Lantek Link - July 2018

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Smart Quoting

Latest News, Product Innovations, Fairs and much more

JULY 2018

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index

LANTEK LINK is the magazine of Lantek Sheet Metal Solutions

COVER Anonymous

LANTEK MARKETING TEAM Patricia Ruiz de Sabando Diana Sánchez Editors Juan José Colás Chief Sales and Marketing Officer

03

EDITORIAL

04

MAIN TOPIC

06

SOLUTIONS

INTERVIEWS

Adjust your quoting to the demand

08

Juan Ignacio Castro Rodríguez, Head of Military Aircraft Digital Implementation, Airbus Military Aircraft

10

TECHNOLOGIES

11

INNOVATION

12

NEWS

PARTNERS

Fagor Automation integrates Lantek Inside in its numerical control

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AIC Steel emphasizes the benefits of Lantek’s solutions

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SERVICES

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FACTS

Planning the best quote possible...

SUBSCRIPTIONS Marketing Department marketing@lanteksms.com

Lantek Workshop Radar, quick location in the workshop

Lantek Services Lantek Hint: Lantek Flex3d Tubes

Winning quotes: The best offer on the market

Quoting in the cloud

Fairs

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editorial

I

Planning the best quote possible...

s this process sufficiently agile, fast, flexible, and to what extent should it be standardized, or should it be custom-made?

Quoting is not easy and at Lantek we are very aware of this. Many factors need to be taken into account, and not just costs, hours of work, required resources and the profit you want to obtain. Factors which, in many cases, are difficult to quantify need to be considered if this is to be done accurately and quickly.

Not only is quoting important from a financial aspect, but also in the way it is presented as this can determine the success or failure of the business.

On many occasions the quote or financial offer is the company’s letter of introduction. Typically, being part of the first contact with a customer, this may be the only chance a company has to make a lasting impression and cannot afford to fail.

A quote presents the price and conveys knowledge and expertise while making the value proposition more or less attractive for prospects.

To give the quote added value, the offer must demonstrate how we can help the customer and respond to their needs.

At Lantek we have developed a solution to the difficult task of quoting experienced by our customers.

By improving our users’ ability to analyze and calculate manufacturing costs we have ensured their ability to stay ahead of their competition while offering the best quotes on the market.

Do you want to know more?

Juan José Colás Chief Sales and Marketing Officer

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main topic

Nuria Amescoa Software Engineer

Winning quotes: The best offer on the market It is very common among manufacturing subcontractors to prepare multiple quotes for a single production. This makes the process expensive and complicated.

Currently, one of the most common processes used in quoting is carrying out a complete simulation, including nesting, which poses several drawbacks. First, is the length of time it takes to carry out a complete nesting with the desired configuration of the machine, as well as choosing the material to be used, and other auxiliary configurations. In addition, a lot of time is spent cleaning part geometries before being able to include them in a quote.

Customers need an agile and simple quoting process, or they may get impatient which can lead to canceled quotes, or to their incorrect preparation.

Moreover, this form of quoting requires the salesperson preparing the quote to have technical skills to perform the nesting. If the salesperson doesn’t have these skills, a technical engineer has to take over the quoting process, which makes it even more complicated and expensive.

Finally, the customer needs a quoting system that takes into account all the key factors. The consistency of the pricing is also questionable, since the final price will depend on certain rather subjective parameters that are not always representative of the manufacturing process that will actually take place. All these circumstances can result in a subjective cost estimate.

Using the geometry file of the part as a starting point, Lantek offers a solution that provides a consistent framework for calculating each part. If we add historical knowledge of material

optimization and required machining time this can provide a consistent cost calculation independent of the rest of quoted parts. In turn, this will result in a greater approximation of what the actual manufacturing will involve without the need for a lengthy process such as carrying out nesting.

In the same way, the system facilitates a series of parameterizations related to the costs of all resources, as well as an advanced rates system, which allows an ABC analysis of customers and types of services.

These quoting tools will speed up the process and will enable a salesperson to carry out the quoting process regardless of their technical skills. Moreover, it will ensure the price calculation is consistent because the same criteria will always be used, and it will also eliminate the need for a CAD/CAM license for quoting. The result is a cost estimate that is as objective as possible.

From the moment the customer asks for a quote they must send the part files for validation before the subcontractor can provide a comprehensive quote. When we look at the time required for each task to ensure an accurate quote we see it takes a tremendous amount of time.

Also, once the quote is accepted by the customer, following up the order through phones calls or by e-mail can be very complicated.

