Lantek Link - December 2011

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Lantek Steelworks

and SDS/2 become technological partners

News, Product News, Trade Fairs and much more

DECEMBER 2011

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solutions

Lantek Steelworks and SDS/2 become technological partners Design Data discovers in Lantek a partner adequate for its expectations for the metallic structure market.

Lantek and Design Data, announce a collaboration agreement in the field of technological innovation that will allow them to reinforce their relationship and strengthen their position in the international steel structure market. By virtue of this partnership, both companies will work closely together to enhance interoperability between Lantek Steelworks and SDS/2 through the integration of DSTVs, XMLs and direct links.

The agreement also establishes a pathway for innovation while ensuring a seamless integration for customers of Lantek and Design Data.

The 2011 Interoperability Network (IN) — a development-driven forum that encourages interoperability between software developers — provided the framework for the partnership. Hosted by Design Data, the event brings together major players in the struc-

tural steel software industry, including Lantek. During IN, the potential for the two software companies to collaborate was evident; Design Data’s subsequent visit to Lantek’s headquarters in Miñano solidified the partnership.

“This initiative fits perfectly within the global program that Lantek has set up to foster and encourage open innovation, and with which we also hope to encourage collaboration with technological and innovative companies to develop and create cutting-edge IT solutions for the industry that adapt to their needs”, points out Alberto Martínez, General Director of Lantek.

“We are proud of counting on the interest, support and involvement of a great company like Design Data. The integration of both solutions allows us to create synergies and opens the door to a market with enormous potential”.

“We are enormously pleased to become technological partners of Lantek. I am convinced that this agreement will be

very beneficial both for the industry in general and for us in particular, as it gives us the opportunity to enrich our SDS/2 software with the remarkable solution that is Lantek Steelworks.

From the beginning we were surprised by the immense potential that it has to solve all the problems and challenges faced by a steel structure company, in addition to the need for effective and dynamic interconnection with our SDS/2 software”, states Damon Scaggs, President of Design Data.

Thus, with this technological partnership, Lantek once again shows its commitment to the development of effective, highly valuable, flexible, quality and sustainable solutions that allow the customer to increase their productivity and competitiveness. Similarly, it will also have the opportunity to approach new rapidly expanding markets and strengthen its position in others such as the US, Canada, South America and South Korea, countries where Design Data is an important player.

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solutions

By Mr Francisco Pérez.

“We are at a time of evolution for metal structures manufacturing companies.”

Mr Francisco Pérez. Sales Manager of Lantek.

In several aspects, the transformation in this business sector is taking place at a good rate.

On one hand, in the manufacturing environment we are evolving away from manual machines that are programmed by the operator, towards far more complex machines that encompass several operations, avoid intermediate handling and minimise the chance of error, machines that bore and cut in a single operation, machines that allow increasingly complex cuts to be automated, such as those required by the new, increasingly evolved design requirements. On the other hand, in the Technical Office environment is evolving by incorporating the latest 3D design technologies and by the automation of the programming of these machines, which up until now was done manually.

the latest 3D design technologies and by the automation of the programming of these machines, which up until now was done manually.

The next step in sight is the interactive merging of this Technical Office with the Workshop, with the Factory.

The duality that has always coexisted between the technical office and the workshop shall be overcome thanks to the capabilities provided by ERP tools that manage to combine and coordinate the design phase and production phase.

Up until now, the ERP solutions were limited to being recipients of data entered manually and to generate printed out information to once again be manually to each of the manufacturing centres. This duplicity in the integration of data, has been the main problem that arose during the implementation of these generic ERP solutions for the metal structure market, for example.

All this is taking us towards a more sophisticated and elaborate design and preparation stage for manufacturing launches, resulting in a reduction of the manufacturing process time, a better use of materials and a minimisation of errors in the production process with the consequent improvement in the productivity and profitability of the company.

It involves machines that bore and cut in a single operation, machines that allow for the automation of increasingly complex cuts, such as those required by the increasingly evolved design requirements.

On the other hand, in the Technical Office environment se are evolving by incorporating

It is here where a vertically integrated software solution specialised in metal structures, such as those of Lantek Steelworks, can be fully implemented. A software package that integrates and consolidates the entire production process, right from the design phase to the manufacturing phase, passing through preparing offers and the organisation of the workloads. A software solution that retrieves the designs from the Technical Office and is capable conveying these to each of the new machines.

