Businesses require effective management and oversight of various operational inputs from sales to pricing, orders outstanding, and tracking work-in-progress on the shop floor, to ensure the production and delivery of product – on time and within budget – for the end-customer.

Manufacturing can be a complex process. Timeous quoting, changing market conditions, scheduling, bills of material, quality control and tracking are just some of the elements that make the need for the right software that controls the entire flow an absolute necessity.

Imagine having a management system at your disposal that could track and monitor every aspect of your business while you are either away on business internationally or travelling locally. Or you are sitting in your office and you need to make some important decisions but your Sales Director is out, your Production Manager is busy and your Administration Manager is off sick and all of them need to give you input. Very frustrating because you could lose out to your opposition because you cannot make an informed decision. How you wish that in this modern electronic age that you had a tool to use that would take into account all the facts you need? Why don’t my expensive software programmes being used in the different departments of my business, that I pay big subscription fees for, talk to each other?

Manufacturing can be a complex process. Timeous quoting, changing market conditions, scheduling, bills of material, quality control and tracking are just some of the elements that make the need for the right software that controls the entire flow an absolute necessity

If you look back at the history of how software programmes have been integrated into the manufacturing aspect of your business, it wasn’t so long ago that machinists programmed CNC lathes and mills by hand. Some still do. Or alternatively getting the most productive and economical way of cutting a sheet or plate of material was a hit and miss affair.

Most manufacturers today would agree that investment in a modern CAD/CAM system or nesting programme, one driven by knowledgeable, well-trained programmers, brings numerous benefits to the shop floor. Today’s CAD/CAM and nesting software is not only expected to construct the very best toolpaths and machining and cutting plans, but must also be interoperable with software from partner companies and other third-party vendors.

Toolpath simulation and optimisation, machine tool monitoring, electronic work instructions, offline presetting and tool management systems, cloud-based tooling libraries, inline probing and metrology, manufacturing execution systems, companies everywhere have either implemented or are in the process of implementing these and other manufacturing systems, raising countless improvement opportunities for those willing to tackle such transformative projects.

The challenge, then, is how to get these disparate software systems to speak to one another. Most shops now hire a software developer or two to augment their team of programmers. Once these systems are talking, what information should they be made to share? Which will serve as the master or system of record? And what happens when one or more of them requires a routine update?

Challenges
Other challenges here are many reasons why companies operate different makes of cutting and bending machines and have a combination of other technologies such as laser, plasma and waterjet at their disposal.

These choices provide a lot of flexibility for manufacturers enabling them to have the best mix of technologies and capabilities to suit their customers’ demands, meet production, delivery and cost targets as well as keeping capital expenditure within budget.

“As a proof-of-concept we have had clients applying the full eTrack solutions suite – including quotations, sales orders, planning and drawing, production, purchasing, inventory and dispatch, as well as financial reporting – since June 2020. Others have been involved in quotation, job carding and invoicing applications over the same period.”

The complications are that CNC programming is different for each machine, operating methods, maintenance and spare parts are all specific to each of the machines and users will require extra training to get the best efficiencies.

The world of the typical metal fabricator/job-shopper is a highly complex one: A complicated ‘soup’ or mixture of hectic production schedules, timing, stock management, customers’ orders and more. In this environment, several different operational inputs need to happen in order for mission-critical decisions to be made and production promises to be kept: Finance, sales, production, logistics, HR, IT (CAD/CAM software, CRM/ERP). Management needs to know the status of everything from sales to pricing, orders outstanding, and how to track work-in-progress on the shop floor in real-time.

Further complications are that each company also has its different systems and the way to operate. However, the bottom line is that to have all this information readily available is an expensive exercise. There are solutions out there but very few can afford them.

Tekenso launches eTrack
“In our research and experience of selling capital equipment and consumables we found that business owners in the engineering manufacturing arena generally had no clue about how efficient or cost effective their business is. Sure they could have been making a profit over the years but we say how much more could they be making if they had a production management system that easily kept their fingers on the pulse. And through the device that is like an appendage to our body these days – an app on a cell phone,” said Andrew Poole of First Cut, a company well-known in the sheetmetal, laser cutting, bending and fabrication industries and a partner in the internationally-based company Tekenso.

“When we were the distributors for Bystronic laser and bending products in South Africa we encountered far too many frustrated business owners. We concentrated on supplying them with quality equipment and making sure that the support services to this equipment would make their operations efficient and as cost effective as possible. But what we found is that they have built great businesses, have great equipment and systems in their manufacturing environment and have surrounded themselves with great employees but none of the machines, departments, people or software programmes talk to each other or have interoperability.”