To solve these problems, Lantek offers a new solution for subcontractors. This enables them to offer a quoting service to their customers through an e-commerce application. In this way, the entire

quote request process is carried out online, from the uploading of files for the parts to be quoted, followed by the material specification, the quantity and the processes to be applied, as well as choice of shipping method and invoicing information.

The end quote is sent to the customer in a short period of time and the user of the application can then accept or reject the quote with a single click.

Lantek offers the subcontractor a new tool that allows them to offer quotation services through an e-commerce application

Finally, once the quote is accepted, the user will be able to consult the status of the order online and will be able to access all the associated information, as well as the invoices generated.

This system saves many steps and a lot of time in the communication between the customer and the subcontractor, simplifying the quoting process and offering the customer feedback and follow-up for all accepted quotes.

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solutions

Jesús Martínez Director of Global Project Office

Adjust your quoting to the demand

The competitiveness of our quotes in a world as demanding and global as today’s is a critical success factor. It can be the difference between the customer choosing our option or not. Being able to choose which quotes we want to prioritize and win and which are of little interest, is what will contribute to ensure the profitability and survival of our company in the long term.

For this reason, when designing a quoting model it is essential that we choose the right approach in the calculation of these quotes, taking into account what our specific characteristics as a business are and what kind of experts we have at our disposal. Based on this premise, we will be

able to choose the right software so we can win the quotes that best suit our activity.

If our plant produces metal parts with little variation for the same customers or the same parts we can be much more predictable when quoting.

We will want to base the calculation of the cost of the part on the simulation of the nesting and machining that will be used in production. This option takes up more calculation time and more system resources, but in predictable and repetitive environments we can afford to do it this way since the order that we will execute in production will most likely be the same or very similar to the one we quote for.

However, in highly variable, flexible, very competitive environments with lots of different suppliers that are not exclusively available to us, in which it is difficult to predict how the quoted parts will eventually be produced, we need to approach the quote calculation in an agile way, based on previous experience which allows us to keep modifying our quotes as we start to see where our advantages lie.

In this type of environment, a calculation based on experience of use and consumption patterns extracted from real production data is much more realistic, efficient in the consumption of resources and is obtained at the speed required to ensure we are in the customer’s inbox before anyone else. Based on the experience gained from previous operations, we can accurately calculate an efficient configuration of material, without undermining the profit margin and the fulfilment of other orders.

A specialized quoting system allows you to establish models of an integrated online store that complements these functions and to have a wider scope of offers

Choosing one calculation mechanism or the other is essential when deciding on a quoting system and can be the key to ensuring quotes are accepted by our customers.

For any of these forms of calculation, we must take into account all the logistical aspects associated with our production processes that can cause additional costs.

It would also be good to have a system of rates associated to each customer or type of customer

that considers the differential treatment we want to provide based on the relationship we have with them.

Once the approach to the calculation of the quote has been chosen and the quote generation system has been put into operation, the next essential element in the success of this process is the configuration of the team that performs the calculations and prepares the quotes.

Traditionally, the sales forces of metal companies looking to convert quotes to win orders are usually comprised of mixed technical and sales roles.

The technical side (receiving or designing the part, deleting the drawing or preparing it for use in the CAM system, nesting, refining the nesting, launching associated orders, etc.) requires a technical profile with engineering skills. The sales side (calculation of cost and price, preparation and presentation of the quote, negotiation and closing of the order, etc.) requires a sales profile with good prospecting and negotiation skills.

Finding, training and retaining professionals who encompass both profiles is very laborious and difficult. A replacement process can ruin months of hard work on the customer portfolio.

Having a quoting system adapted to our characteristics allows us to specialize when it comes to our employees and have technical experts who are responsible exclusively for the technical side and salespersons who work solely on the quoting side. This reduces the training needs in each case and facilitates the recruitment of suitable experts. It would even be possible to geographically separate the two functions, or group them as appropriate. This greater flexibility results in less effort in getting new employees up and running.

When you have a specialized quoting system, you can even automate certain processes, customizing the software to follow the calculation model, or having an online store integrated with this system that complements these functions, providing quote generation 24/7, expanding the scope of your sales effort.

Lantek provides experts in software system configuration and implementation that have created a service for generating quotes that are as dynamic and efficient as possible. This system ensures that we maintain and strengthen our competitive advantages and that we will have a greater chance of winning orders for customers.

