The one-off manufacturer Hoffmann Maschinen- und Apparatebau is currently digitizing its business processes. The order management system ams.erp, which Hoffmann has been using company-wide since 2009, serves as the central data hub. The current expansion is focused on three areas of application: The mobile connection of service technicians to the ERP system, the development of a cloud solution for the maintenance of delivered machines and the introduction of a paperless document flow in cooling system production.

The service technicians have been using the ams.mobile solution for mobile communication with the head office since the fourth quarter of 2017. They use a tablet to access all the system and order information provided by the ERP system for their current assignments. The mobile clients are also used to report back the travel and working times incurred as well as the removal of spare parts. Including the activity reports, which the customer countersigns on the tablet display on site. Thanks to online communication, completed assignments can be booked in and invoiced without delay. The ERP system also updates the technical order documentation for the serviced products.

Preventive maintenance

Alongside the rollout of mobile data collection, another expansion project is on the service department's agenda. "The aim is to expand our range of preventive maintenance services," explains Elke Latton, Head of Operational Organization at Hoffmann Maschinen- und Apparatebau. "To this end, we are developing analysis systems with which we can permanently monitor the delivered systems and detect critical operating conditions as they arise. In this way, we gain a much larger time window to organize unscheduled service appointments as cost-effectively as possible."

To this end, Hoffmann is developing a cloud-based analysis and control solution. The starting point for this is new software for reading machine data, which can be installed on all delivered systems. The application records service-relevant measurement data from the machines and transfers it to a secure cloud application via dedicated lines. Data is accessed directly and exclusively on the system to be monitored. The machine user's IT network therefore remains completely unaffected.

The ERP system will continue to read the cloud data provided in this way in order to analyze it for anomalies. In addition to the operating data, ams also includes information on the asset master data, the contract content and the performance characteristics of the monitored machines in the analysis. This means that all service-related master and transaction data is available on a single platform that can be analyzed automatically.

Paperless production

In addition to the service area, Hoffmann has also pushed ahead with digitalization in production. Here, the machine manufacturer is building on a collaboration with the TU Braunschweig. Their aim is to comprehensively optimize Hoffmann's production organization. This includes converting refrigeration system production to the principle of flow production. In order to fully exploit the potential benefits of flow production, the workers will be freed from administrative tasks as far as possible. As is customary in many places in make-to-order production, production documents, work process cards and drawings were previously printed out and stored at the individual workstations.

Not even the smallest piece of paper anywhere: At Hoffmann Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, all bookings are made in ams.erp and therefore purely on the system side and in real time.

Instead, the process now begins with an RFID code on each radiator housing that passes through the production line, which a worker reads using a hand scanner. The ERP system then starts the production order and displays the associated parts list, drawing and operation information on monitors attached to the workstations on the production line. The worker identifies himself on the monitors using an RFID code and stamps his current orders, after which a process-related pick-by-light system is activated to accompany the production flow step by step. Diodes light up on the material shelves at the workstations to indicate the storage location of the materials currently being assembled. This automatically guides the worker to the material to be installed next. He confirms the removal by pressing a button on the material box. The pick-by-light system automatically sends the removal data recorded in this way to the order management system, which debits the associated cost unit in real time. At the same time, ams.erp uses the booking to report the completion of the operation that preceded the material removal. In addition, it is transparent whether all operations have actually been completed when a station is changed.

All ERP bookings are therefore made purely on the system side and in real time. Nowhere in the process is there more paper. "In addition to corresponding quality gains, we expect this to further accelerate our production processes," says Elke Latton. ee

HMI 2018, Hall 7, Stand E26