Change in ERP and Update of the MES Solution for Seamless Production Monitoring

“The Aviation Industry has highly specific needs and is evolving rapidly. Our production includes manual labor, therefore, the organization of the workforce is essential. In order to identify workshop loads and human resources needs, we need to be able to process firm orders, monitor the traceability of materials and individuals, and carry out detailed quality inspections (self-inspections, statistical analyses, etc.). All these operations are performed using precise indicators. That is why we implemented an MES solution more than 5 years ago.

In 2016, as part of a continuous improvement process and to develop our activity, we needed to change ERP. This new tool is the backbone of our company, therefore of our production. The WOs (Work Orders) are generated directly in the ERP and subsequently automatically distributed to our operators. All production operations are then entered in our MES solution and updated in the ERP. Thus, everyone can follow the production progress. However, the connection between our new ERP and the old version of our MES CIMAG-Production solution was not optimal. It was therefore important to reconsider our MES tool.”

Advantages

• A very simple interconnection between the ERP and the MES
• A more ergonomic and up to date interface
• Facilitated time management

Quickly Noticed Advantages

“The update was quickly operational (about 3-4 months) and covered 90% of our needs. We subsequently requested specific adjustments and developments. Again, the Alpha3i teams were very responsive and available. A technician even regularly came on site to assist us. All our requests have been satisfied!

Our solution is now more ergonomic, and visual. We have more indicators regarding our production: return rate, percentage of production time, time allocation on a machine, etc. In addition, our operators can more quickly and efficiently report issues of production due to unplanned events directly on the machine (breakdowns, lack of raw material, etc.). Each operator has a personal view of their activity and production monitoring (WO progress, return rate, scrap rate, etc.). Everyone knows what they’re supposed to do. It allows us to make our production more reliable, anticipate activity peaks, and optimize resource management.”

Production Management, but not Only…

“We are working with Alpha-3i for production management as well as our HR management. We are also equipped with the CIMAG-Attendance solution for our French site. It allows us to build productivity indicators (for example, manufactured part ratio/hours worked), enter leave requests directly into the software, and manage overtime.

Going forward, we want to integrate production scheduling into our ERP or MES solution. Currently, we manage it via an SQL database, an “in-house” developed tool, but this is no longer compatible with our production management. I know we can count on Alpha-3i to support us at this level as well.”