Tool management systems are more importance which companies focus primarily on data transparency and process efficiency. They want to find out where exactly costs arise, so that they can reduce them in the long term.
MEGA Tech proud to present Tool management Cockpit by Walter , the Tool management Cockpit was implemented in all of Walter’s tool management projects as standard -with no additional costs for the customer, but a lot of added value.
The aim is to achieve complete transparency in tool management processes through cooperation with customers. For this purpose, Walter is the central point of contact across the entire process chain, from the provision of the complete tools all the way through to recycling. This creates a cycle which guarantees optimum productivity. Unlike the methods which have been most popular until now, the Tool Management Cockpit shows not only the purchasing costs, but also the resulting production costs – i.e. the costs per produced part (CPP). This allows potential for optimisation to be identified as soon as possible. It also shows whether it is more cost-effective to optimise a machining process or to redesign it completely.
Designed for customer processes
Production businesses generally have a company-wide ERP system which determines how the processes must be designed. This focuses on production as this is where the company makes its money. And this is precisely where Walter’s Tool Management Cockpit comes in. It adapts to the customer’s processes – not the other way around. The software concentrates mainly on physical warehouse management and the supply chain. Customers can hand over all tasks relating to production, such as tool supply and the optimisation of production processes. Walter takes on complete responsibility for providing the right number of the right tools at the right place – right down to each individual part.
The Walter Tool Management Cockpit functions as a control centre and communicates with all relevant systems which supply corresponding data. The data required for this can come from any other systems and the corresponding interfaces are provided. For example, vending systems for tool provision can be integrated in order to “track” tools – i.e. record who has taken a tool out, when this happened and what it was used for. However, this data is not particularly insightful on its own, as it cannot be used to determine exactly which parts were produced using the tool in question. The use of a Tool·ID enables the tools to be assigned to a specific machining operation or multiple operations, for example. The Cockpit software then takes on the task of analysing and processing the data further.
Easy to use
The user interface is intuitive and simple in its design. It has been designed with familiar Office programs such as Excel and PowerPoint in mind and can easily be adapted to meet users’ individual needs. The data sets are easy to input and edit. The Tool Management Cockpit then produces statistics regarding stock, consumption and current part costs. It displays recommended reorder points and provides information about the average daily consumption. This can be used to determine the right time to place the next order as well as the optimum storage buffer size. An overview shows the pending orders and already delivered orders for each item. At the touch of a button, the Cockpit also shows which tools are currently being used to produce which parts. Another display shows the costs that have been incurred over a selected period of time.
The complete CPP (cost per part) calculations are particularly interesting, as they are key to cost-effectiveness. They also provide information about revision statuses and cost reductions. The Cockpit also enables CPP reporting in real time, including the proportionate costs for each tool with a target-actual comparison of tool costs. An order overview informs the user about the status of orders for each individual supplier, down to the individual items. Another highlight of the Cockpit is the ability to plan and control optimization by displaying potential alternatives and the savings they represent.
The requirement for this is that the tools are uniquely identifiable. The manner in which this is done is immaterial – as the records can be made manually or using a Tool ID, RFID or any similar identification technology. Processes in the production environment can be precisely reproduced, displayed and depicted on this basis. Processes that are not running optimally are thus detected incredibly quickly and countermeasures can be introduced. Walter makes corresponding suggestions, compares different solutions and, after consultation with the customer, takes care of implementation – every service from a single provider.
Article by: Walter (Thailand) Co., Ltd. & MEGA Tech