The aerospace industry is a highly technological sector with constantly growing markets. For this reason, competitiveness and efficiency are the key to success for companies operating in this industry. 

Therefore, it is essential to plan and simplify all processes, check the quality of the components, optimize supplies and production cycles, interact with portals and information systems of clients and suppliers in real time. 

SAM ERP2 is a cutting-edge ERP system designed and developed specifically to fit the needs of aerospace companies, in particular with regard to production, quality, international relations, and relationship with production and commercial chains. 

The SAM ERP2 system integrates the most advanced technologies and is guided by the principles of Lean Manufacturing, which help obtaining a “constant flow” of materials and information, thus generally improving efficiency and reducing operating costs. 

 

For an efficient management of aerospace companies, all functions must be fully integrated with one another: 

• Management of WORKFLOWS for better consistency and control over processes. 
• Optimization of STOCK and intelligent management of PURCHASES. 
• Automatic transfer of GOODS through barcodes and wireless LOGISTICS. 
• Management of internal and external PRODUCTION, through design processes and PLM, connections to CAD, MRP I planning, MRP II scheduling, measurement of time, progress of work (MES) and WIP. 
• QUALITY controls, traceability and tracking both by serial number and lot. 
• CRM, marketing and sales activities, post-sales services, web PORTALS for suppliers, clients, agents, and technicians. 
• ADMINISTRATION, financial management, cost accounting, advanced statistics, data mining, business intelligence, management control systems, etc.

 

CENTRO SOFTWARE’S SOLUTION 

SAM ERP2 is a multi-language integrated system that allows to manage all processes, both internal and external, of aerospace companies: purchases, production, incoming and outgoing goods for contract work, transfer and storage of goods (both on a national and an international level), consignment, CRM, online connections to production and commercial chain, as well as administration, cash management, financial management, management control system, etc. 

Starting from the demand (forecasts, purchase orders, sale orders, etc.) up to the delivery of the final product, the integrated workflow tool of SAM ERP2 guides operators to manage all company processes in the most efficient way possible: processing of production and purchase plans (MRP II), management of orders and processings, quality controls management of material flows and transformation processes. 

The integration with technical departments (either the company’s or the client’s one) plays a key role in simplifying processes: thanks to the advanced PLM and PDM functions, technical offices can “describe” raw materials and products with “versions” and “reviews” of designs, bill of materials and processing cycles in a clear and linear way. 

SAM ERP2 also offers full control over advanced logistics processes thanks to the support of INDICOD “UCC/EAN-128” “SSCC” standards. These functions are perfectly integrated with the entire system, which allows, for example, to identify the raw materials (e.g. casting) as a lot accompanied by chemical analyses, as well as other fundamental information for full technical specifications (internal or for the commissioning client). 

The integrated scheduler and MES contribute to create a “constant flow” of processes which maximizes efficiency and productivity levels. 

By configuring users and “roles”, it is possible to define authorizations and responsibilities of operators in compliance with the rules in force in the aerospace sector. Moreover, the “ADK” (Application Designer Kit) allows to design company workflows and to validate data and processes in a lean and efficient way. 

 

SYNCHRONIZATION WITH REQUESTS FROM CLIENTS

SAM ERP2 allows to perfectly synchronize demand and product availability. Thanks to the new EDI tools and operational web portals, it is possible to collect orders, forecasts and MRP orders in a lean and efficient way. The “sale forecast plan”, which offers the possibility to create open orders and have framework agreements, allows to schedule supply processes (purchase or production of finished or semifinished products) separately or in conjunction with the collection of orders, even without actual orders and in a way designed to handle “delivery programs” and “open orders”.  

“Closed cycle” MRP PROCESSING 

The MRP module allows to assign tasks to company resources by also predicting delivery dates and product availability, not only based on order plans (MRP-I), but also by taking into account the productive capacity of the company or of the suppliers of contract work. The ERP system takes into consideration machines, plants, schedules, priorities and correlations between processing phases, production cells and departments.  

Immediate and full control over production is provided by dispatch lists (work sequences on each production resource), analysis of queues, and Gantt diagrams for each P.O., on which it is possible to intervene graphically to change the scheduling, and to process and save scheduling plans. This helps to reduce non-conformities that result from attempting to meet delivery date schedules. 

PRODUCTION ORDERS and MES (Manufacturing Execution System) 

SAM ERP2 offers full control over the entire operating production process, both for internal and external activities. It allows to manage production orders, picking lists and processing cards, checking of shipping availability (by lot characteristics, purity, quality details, clients’ tenders), progress of work phases, isolation and approval areas, measurement of production time, contract work and external processings, assignments and availability of materials, and to control and enter processings, both completed and in progress (Work In Progress). The MES system provides real-time control of the status and the usage of resources (machines, plants, staff) through the synoptical panel, while also allowing to collect production time data through barcodes, monitor staff attendance for the final count of working hours, produce graphs for checking resources’ performance, and lastly carry out maintenance on machines and plants. 

MANAGEMENT OF WAREHOUSES AND LOGISTICS  

SAM ERP2 allows to assign technical and management data (lot status, certificates, deadlines, etc.) to each lot or Loading Unit, which is essential to transfer and move goods in an optimal, controlled, and consistent way. Thanks to the integration with the “Wireless Advanced Logistics” (INDICOD standards and “SSCC”) it is possible to recognize and transfer goods by reading their barcodes and validating them in real time from the central system: receipt of goods, shipping, picking, transfers, inventory, sampling check and plans, management of locations (Aisles/Levels/Columns), “loading units”, as well as optimization of spaces and dynamic mapping of warehouses. 

QUALITY, TRACEABILITY AND TRACKING 

SAM ERP2 allows to set up a constant flow both for traceability and management of quality controls, which involve all company departments and suppliers, without the need of Word or Excel documents or departmental software.  

The SAM ERP2 quality system is integrated in all company processes, including ISO levels of AQL (Acceptable Quality Levels), ISO and company’s Sampling Plans, Sampling Plans by supplier (for which it is possible to select the strictness levels for performances), and Approval and Non-Conformity Reports. 

 

COST ACCOUNTING and MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEM 

Besides regular administration functions (Accounting, Cash Management and Financial Management), the functions of SAM ERP2 also include a detailed distribution of costs and revenues by destination. This function has two main purposes: accounting by sale order (which produces cost accounting budget by area, agents, items, etc. while also calculating profitability margins) and accounting by cost centers, which includes the costs divided by department and allows to calculate costs by unit (gross cost of staff or plants). Accounting by business areas (or departments) also allows to obtain sectorial budgets by branch, production line, company departments, break-even points, etc.  

Thanks to the Business Intelligence System and the Data Mining tools, it is also possible to automatically process summary information for monitoring and managing your business by generating immediate diagrams and graphs to make it easier to analyze and interpret data. The results of such processings are essential for making the best operational and strategic decision.