Passing fad, the latest buzzword or the future for plastics manufacturers?
Evidence gathered by DELMIAWORKS, leading manufacturing ERP system and MES software (manufacturing execution system) provider points to Industry 4.0 becoming a day-to-day reality for manufacturers in the sector whilst meeting both plastics manufacturers and machine makers at various events across the globe.
By merging manufacturing automation and data exchange through technology, manufacturers are able to integrate computing and shop floor machinery to develop smart factories, which not only help increase productivity but drive higher cost efficiency and enable organisations to make better business decisions.
Commenting on DELMIAWorks’ observations, Steve Bieszczat, DELMIAWorks’ Chief Marketing Officer said:
“Automating not only the shop floor builds quality and predictability into the manufacturing environment; it also reduces staff resourcing costs and helps our customer compensate for the shortage of skilled manufacturing workers. We have noticed that the demand among plastics manufacturers for solutions that deliver the automation and data capture of Industry 4.0 has never been stronger. Our MES and shop floor automation software increasingly popular for both existing and prospective customers”.
DELMIAWorks MES system tracks and gathers detailed manufacturing information in real-time and delivers it either to their ERP system as a complete solution, or it can also integrate with a manufacturer’s existing ERP, including SAP, JD Edwards and Oracle.
Shop floor machinery has met the digital age
DELMIAWorks has worked with machine manufacturers and customers alike to capture data from the shop floor and then integrate that data with DELMIAWorks ERP and MES software to develop more efficient manufacturing processes and deliver real-time insights.
Integrated machines and software are working in parallel to drive plastics manufacturers’ processes, and working well.
Digital moulding technologies are driving the direction of the industry
DELMIAWorks has observed an increased increase in hydraulic injection moulding machines driven by greater digital control which has cut energy waste so that they now rival the energy efficiency of electric moulding machines. This coincides with hydraulic machines retaining their traditional advantages, including greater clamp force, faster injection rates, and high durability.
Track-and-trace approaches are becoming industry-wide best practices
Once regarded as the preserve of highly regulated markets only (medical products, food and beverage, automotive, and aerospace for instance), track-and-trace technology is now being used by plastics manufacturers across a wider and wider range of sectors.
This technology pulls data from shop floor machinery and gives manufacturers the information they need to minimise the impact of defective parts on production and recalls, reduce waste, and meet auditing and compliance demands.
About DELMIAWorks
DELMIAWorks is a manufacturing software provider that uniquely combines ERP system and MES functionality to give manufacturers a comprehensive end-to-end suite for running their business, backed by the real-time performance and scalability that companies demand.
Developed specifically for medium-sized repetitive, discrete and batch process manufacturers, DELMIAWorks provides robust capabilities for addressing strict customer and regulatory certification and compliance.
DELMIAWorks achieves this by delivering traditional ERP functionality for accounting, sales orders, material requirements, inventory, and purchasing, plus extended native features for CRM, human resources, production scheduling, shop floor control, warehouse and quality modules.
To meet increasing demand from smaller sized manufacturers, DELMIAWorks has developed a core manufacturing product for manufacturing businesses looking to take advantage of enterprise-level functionality to help accelerate growth.
DELMIAWorks’ small business ERP system is aimed at manufacturers with five to 10 users, enabling them to manage order processing, production, scheduling, quality management, shipping and accounting more effectively. DELMIAWorks small business ERP also provides real-time production monitoring as an added bonus.
Proximity Enterprise Solutions is a certified DELMIAWorks reseller and provides DELMIAWorks implementation services and support across the UK, Ireland and Europe.
