The practice of production planners "planning in their heads" that was common just a few decades ago is now nearly impossible. The projects are far too comprehensive and involve too many details – and above all, they need to be continuously updated. Die and mold manufacturers of all sizes are now finding that software systems have become indispensable for process planning and control.

"Previously, a die maker knew his die down to the last detail, and knew how far along each part was," explains Ralf Hesener, Head of Die Engineering at Gedia Dingerkus. "Today the development of a die is organized very differently. The focus is on the individual part in a collaborative process chain." 

Whether internal or external, both global and detailed planning of projects in a die manufacturing company place very specific demands on a software environment. SAP, the ERP system used on the corporate level at Gedia, is unable to record and represent the processes specific to die manufacturing with the required level of detail. 
The project managers began searching for a solution that would allow them to plan and control the entire manufacturing process for their dies in detail – comprehensively, semi-automatically and with no breaks in media. 

"The ultimate goal is to implement the various customer requirements at high quality and on time – and on the single-part level," Hesener explains. "This requires accurate planning. However, no die manufacturing operation can be controlled using only SAP: That would be far too complex. We generated an extensive pool of internally developed and configured Excel tools to complement the SAP ERP system and to support us in this process, in conjunction with the Hydra MES system already being used in-house."
However, this system wasn’t functioning optimally. In particular, data consistency over the various interfaces between the different systems was a growing challenge. "We've put a lot of effort into our Excel solutions, including comparing the target times with the actual values," says Hesener. "But it never really worked right, and we often didn't have a description of the latest status.

In 2015, the project managers had already begun to search for a safe, practical, end-to-end solution that could cover the process completely in Gedia's die manufacturing operation. They needed a solution that would enable both overall and highly detailed planning of the entire manufacturing process for all dies and provide a precise target/actual comparison with the fewest possible manual inputs. 
"That solution also needed to communicate seamlessly and completely with SAP in both directions," Hesener emphasizes. "We were also looking for lot-controlled tracking of our parts. A system that could give us an up-to-date and precise overview of the status of a project at all times. And that could also tell us precisely where each part is right now."

Hesener's team systematically prepared a comprehensive review of existing solutions on the market. It included systems used in die and mold manufacturing and tailored to industry requirements in particular. The specialists conducted a detailed evaluation of a number of systems. The wheat was quickly separated from the chaff: The list of required criteria was clearly formulated, which allowed the specialists to objectively assess the potential candidates.
However, it was more by chance that Hesener and his crew came across another solution: "We use Catia for our design work, with Tebis implemented as our in-house CAM system,” the Head of Die Engineering explains. We happened to be at the Tebis Open House in Martinsried, Germany, in 2016. While we were there, we inadvertently found in ProLeiS a system that looked exactly like the solution we were looking for."

The project managers at Gedia decided on another route. "We wanted to do everything correctly from the very start," Hesener says. "We wanted the complete solution. Our goal was for everything to work smoothly when we flipped the switch. Including the connection to SAP As far as we know, we were the first company to implement the entire process chain in ProLeiS in a single step."
The path to this destination wasn’t without its setbacks and detours. For example, not all of the intended strategies matched the planned procedures. "Some corrections opened up a rat's nest of changes," Hesener recalls. "We were very thorough in planning the implementation, and we worked with the team from Tebis to include future developments in the considerations. Our goal was to have everything working at our "go live." And we achieved that.

The project managers brought in the employees at a very early stage. That was an smart move, because they freely contributed their knowledge and new ideas and provided lots of useful feedback that was included in our planning. This also allowed several teams to work on implementation in parallel, which was a great advantage. The participants also set up a test environment for communication between ProLeiS and SAP very early on. The work on the interfaces became extensive.

"Our needs grew along with the implementation," Hesener recalls. "We kept wanting more functions. For example, we wanted to be able to precisely analyze where we’re too late and where we’re losing time. Where is the idle time. What technologies create bottlenecks. After careful analysis and planning, we wanted to implement the system in the way that we believed to be the correct one for our needs. This didn't always jibe with what our partners at Tebis envisioned. But they didn't push their standard; rather, they implemented the requests and specifications we wanted. That made a very good impression on us." 

The result is now a lean structure in ProLeiS that works in hierarchies analogous to those in SAP. The die makers compile all project inquiries. Whether they involve a new die, a change, or repairs to dies and resources: for example, highly accurate hourly rates can be estimated in advance during the overall planning.

The new planning and control tool uses information that includes the version-numbered bills of materials it receives directly from Catia. Orders for the standard parts that Gedia procures primarily from manufacturer Tecnorm are automatically triggered and routed to SAP for execution. The standard parts are delivered complete with QR codes and are registered with assignment to the bill of materials. 

"In detailed planning, we implement productive planning based on standardized manufacturing processes," Hesener explains. "The Tebis specialists developed the templates for this on-site with our people, and they were already extremely advanced at a very early stage. The templates are logically linked with each other. We can realize extensively automated Job Manager creation by categorizing the individual parts."

ProLeiS very flexibly opens up new options. The processes and workflows in the projects are very easy to control, and changes are made based on the current status. Because ProLeiS has all of the data from the NC programming of setups, NC programs, tool lists, NC step information and NC documentation from the released CAD design data and bills of materials – and because the operations are assigned to the associated equipment, the BOM item and the planning process – it provides a simple and complete overview. It also enables flexible changes with the click of a mouse. This also allows for "what if" scenarios so that sequences can be optimized easily and accurately.

"Most employees pitched in enthusiastically from the start. Their feedback was instrumental in the success of the project," Hesener says. "The ProLeiS implementation brought with it a fair number of changes for individual employees." This started with the designers. "In the past, they all had their own style such as : for example, for preparing a bill of materials. This process is now standardized and requires accurate entries in the associated fields. We worked this out and developed it together, and it runs seamlessly.“

There were many areas where work had to be done to automate steps that were previously performed manually. "All the knowledge we gained from this has been standardized and integrated in the process," the Head of Die Engineering remembers. "We did a lot of cleanup work and completely reorganized a lot."

The employees have agreed that in the future, a "supply obligation" should apply: "Everyone is responsible for ensuring that the part they’ve processed is delivered to the next processing station," the production expert explains. "We no longer have our own internal logistics."

The planners wanted to renew their machines when ProLeiS was introduced. "Some of our machines are 20 years old, they hardly have any automation, and their tool magazines are relatively small," Hesener says in reviewing the current situation. "The machines are operated in three shifts with one operator each. But we’re already working with digital twins of the machines, which have been precisely remeasured. Much has already been set up to enable future automation."

Using the knowledge they’ve acquired from ProLeiS, the die manufacturers want to increase their automation this year. "At present, we’re still outsourcing 12,000 hours of machining capacity to external partners. We want to bring a large amount of this into our own production," the die specialist confirms. "We want to break out of the 1:1 ratio of human to machine. The goal is to achieve a higher throughput with four fully linked machines and significantly fewer on-site operators. The machines should be able to run around the clock, unattended whenever possible. We can then apply the operators' expertise to higher-value tasks.“

 
ProLeiS has also significantly changed other aspects of the way our work is done. The internal customer can now very quickly receive precise information on the status of a project. Throughput time is also shorter, not least because idle time was optimized. "We now make our purchases in a completely different way, on the basis of operating steps,” Hesener explains. "In the past we purchased everything at once, and the parts and materials often lay unused for months until needed. This is now completely different: We procure things when we need them. This reduces the capital tied up and saves space."