Software that finally allows the entire production cycle to be a mouse click away.

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news Lantek closes its 2011 international trade fair calendar attending to 4 new events

Therefore, in the month of November and as the highlight of the year, Lantek has actively participated with its own exhibition stands in a total of four international trade fairs: MWCS 2011, in Shanghai (China), Aero Engineering 2011; held in Birmingham (United Kingdom), Fabtech 2011, which was held in Chicago (USA) and Tolexpo, in Paris (France).

Due to their great potential, these countries are key markets for Lantek, and are especially relevant in the United States and in China, which are considered as strategic markets for the company.

These events, in addition to 17 others that Lantek attended throughout 2011, highlight

the relevance of holding specialised trade fairs for the metal and machine-tool industries, insofar as they act as a launch platform for new products and for taking the pulse of the business, both from the technological as well as the innovation point of view.

These events have thus become a good showcase for Lantek to make known both its strategy in each one of the markets where these trade fairs were held, as well as the novelties that it had included in its portfolio of products and services, which were extremely well received by those attending. Moreover, these have allowed the company to create synergies and progress in the signing of cooperation agreements with other manufacturers, to detect new business opportuni-

entire materials and supplies inventory, a fundamental and critical aspect in these types of companies. Within its framework of functionalities, Lantek Steelworks stands out as it offers integration with TEKLA STRUCTURES, which is currently the market’s most advanced 3D (BIM) structural design software and one of the most used.

ties and to strengthen its relationships with both partners and clients.

Lantek has presented several solutions. services and value proposals at these events, although it was Lantek Steelworks that got the greatest attention and raised the most expectations, as this involves a comprehensive application for the metal structures market and the iron and steel industry.

Now, with Lantek Steelworks this segment can automate, manage and coordinate all of the company’s production processes in an easy, agile and flexible manner. In being very powerful and highly scaleable, this solution allows the client to integrate all its processes and at the same time provide reliable and completely up-to-date information for decision-making.

In addition to being a modular application, it is suited for managing building works and metal structures, also managing the programming of all the machines, regardless of their manufacturer.

This global nature and its broad functionality regarding design, calculation, dimensioning of structural elements, etc. make it a tool with unique characteristics in the market which, in turn, allows you to manage the

This integration is based on the importing of the Tekla project in its entirety, in other words, its whole structure, components, operations and geometries are managed as a single project within the ERP of Lantek Steelworks. Integration with other 3D structural design tools is planned for the future.

On the other hand, among the many advantages offered by this new Lantek solution, it is particularly important to highlight the benefits relating to profitability and the optimisation of production and management processes, which allow it to generate and add value to the companies that use it, increasing their entrepreneurial excellence.

Similarly, Lantek Steelworks has proven that it is the ideal tool so that the metallic structure construction industry can attain greater levels of productivity and efficiency.

Other Lantek proposals that have been presented at these trade fairs and that have attracted great interest among the visitors were Lantek Manager and Lantek Wos, for efficient production management, as well as the option for managing all the machines with the CAD/CAM solution for both the design and nesting, and also the subsequent generation of the CNCs.

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services

Training courses Lantek arranges training courses so that end users, as well as our partners, learn how easy the software is to work with, and how to take maximum advantage of its many features.

Moreover, Lantek arranges custom courses at our facilities or the customer’s, in order to meet the training requirements of our partners and/or customers.

NEXT TRAINING COURSE • CUTTING

January 26-27, 2012- Miñano (Álava) March 29-30, 2012 - Miñano (Álava)

• PUNCHING

February 23-24, 2012- Miñano (Álava) April 19-20, 2012 - Miñano (Álava) If you need more information about our training course, please, send us an email:

• marketing@lanteksms.com

Maintenance and Support There are different kinds of maintenance and support contracts so that that each customer can choose the one that best meets the specific equirements of their company.

ADVANTAGES OF THIS SERVICE: • • • • •

Training discounts.

Preferred telephone hot-line service.

Annual software update.

Direct Service Pack updates throughout the year.

Discounts for customer site visits by our technicians.

• Private access to the Customer website, where thefollowing information is available: • Knowledge Base. An extensive database tha provides the answers to our customers’ FAQs. • The latest upgrades or technical documents for the software.

• Access to customer enquiries or dealings.