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interviews

Juan Ignacio Castro Rodríguez Head of Military Aircraft Digital Implementation, Airbus Military Aircraft

The digital transformation of Airbus Juan Ignacio Castro, a technology enthusiast with more than a decade of experience in aeronautical manufacturing, has been leading the digital transformation at Airbus’ Military Aircraft division. He has made it clear that the digital transformation implies an effort on everyone’s part: the company, the employees, and the suppliers. In order to adapt and stay competitive in the market, “It is important for the entire value chain to develop innovative products and services,” says Castro.

Elena Hita, Journalist.

What does digital transformation mean to Airbus?

Airbus started the digital transformation process in order to meet the needs of customers. It was they who took us down this path by demanding customized orders with short delivery targets, which required us to speed up deliveries. To achieve this requires an overall view of all the processes (design, development, sales, services etc.) and connecting all the data generated during the associated operations, from beginning to end.

In other words, an end-to-end solution.

This situation led us to digitalize ourselves. To change the way we manufacture, to use different technologies that make us more disruptive (digital platform, data analytics, digital twins, collaborative robots, drones, augmented reality glasses etc.), to use the data we use in production to carry out virtual tests, to offer new services, new business models (predictive maintenance). At the same time, we changed our relationship with customers and changed the way we work.

In short, with digitalization we can improve our production, shorten production and development times, generate new services and new business models associated with those services.

In Industry 4.0, the diversity of professional profiles is necessary How do you generate value from the data?

Based on data analytics, our engineers work by combining our own data with that of the customer.

This generates value by then allowing us to do things such as suggesting the most efficient non-

scheduled actions to maintenance teams. For example, in our sales division, we have reduced the time that an aircraft is grounded at airports that are not the airline’s base of operations by 30%.

Data Analytics, which is one of our key focuses, also serves to reduce rework during manufacturing.

Through these tools, we can identify patterns of non conformity and find the most appropriate solutions immediately. There are examples that show a reduction in rework of up to 20% and this allows us to produce faster.

Data Analytics also helps us to be more efficient in storage. We capture this data using what is known as the Internet of Things (IoT), using sensors in our factories and aircraft.

Finally, “how” we do things is also important.

We work with multifunctional teams that develop viable minimum products in a short period of time. In other words, they quickly develop valuable solutions for a given scope. Then if they are successful these are scaled up for the whole company or for additional uses.

Give examples of the practical use that Airbus makes of these innovations We also use Digital Twins. Our design engineers build a virtual model that provides the seed for automatically generating manufacturing instructions, so that through tablets and augmented reality glasses our operators are able to assemble products following the instructions on the devices.

For example, in the A330 there are processes where we now take a fifth of the time previously required to assemble cable harnesses applying this technology.

Since we have virtual models, we are able to carry out additive manufacturing of some parts and therefore we can manufacture them at a lower cost. For Airbus, Digital Twins and 3D systems are a strategic decision. They help us to manufacture faster. The fact that we have virtual models of our

In this new digital age we have to approach talent differently aircraft allows us to perform virtual tests, which reduces the time used in physical tests. It allows us to fail and check errors before manufacturing.

It also helps us to improve designs, services etc.

In short, we reduce development time.

We also test using collaborative robots, with which our people can work side by side, drones to perform inspections of an aircraft on the ground when it lands. Using sensors, the drone can detect things that the human eye cannot.

What is Skywise?

Skywise is the digital platform at Airbus, which aims to integrate all the company’s data to add value for our customers. In addition, our employees and suppliers have access to it. It has several levels: Servers where data is stored; applications to manage that data (patterns, algorithms); and specific applications, such as those already mentioned when we talked about the use of data.

At the level of employment, what impact does digitalization have on Airbus?

Jobs are being created associated with new technologies (Data Analytics, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, 3D, IoT, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, drones etc.) and other competencies have emerged for connecting these technologies to the customer. Our experience has shown that all kinds of profiles are needed. We have new experts that add value with new capabilities and experienced Airbus engineers with knowledge of where these skills can be applied... Diversity is necessary for digitalization.

Is it difficult to find this new talent?

We invest in people, in their training, so they can acquire these new capabilities. But just as new technologies require a different approach to the business, we also have to approach talent in a different way. In this sense, Airbus also collaborates with other companies, SMEs and has innovation centers to collaborate with startups and take advantage of this talent.

A digitalized company needs its suppliers to also be digitalized It is important to develop innovative products and services for the entire value chain, so it is important that our suppliers are digitalized. This way we can get them to work with us using virtual models or adjust their production to our demand and reduce stock.

