, including in conjunction with SAP, explains Bauer: "The responsible foremen have an up-to-date overview of all the necessary data. All production data is recorded in one system. The production planner receives early notification of any deviations from the plan. In addition, rush orders, sequence changes and adjustments can be carried out flexibly. Today, we are so far advanced that all deviations - both in the operating data and in personnel time - are already reconciled by the first of the month. The processing of error logs at the end of the month has also been drastically reduced."

MES in all areas of the company

In general, the PZE, BDE and detailed planning modules are used in all areas of production. "We only record machine data in the machining area, although we do not yet evaluate this in detail. In total, more than 300 employees and trainees in production now use cronetwork. Transparency in production data and personnel time recording as well as in detailed planning are important for us. There is significantly less material in circulation and the orders remain in flow," says Bauer. In addition, there is the simple 'staff absence planning' and the monthly creation of ready-to-pay data with transfer via interface to the Infoniqa payroll program. "There is no need for a duplicate system here, as we only add cronetwork-specific data."

In the area of data visualization, the info control station provides authorized employees with graphically prepared planning results. Workstation monitors provide an up-to-date view of production at all times.

In summary, the following innovations led to production optimization for Haver & Boecker:

■ Unique, holistic data acquisition,
■ Transparency of the production process (online),
■ Flexibility in production control,
■ Fast, transparent reaction to process changes
■ and early notification of deviations from plan.

Looking to the future

Today, the Haver & Boecker machine factory uses a comprehensive MES for all employees. The interfaces between SAP and MES function smoothly. As far as the use of cronetwork and the cooperation with Industrie Informatik is concerned, Haver & Boecker has benefited greatly from the SAP-certified interface and the experience gained in various production areas with different solution approaches. Haver & Boecker is planning further optimizations with the MES provider: "The operational BI tool PIDO is certainly a topic that we want to tackle in the near future in order to achieve even better key figures and even more transparency in the individual production areas," explains Andreas Bauer.

Author: Tino M. Böhler is a freelance journalist in Dresden.