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innovation

By Raúl Alvarado

Shampoo and the user experience There are many factors that affect the design of a product or service. When what we are designing is software conceived to be used directly by people -as is the case of Lantek applicationsthe user experience plays a decisive role.

Moreover, the user experience (which comes from the English expression User EXperience and is usually abbreviated as UX) becomes the best possible design guide.

The user experience is defined as the set of factors that determine the successful interaction of the user with the software.

It thus involves a traditional interdisciplinary approach, which considers areas such as the software (interaction, accessibility, user friendliness, graphic design, the data architecture), hardware, ergonomics, and the rational behaviour of the user (cognitive psychology). As a sign of identity, the user experience adds to the aforementioned approach, an aspect that until recently had been ignored: the emotional behaviour of the user.

Let us now turn to the interesting example that Ricardo Acosta comments on in his blog, an example that stars shampoo. Yes dear reader, you read that right.

And this is because the user experience does not exclusively pertain to the software or the intrinsically technological artefacts that can be applied to the design of any product or service of an interactive nature, i.e. any product or service involving people.

When we use a shampoo we may think that the only important thing is for it to “leave our hair clean, soft and sweetsmelling” and that consequently all the features that do not favour this result are pointless. However, any shampoo comes with other equally necessary features and that may be superfluous from a merely rational point of view but that are essential from the emotional point of view and that are instinctively appreciated by the user. The foam is the most noteworthy of these other features.

Theory denotes that in the user experience, the user’s prior expectations and experiences are involved, determining his/her expectations and future experiences. As with the first soaps, which contained impurities that caused foam, foam and cleanliness have had an obvious association for humanity for a very long time. If a shampoo were not to foam, we would think that in reality it did not perform its function, that it did not clean.

Approximately 15% of the shampoo’s components (basically water and detergent) actually clean; the other components ensure that we perceive that the product cleans. The texture, density and colour are other attributes that have no strictly hygienic value. Even so, they are essential for the consumer. It would of course, be technically possible to manufacture a product that does not generate any manner of foam. However, the pro-

Unfortunately this is not a trivial task. The user’s emotional behaviour is the outcome of three factors: the user’s pre-associated feelings towards the product, the emotions invoked by the product during the interaction and the user’s mood.

duct would have to overcome, among others, social, cultural, individual, contextual barriers and those of the product itself. In other words, the possibility of success of this dehumanised shampoo would necessarily pass through the reeducation of the people who used it.

Now that the relevance of the emotional behaviour of the user is understood, we are in a better position than ever to build a software solution to meet the user’s expectations.

The feelings are attributed by the user to prior experiences with the application or similar applications. Hence, the importance of an effective, efficient and easy to learn interaction.

It is proven that setting the software to personal tastes and caring for its aesthetics are means to convey feelings.

Quite the opposite, one’s mood is not associated with software. It is a previous condition of the user and as such we cannot control it… or can we?.

Trick of the month

- Lantek Integra - Lantek Manager

HOW TO APPLY A NEW FILTER TO PREVIOUSLY FILTERED DATA After applying a filter in a window using any of the existing methods (searches, quick filter, advanced filter), it is possible to set that filter, so that other filters can continue to be applied onto it.

To do so, we merely have to use the “Set filter” option, which is located in the toolbar of the window, which will be enabled whenever we have a filter applied. This process can be performed as many times as necessary.

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exhibitions Every year, Lantek banks with its presence at the most relevant national and international trade fairs.

Toolex

OCTOBER 05/07 Sosnowiec (POLAND)

Aero Engineering

FABTECH

TOLEXPO

Metal Working and CNC Machine Tool Show

NOVEMBER 09/10 Birmingham (UK)

NOVEMBER 15/18 Paris (FRANCE)

NOVEMBER 14/17 Chicago, IL (USA)

NOVEMBER 01/05 Shanghai (CHINA)

We list some of the trade fairs in the first half of 2012

IMTEX Forming 2012

MACH 2012

FABTECH 2012

BIEMH 2012

JANUARY 19/24

APRIL 16/20

MAY 02/04

MAY 28 / JUNE 02

BANGALORE – INDIA

BIRMINGHAM – UK

MEXICO D.F. – MEXICO

BILBAO - SPAIN

Do you want an invitation for these trade shows?

Study Cases If you want your company to appear in our success stories section, please fill out this form.

Suggestions All questions, comments or suggestions, you can write to marketing@lanteksms.com