Digitization allows us to produce better, shorten times and generate new business models

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technologies

José Antonio Lorenzo Software Development Engineer

Lantek Workshop Radar, quick location in the workshop

Let’s assume the following scenario. A typical day in a manufacturing plant. The operator in charge of the cutting machine checks the next job to be done. Then they realize that they need a special steel sheet that they don’t have close by and need look for it. Ideally they would have been able to prepare all the necessary material while the machine was cutting the previous job, but with the workload of the last few months there just wasn’t time. The operator consults the inventory system and goes to look for it at the indicated location, but it’s not there. There is so much movement in the warehouse that the information is often outdated.

After fifteen minutes of intense searching, they finally find it and can continue with the job.

Fifteen minutes may seem like a short delay, but it’s not. Increasingly smaller batch sizes result in a greater number of metal sheet and tool changes, which increases the probability of time wasted looking for these items. In short, longer machine preparation time and less effective production time.

This doesn’t just happen with materials and tools.

Small batches also means there are numerous different parts waiting to be processed—the socalled work in process—which increases the likelihood of them getting lost and the possibility of errors dues to their incorrect identification.

The correct identification and location of all the

workshop assets is a necessary condition for the correct implementation of efficient and effective internal logistics that can help maximize productive capacity. Traditional methods of identification and location are based on the human factor and are prone to error.

Fortunately, the emergence and decreasing costs of real-time location technologies, such as UWBLS—Ultra Wide Band Location Systems—or ultra high frequency RFID, allows the development of much more advanced internal logistics systems.

Lantek Workshop Radar is Lantek’s solution for locating assets— sheet metal, tools, products, etc.—inside the workshop. Perfectly integrated with Lantek’s manufacturing suite, it allows its operators to minimize lost time and have a much more accurate and updated inventory at all times.

In addition, Lantek Workshop Radar also improves the monitoring of production. By assigning workshop areas to production stages, you can obtain information such as when a particular order enters and leaves the different work centers, identify and quantify the work in process, and know the main bottlenecks of your production process.

Lantek Workshop Radar is Lantek’s asset location solution that will minimize wasted time in processes in which the human factor plays an important part.

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innovation

Adur Bartra Project Manager

Quoting in the cloud Recently, Lantek has been involved in a project for a start-up company, offering a complete laser cutting service, whose corporate mentality is firmly committed to innovation and new technologies.

Proof of this is the state-of-the-art machinery used by the company for all its tube, profile and sheet metal cutting work.

In order for the company to stay at the forefront of development and the market, Lantek has provided it with a customer online portal which is fully automated both for sheet metal and for tubes/ profiles. This online store allows its users to receive a quote for fully automated laser cutting in a few minutes for 2D and 3D files. The whole process is fully automated without the need for the company to intervene, from the loading of the DXF, DWG, STEP and/or IGES files and the introduction of the specifications of the parts (material, thickness, quantities), to the calculation of the quote and the generation of an order.

This process and its various functionalities has been built on the foundations of several Lantek products: it uses the Integra Quotes calculation engine to generate the quotes, it offers the earliest delivery date for an order based on the calculation

of the workload of the machines using the Workload Monitoring of Lantek MES, and allows orders to be placed and the associated invoices to be sent through the Integra Sales module. With the aim of improving the online store’s user experience, all this is encompassed inside a functionally simple web design. It is visually friendly and based on the latest web development technologies, offering a robust, solid product with great potential.

The integration of the online store in the company’s website will reduce the workload of the company’s sales force, improve the customer response time and, above all, offer a service that is available 24/7 365 days a year. In other words, it offers prices quickly, the fastest delivery times available with everything organized in an online customer environment.

This collaborative experience has allowed Lantek to explore new ways of transforming companies in the sheet metal sector and, at the same time, to expand the portfolio of innovative products it offers to all its customers wherever they are around the world.

Digital transformation is reality with Lantek!

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news Fagor Automation integrates Lantek Inside in its numerical control The two companies have signed a technological collaboration agreement whereby Lantek Inside software is integrated into Fagor’s CNC’s for fiber laser cutting machines. With this step, users will gain in agility, efficiency and productivity, thanks to the greater control it gives to the operator in the management of machining directly from the workshop.

to maximizing the use of material and execution times, reducing response time, by making changes from the machine itself and not from the office.

The partnership comes at a time when fiber laser cutting technology is experiencing rapid growth, especially in China. These machines offer a series of interesting advantages over C02 laser machines: cheaper maintenance, lower energy consumption, high cutting speed and greater precision in finishes.

Since the machining information is in the software itself, work orders don’t need to be printed which reduces the creation of unnecessary documentation. Moreover, operators have the information of the work to be done as soon as it is generated thanks to a direct connection between the office software and the workshop software.

