GKT Group Invests in Digital Future
At the beginning of 2021, the GKT Group from Brakel in Germany geared up for the future by expanding its production technology and implementing a new software system.
For even greater flexibility, automation and further growth, the company invested in a double edging and drilling machine, a highly automated float glass cutting system with a breakout system and an insulated glass line.
Almost in parallel, the company switched to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) and production planning software (PPS) from HEGLA-HANIC that drives the machines and processing lines according to need. It optimises individual production steps, automates them in precise synchronisation with the cycle, and monitors and transparently maps them. For the newly implemented ERP functionality, all processes – such as order entry, work preparation, purchasing, warehouse management and logistics – are centrally pooled and directly accessible.
Since the production processes and commercial tasks were migrated to the new system, the individual work areas are networked even more closely.
For example, all orders are first recorded in the ERP and then broken down into their processing steps by the system.
Warehouse inventories are checked and, if required, a purchase requisition is generated that can be digitally exchanged with one or several suppliers.
The PPS takes factors such as delivery dates, machine capacity, inventory and material utilisation into consideration while optimally compiling orders and then forwards them to the relevant production stations as a work order.
“For our production, this means a high level of automation and daisy-chaining the individual processing steps with short cycle times and a degree of workflow perfection that is impossible to achieve without the corresponding software support,” explained Dr. Jan Schäpers, the managing director of HEGLA-HANIC.
The new software also contributes other benefits when it comes to handling complex and precisely timed workflows, and above all, work preparation.
Production progress can be tracked and machine capacity can be viewed at any time, and if priorities change, a machine malfunctions or an urgent order comes in, managers can react immediately.
“We were able to boost the level of digitalisation and automation in Production. The status of production orders can be viewed at almost any workstation, which dramatically accelerates our processes and ensures that orders are completed on schedule and with the quality required,” said GKT Managing Director Peter Egg.
Image: The PPS takes delivery dates, machine capacity and inventory into consideration while optimally compiling orders and forwards them to the relevant production stations as work orders. Here in Cutting Daniel Bonsch can access the status of each individual process, prioritise workflows and monitor progress in real time.