Completely modular and scalable, eTrack may function as a standalone application for a total manufacturing solution or as an integrated option to run alongside current ERP, CAD or CRM systems

“We estimate that as much as 80% of businesses would fall into this category. The other 20% are big corporates that have the financial means to utilise the high-end software that is available. We want to cater for the 80% and make it affordable for them.”

“There are other initiatives that are being developed but they only cater for certain aspects in a manufacturing business. For example, umati (universal machine technology interface) is a community of the machine building industries and their customers for the promotion and adoption of open, standardised interfaces based on OPC UA. umati facilitates the data exchange between machines, components and installations and their integration into customer and user-specific IT ecosystems, easily, seamlessly and securely. It is an initiative for networked production and getting your machines and devices to talk to each other.”

“We take it further. Tekenso is an international technology company that has developed a complete production management system, developed to radically simplify and optimise the production of sheet metal – and yet is also easily adaptable to other fabrication or manufacturing environments.”

“Falling under the Tekenso ‘umbrella’, our flagship product eTrack, which comprises integrated manufacturing software for the sheet metal and other manufacturing sectors. As such, it provides an integrated manufacturing and production management platform, delivered via a powerful software solution for future-proofed fabrication.”

Keeping track to keep promises
“Within the highly complex and dynamic fabrication and manufacturing world, businesses require effective management and oversight of various operational inputs from sales to pricing, orders outstanding, and tracking work-in-progress on the shop floor, to ensure the production and delivery of product – on time and within budget – for the end-customer.”

Ind News cover 4
Caption: eTrack is a complete management system that incorporates finance, sales, production, logistics, HR and IT (CAD/CAM/nesting software, CRM/ERP)

“Through our eTrack methodology we will give our customers a next level ability to track and to control the flow of jobs through the business such that they can give world class communication to their customers. Our ability to enable our customers to see into the “black box” is designed to significantly reduce the stress in the business.”

Remove complexity and improve simplicity
“eTrack removes complexity from any manufacturing environment by creating order and the ability to track any items throughout the organisation.”

Synergistic integration
“The great benefit of the new software is that you can gather and easily access operational information from various financial, production, draughting, CRM (customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) sources into a synergistic, logical and holistic source for clear visibility and oversight of your manufacturing/fabrication information.”

Cloud-based – on-demand and online availability
“You can save money on IT hardware because it is web-based and cloud-hosted. eTrack is available on any device suited to the application. In line with contemporary ‘on-demand’ software trends, eTrack meets the data integration demands of the 4th and 5th Industrial Revolutions (‘IR4’ and ‘IR5’) and the Internet of Things (IoT).”

Agile efficiency for process optimisation
“Additionally, you can get fast, accurate fabrication and manufacturing operational intelligence, which is flexible and interoperable enough to make those mission-critical decisions for optimised fabrication processes.”

Modular scalability
“Completely modular and scalable, eTrack may function as a standalone application for a total manufacturing solution or as an integrated option to run alongside current ERP, CAD or CRM systems, thus minimising disruption and implementation. Fill any gap – use or adapt what you need, when you need to.”

User-friendly
“You can capture data quickly, and clearly visualise information related to the task at hand with the intuitive, logical and user-friendly interface throughout all the modules, which provides a constant flow of information throughout the entire application.

Increase in visibility and speed in processing and orders
“As a proof-of-concept we have had clients applying the full eTrack solutions suite – including quotations, sales orders, planning and drawing, production, purchasing, inventory and dispatch, as well as financial reporting – since June 2020. Others have been involved in quotation, job carding and invoicing applications over the same period.”

“Tekenso is an experienced technology company with an emphasis on developing complete production management systems. With our integrated consulting and manufacturing software solution eTrack, we enable fabricators and manufacturers to have complete access, visible control and tracking of information for more productive fabrication or manufacturing via a mobile, real-time user interface.”

“We are very, very excited about this development because companies can be empowered with future-proofed fabrication and manufacturing. They can meet their production deadlines and keep their promises to customers in a far more efficient and cost-effective way and get the best efficiencies out of their businesses. We already have sales partners locally and internationally and are currently taking the product to market and have plans to expand our reach to the rest of the world.”

For further details contact Andrew Poole on 082 903 4135 or visit www.tekenso.com