Companies operating in field of automation, automatic machinery, plants and robotics represent one of the most important industrial supply chains in the Italian economy.

This sector is currently facing major challenges, such as the internationalization of markets, rapid changes in business technologies, rising costs, increasingly complex standards and certifications, often with different safety standards for each individual market. Against this backdrop, it is essential to accelerate and optimize processes, reduce operating costs, and plan and organize demand for spare parts to best effect, so as to increase the profitability of after-sales management, because paradoxically, inefficient after-sales management often precludes new sales.

SAM ERP2 is a high-tech ERP system specifically designed to meet the needs of the plant and automation sector. Its organizational models adhere to the principles of Lean Manufacturing and enable users to obtain a "continuous flow" of processes, and speed up flows of materials, by eliminating all operations that do not add value.

SAM ERP2 is a latest-generation ERP system designed to optimize business processes and increase their efficiency. Its features enable you to manage complex projects: from electronic, mechanical and hydraulic design, to the purchasing of goods, their storage in specific order preparation areas and their assembly and testing using advanced scheduling systems (MRP), to quality controls and after-sales operations, with full trackability and traceability of all parts by means of batch/serial number.

Additional features that make SAM ERP2 a must-have tool for all companies in this sector include optimization of stocks in order to minimise unproductive assets, handling of goods with advanced logistics and wireless bar code reading, real-time production control (MES), internet portals for suppliers and customers, management control with automatic calculation of profit margins, and a comprehensive range of commercial, accounting and financial functions.

Features of the Centro Software Solution

SAM ERP2 is a comprehensive system for the integrated management of all business processes: PURCHASING, PRODUCTION, PROCESSING by and for third parties, GOODS handling and storage (Italy and abroad), CONSIGNMENT, CRM, ONLINE connections with the supply and sales chain, ADMINISTRATION, TREASURY, FINANCIAL management, MANAGEMENT control, etc.. Full integration with both in-house and customer technical departments plays a vital role in streamlining processes and cutting unnecessary lead times. The advanced PLM and PDM features enable technical departments to "describe" raw materials, components and products on the basis of "editions" and "revisions" of drawings, bills of materials and processing cycles. The fully integrated advanced logistics system enables you to manage components as batches/serial numbers and automatically allocate all the necessary technical and administrative information to them to ensure smooth progress of the work order, and avoid needless handling operations, which often generate errors. The integrated Finite Capacity Scheduler (FCS) and the Manufacturing Execution System (MES), enable you to check, plan and record commitments not only of traditional resources (work centers, assembly and/or testing teams) but also of technical departments (which often represent the bottleneck in companies, if badly organized).

DEMAND INPUT

SAM ERP2 allows simultaneous management of the various requirements of demand:

• by single work order or project (Engineering To Order)
• by small batches (Assembly to order / Make to order)
• by batches (Make to stock / Assembly to order)
• in continuous mode (Make to stock)

It is therefore easy to complement normal planning and production by individual project or work order with Assembly to Order / Make to order type management for common units or components for which the cost-effectiveness of a different procedure has been calculated

CLOSED CYCLE" MRP PROCESSING (MRPII)

As well as allocating jobs to company resources on the basis of existing orders, this system also estimates "promisability" dates for new projects on the basis of "average" times calculated from the history for similar types of machine/plant. MRP processing automatically discriminates between materials dedicated "exclusively" to a specific work order and materials that can be dynamically re-assigned on the basis of delivery dates. The resource scheduler (which also includes technical department personnel) provides an optimal view of the Gantt chart by Customer/Work Order/Group/Sub-group, and also graphically highlights any delays in the receipt of materials and/or execution of the design, assembly or testing phases.

PRODUCTION ORDERS

Full management of all phases of operational production, both in-house and on the sites of external vendors, including: production orders, picking slips and works sheets, advance checking of pickability (on the basis of batch characteristics, raw materials technical data, quality specifications, customer specifications, etc.), work phase progress, management of testing and approval areas, time reading, and management of processing by and for third parties. Work completed, Work In Progress, commitments and the availability of materials can also be instantly checked and valued.

