Success Story
At OPW: ERP, PLM/DMS and CAD perfectly integrated OPW GmbH & Co. KG Oberndorfer Präzisions Werk GmbH & Co. KG (OPW) was founded in 1951 and can look back on over 60 years of experience in the production of branded products across the whole field of dimensional measurement technology. In recent years OPW has shifted its focus more towards metrological problem solving with the development, design and production of special purpose gauges, measuring instruments and semi-automatic SPC measuring stations through to automated metrology. The success of this full service provider based in southern Germany is based upon their highly qualified, experienced employees, a vertical manufacturing range of approximately 98%, achievable
tolerances of less than 0.001 mm and continual investment in modern machinery.
The Challenge of Project-Based Work Find don’t search, a knowledge database, precisely defined processes, extensive access to data in one single database, maximum transparency and security by integrating processes, applications, data and documents: “These ideas are considered top priorities not just with classical CAD users but also with nearly every company in a project-driven environment,” says Uwe Hildebrandt, CEO of OPW Oberndorfer Präzisions Werk GmbH & Co. KG. “However, in reality we see redundant data processing,
Innovative Data Bridge between Design and Product Management increased risk of error, time and cost intensive searching for data, insufficient transparency and inadequate process security.”
“With ISSOS PRO and keytech PLM & DMS – the prefect integration of ERP, PLM/DMS and CAD – we are able to configure all our company processes more effectively. From the first customer enquiry right to the final acceptance report.” Uwe Hildebrandt CEO
ISSOS PRO and keytech PLM & DMS: Perfectly Integrated
Frank Schlupp, CEO of keytech Süd GmbH: “Integrating a PDM (product data management) solution with the business processes of your ERP system is becoming more and more important: Data is only processed once and is automatically forwarded which saves time and avoids errors – the data remains up-to-date and available throughout the company.” APS delta CEO Jürgen Peter explains, “The innovative data bridge between design and product management provided by ISSOS PRO and keytech PLM & DMS gives the user some valuable advantages: Work processes become more effective, faster, more transparent and more secure.” OPW was also faced with the challenge of integrating their current stand-alone solutions from ERP/PPS (ISSOS PRO), 3D-CAD (SolidWorks) and their drawing management tool (MaxxDB) in order to “achieve total data transparency, from the first customer enquiry right to the final acceptance report in one database,” according to Uwe Hildebrandt.
Advantages to the User This integration creates a more continuous workflow from the existing CAD system to the PLM/DMS into the ERP/PPS solution and OPW is one step further on their way to building a more goal and results oriented future: For example, mass data can be searched and found using class characteristics.
The bill of materials for an OPW project can have as many as 500 positions each with relatively large BOMs themselves. The production planning department or the buying department can access these bills of material from the design department in real time. You can access technical drawings directly in ISSOS, where it is guaranteed that production is always working with current data and documents. Master item data can easily be transferred between keytech and ISSOS in both directions. Validation checks on the interface alert the design department to any incomplete or flawed information.
Implementing into the entire Organization By linking the two systems keytech and ISSOS PRO, both of which fit easily into the company structure, you can see daily savings in resources and costs. keytech serves as the central building block by managing all data such as emails, CAD/CAM data relating to items, documents and folders, and ISSOS PRO is integrated into keytech as an add-on with its dynamic class characteristics for items and its access to catalogs from ISSOS PRO. With 10 employees searching for data for 15 minutes a day, it can be projected that at least 150 minutes a day, or 50 hours a month can be saved. The re-
OPW GmbH & Co. KG Neckarstrasse 53 D-78727 Oberndorf Germany Tel.: +49 7423-86950 email: info@opw.de www.opw.de
sult: OPW can save about € 3,570 a month just by being able to find required data more quickly. Savings made due to a reduction in the need to interrupt production, simplified creation of documents including print orders, even in multiple languages, or transferring bills of materials with setting options could add up to savings of about € 7,475 a month. Over the course of a year this company in Oberndorf could save as much a € 75,000.
Further Development – The Next Milestones There are more projects already in the planning stages in order for the company to work even more efficiently. By the end of 2014 they hope to integrate the CAQ system that automatically files measuring protocols, the CAM systems PEPS and SolidCAM and to expand the human resources department, the vehicle fleet or the accounting department.
keytech Software GmbH Suderwichstraße 68 45665 Recklinghausen Germany Tel.: +49 2361 985 80 0 Fax: +49 2361 985 80 23 email: info@keytech.de www.keytech.de/en