This optimizes solutions for normal production needs, such as reworking damaged or lost parts, reusing any previously generated scrap without the need for intermediate procedures and sheet metal alignment and measurement.

Lantek Inside is not a new product, but in the last four years the R&D&i team has worked to improve its functionalities. Highlights include the possibility of editing machining, generating new machining tasks, adding or removing parts, etc., from the plant floor itself, giving the operator greater control.

This allows for greater versatility when it comes

The integration of Lantek Inside allows Fagor Automation to increase the functionality of its numerical controls, as well as giving access to new laser technology, thanks to Lantek’s experience in the fiber laser cutting market. It also allows the company to meet the current and future needs of fiber laser machine manufacturers.

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partners AIC Steel emphasizes the benefits of Lantek’s solutions Arabian International Company for Steel Structures LLC (AIC Steel) is located in the United Arab Emirates but headquartered in Saudi Arabia and is a leader in the design, manufacture and construction of structural steel. With several factories in the Arabian Peninsula and the United Kingdom, its main customers are companies from different energy sectors such as oil and gas. The company also performs different tasks for other industries such as cement producers and desalination plants. With more than 3,500 employees, it is part of the Saudi Attieh Group. In addition to the structural steel division, it has other units dedicated to construction, transport and heavy equipment and galvanizing. The key to the company’s success, in its own words, lies in high quality, timely delivery and satisfied customers.

In recent years, Lantek has become a natural ally to help maintain and increase the quality levels of its products and services thanks to integrated software solutions that have allowed the company to innovate and be more efficient.

AIC Steel is one of the leading companies in the construction of structural steel in the Middle East.

Its clients include high profile companies such as Saudi Aramco, Sabic Petrochemicals, Qatar Gas & Petroleum, Qatar Aluminum and Abu Dhabi Oil & Gas. For several years, Lantek has been one of its trusted suppliers offering all the versatility of its Lantek Expert solutions. These specialized software solutions are used by AIC Steel to cut materials, reducing scrap and improving the efficiency of the entire process.

Waleed Khalid, head of the factory maintenance section, describes the relationship with Lantek as a rewarding experience, “We always find the right solution for each of the new problems or challenges we face and this solution is fast, timely and efficient.” In fact, AIC Steel staff point out that Lantek software is a simple and comprehensive solution that facilitates use by different employees.

Those responsible for the company located in the

UAE consider that the greatest benefits of using Lantek Expert are: savings on material by choosing the best nesting since it is quick and easy to use, the continuous improvements and updates of the software, which help improve the Arab multinational’s system, and efficiency in production.

They also highlight that Lantek solutions allow them to save material since all the machines are integrated in a single software.

Declarations from AIC Steel point out that the collaboration with Lantek has allowed them to accelerate their production and highlight the huge potential to improve nesting, machining, punching and drilling and estimation of required material. The firm, based in the Ras al-Khaimah Emirate, aims to establish lasting relationships with its customers, responding quickly to their requirements. In this regard, they have found a perfect companion in Lantek to provide solutions to the scrap left over in the manufacturing of different machines and structures all over the world.

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services

If you are interested in any of these services, send us your contact info to sales@lanteksms.com and one of our sales representatives will be pleased to give you all the information you need.

Lantek Hint

Lantek Flex3d Tubes

Did you know that you can use the Segmentation tolerance parameter in Automatic machining to get a higher or fewer number of vectors in Flex3d Tubes operations?

If you would like to find out more tips, send us an email at: marketing@lanteksms.com

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facts Lantek at the latest trade shows

Tolexpo 2018 (France)

MACH 2018 (United Kingdom)

Fabtech 2018 (Mexico)

Simtos 2018 (Korea)

Tolexpo 2018 (France)

Next Trade Shows MACHTOOL 2018

METALMADRID 2018

EUROBLECH 2018

FABTECH 2018

JUNE 5-8

SEPTEMBER 26-27

OCTOBER 23-26

NOVEMBER 6-8

Poznan POLAND

Madrid SPAIN

Hannover GERMANY

Atlanta EEUU

Metal Digital Transformation?

Metal Digital Transformation is the Lantek’s concept for digitizing and improving all manufacturing and management processes in companies that process sheets, tubes and profiles. Because Lantek’s solutions are modular, companies are able to integrate and optimize each process, monitor in real time everything that happens in their factory, make effective decisions and use the software’s agile tools to execute them.

Industry 4.0 is not just a concept - it is a new manufacturing ecosystem where those that best adapt to the disruptive technology changes you will survive and prosper.

Will you be one of them?

www.LantekSMS.com | info@lanteksms.com