MANUFACTURING EXECUTION SYSTEM (MES)

The MES subsystem enables you to conduct real-time checks on the status and use of resources, such as technical departments, manned and unmanned machines, assemblers, testers, etc. by means of a synoptic panel. The MES enables you to read production times by means of bar codes, and read personnel time and attendance in order to balance hours, with graphs to conduct instant checks on the output of each resource. It also incorporates routine and reactive maintenance plans for the maintenance of plant and machinery.

WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT

An efficient workflow management system enables you to check and update any technical modifications made during assembly and/or testing, thus avoiding discrepancies between what is actually fitted on the machine/plant and what appears in central IT system documentation, thus facilitating any support or maintenance operations to be carried out by after-sales departments. The innovative ADK business workflow modeling system is also essential for validating data and processes.

PLANT INSTALLATION AND COMMISSIONING

The delivery of a plant or machine normally ends with installation and commissioning on the customer's premises. This involves the use of external resources (vendors, branches) or internal teams working off-site for variable time periods. The criticality of this final phase is the difficulty of communication between the people who designed the plant and those who are commissioning it. The special SERVICES PORTAL/CRM2, however, makes it possible to record work times, materials used and reimbursement of expenses, while also providing easy access to all the information and "technical specifications" that are otherwise liable to remain "hidden" within the company.

QUALITY CONTROLS

The operating flows are natively integrated with the company quality system. ISO acceptable quality levels (AQLs), ISO and custom Sampling Methods, Sampling Plans by Vendor with a choice of control severity levels depending on recorded performance, Approval and Non-Conformity Reports, etc. are handled seamlessly within the ERP system, involving all company departments, without any need for time-consuming, conventional procedures involving "Word" forms or departmental software.

MANAGEMENT OF WAREHOUSES AND LOGISTICS

On the basis of control plans, the system enables you to allocate the necessary technical/administrative data to each item for controlled, certified and consistent goods handling. Thanks to integration with "advanced wireless logistics", with the support of INDICOD “UCC/EAN-128” “SSCC” standards, goods can be identified and handled by reading the bar codes, which are validated in real time by the central system: entries, shipments, withdrawals, transfers, but also inventories, checks and sampling plans, management of storage locations (Aisles/Levels/Columns) and "work order preparation" warehouses, as well as optimization of space, dynamic mapping of warehouses, etc.. Any "missing" material entry is immediately brought to the attention of the logistics operator so that he/she can accelerate sorting. All rights reserved Centro Software srl. This publication is designed to provide a functional overview of a purely guideline nature, and the manufacturer reserves the right to make changes of any type to the products without notice. Customers must examine the software products in advance to check whether the respective functions match their requirements. Customers are therefore responsible for selecting and using the products, and for the results obtained from their use.

AFTER-SALES AND PARTS WAREHOUSE

In today's "hyper-competitive" market, good after-sales management and the prompt availability of parts often play a decisive role in winning repeat business. The complete elimination of errors in the parts ordering process and the reduction of machine downtimes for customers are essential for business continuity. Similarly, the possibility of offering and fully managing preventive and scheduled MAINTENANCE for installed plants and the Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) represents an additional aid to customer retention. The entire ERP system must therefore provide efficient organizational models to facilitate the involvement of the Technical Department in drawing up the "parts bill of materials"; the Documentation Department, which must therefore keep the parts catalogs up to date and publish them independently on dedicated operating portals; and the Planning Department which, on the basis of the work previously carried out and using the appropriate ERP tools, can forecast and prepare suitable quantities of materials to strike the right balance between tying up stock and meeting the service level expected by customers.

ANALYTICAL AND INDUSTRIAL ACCOUNTING, MANAGEMENT CONTROL

Detailed allocation of costs and revenues by destination, with 2 main objectives:

1. work order accounting (which produces itemized statements by customer, agent, article, etc., and calculates profitability margins)
2. cost center accounting, which collects the costs allocated to each department and calculates the costs per unit of work (gross hourly cost for personnel or plants). Accounting by business area (or division) also generates sector-specific statements by branch, production line, business division, break-even point, etcc.

The DATAMINING system also automatically processes the necessary summary information for monitoring and directing the entire enterprise, with immediate generation of diagrams and graphs to facilitate their analysis and interpretation. The results of these processing operations play a vital role in ensuring that management takes the best operational and strategic decisions in the various areas.