Companies operating in the electrical and electronics industry need to develop innovative products continuously, and bring them to market in the shortest possible time, by speeding up their processes, while reducing costs.
A key contributor to Italy's entire economy, the electrical and electronics industry is currently facing the need to speed up its processes, reduce costs and increase efficiency and productivity.
On the one hand, companies have to continuously develop innovative products, on their own behalf or for third parties, and bring them to market in the shortest possible time in order to beat fierce international competition. On the other, continuous technological evolution is reducing product life cycles, so companies constantly need to re-shape their organization in order to synchronize "time to market" and keep their product management costs at sustainable levels.
For these reasons, it is essential to adopt a specific ERP business software that facilitates the implementation of lean manufacturing techniques, and offers functions for component manufacturers, suppliers of services to the electronics industry, and OEMs serving the industrial, consumer goods and telecommunications markets.
SAM ERP2 is a high-tech ERP system designed and developed for the electrical and electronics industry. Its organizational models adhere to the principles of LEAN MANUFACTURING and enable users to control all processes and obtain a "continuous flow" of materials and activities.
SAM ERP2 is a powerful, latest-generation ERP system designed to optimize business processes and increase the efficiency of electrical and electronics businesses.
Its functions help reduce time to market, enhance products with the addition of services, synchronize the entire supply chain and collaborate in real time with partners to respond to market changes.
SAM ERP2 also helps companies meet delivery times, forecast costs, and plan and control production.
Speed and flexibility in the management of variables, and integration with quality controls represent further features that promote efficiency and competitiveness.
Internet portals for vendors and customers, analytical accounting, automatic calculation of margins, plus of course a full range of commercial, administrative and financial functions, also make SAM ERP2 a vital tool for all companies in this industry.
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), CRM, online connections with the supply and sales chain, ADMINISTRATION, TREASURY, FINANCIAL management, MANAGEMENT control, etc..
For the ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONICS sector in particular, full integration with internal and customer technical departments streamlines design processes and eliminates unnecessary "lead times".
Using the advanced PLM and PDM features, it is possible to describe raw materials, components and products on the basis of "editions" and "revisions" of drawings, bills of materials and processing cycles.
From demand (forecasts, goods orders, work orders, etc.) to delivery of the finished product, SAM ERP2's integrated workflow guides operators to ensure optimum management of all business processes, including: generation of production and purchasing plans (MRP II), management of orders and processing, quality control, management of the flows and processing of materials.
The advanced Warehouse Management System (WMS) fully integrated into the ERP enables you to manage components as batches/serial numbers and automatically allocate all the necessary technical 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.
Production planning ensures compliance with the time limits and budget set for the realization of a product: alternative components, obligatory component brands by individual customer, etc. The ERP system ensures a quick, prompt response even in the management of variable batches.
The production process is constantly monitored, and the SAM ERP2 system provides a full range of real-time data on production progress, achievement of objectives and quality levels of products. Any external production plants and the entire supply chain can also be managed in real time via operating portals.
Quality management, with in-process and post-process sampling plans, ISO tables according to batch size, etc., is also seamlessly integrated into all the production and purchasing processes. All this helps generate a "continuous flow" of processes that ensures the highest possible levels of efficiency and productivity.
DEMAND INPUT (SALES)
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, for example, "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)
SAM ERP2 enables you to allocate work and forecast product availability and delivery dates not only on the basis of order planning (MRP-I), but also on the basis of the actual production capacity of the company or strategic contractors (i.e. taking account of machines, plants, calendars, priorities and relationships between processing phases, production cells and departments). Using the "Dispatching Lists" (work sequences for each production resource), and analyzing "queues" and Gantt charts for each Production Order, you can also check and modify the entire scheduling directly and instantly (you can modify works graphically, reformulate and save scheduling plans and improve compliance with delivery dates.
PRODUCTION and MES (Manufacturing Execution System)
SAM ERP2 fully manages all phases of operational production, both in-house and on the sites of external vendors, with production orders and processing by and for third parties, picking slips, works sheets, technical modifications, advance checking of pickability (batch characteristics, raw materials technical data, quality specifications, customer specifications, etc.), work phase progress, management of testing and approval areas, time reading, etc.). Work completed, Work In Progress, commitments and the availability of materials can also be instantly checked and valued.
The MES subsystem provides a synoptic panel for conducting real-time checks on the status and use of resources: plant, personnel, manned, unmanned and traditional machines etc.. The MES reads production times by means of bar codes, personnel time and attendance in order to balance hours, graphs for conducting instant checks on the output of each resource, and routine maintenance plans and reactive maintenance operations on plant and machinery.
WORKFLOW Management
An efficient workflow management system enables you to check and document 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 preventing errors in possible support or maintenance operations carried out by after-sales departments.
QUALITY, TRACKABILITY and TRACEABILITY
SAM ERP2 enables you to set a flow of traceability and quality controls, which involves all company departments and vendors, without any need for Word/Excel documents or departmental software. SAM ERP2's quality system is integrated into all processes, together with ISO acceptable quality levels (AQLs), ISO and personal Sampling Methods, Sampling Plans by Vendor (with a choice of control severity levels depending on recorded performance), Approval and Non-Conformity Reports.
Plant INSTALLATION and COMMISSIONING
The delivery of a plant or complex device normally ends with installation and commissioning on the customer's premises. This involves the use of external resources (vendors or branches) or internal teams working off-site for variable time periods. Since the criticality of this final phase is the difficulty of communication between the people who designed the plant and those who are commissioning it, use of the special SERVICES PORTAL/CRM2 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 often remain "hidden" within the company.
MANAGEMENT OF WAREHOUSES and LOGISTICS
SAM ERP2 enables you to allocate the necessary technical/administrative data to each batch or serial number for optimized, certified and consistent goods handling (batch status, certificates, expiry date, etc.). Thanks to integration with "advanced wireless logistics" (INDICOD standard), goods can be identified and handled by reading the bar codes, which are validated in real time by the central system: entries, shipments, withdrawals, but also inventories, checks and sampling plans, storage location management (aisles/levels/columns), "loading units", as well as dynamic mapping of warehouses and optimization of space. Two-way interfaces are also available for communication with the automated warehouses (modula - system logistic, Incas, kardex, winstor, etc.)
PARTS warehouse, WARRANTIES AND AFTER-SALES
In today's "hyper-competitive" market, good after-sales and warranty 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 consequent reduction of machine downtimes to ensure business continuity are imperatives for customers. Similarly, the possibility of offering and fully managing the "scheduled maintenance" of installed plants and the Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) represents an additional aid to customer retention.
The SAM ERP2 system provides an efficient organizational model for facilitating the involvement of the relevant departments:
- the Technical Department in drawing up the "parts bill of materials",
- the Documentation Department, to keep the parts catalogs up to date and publish them independently on dedicated operating portals,
- the Planning Department which, 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 ACCOUNTING and MANAGEMENT CONTROL
Alongside the normal administrative functions (Accounting, Treasury and Financial Management), SAM ERP2 offers automatic "allocation" of costs and revenues by destination, for 2 purposes:
- work order accounting (itemized statements by customer, agent, article, etc., and calculation of profit margins),
- cost center accounting (collects the costs of each department and also calculates the gross hourly cost for personnel and plants).
Accounting by business area also generates sector-specific statements by branch, production line, business division, break-even point, etc.
Business Intelligence and Data Mining systems also process all data to produce graphs and information which enable full oversight of the company and help management take the best operational and strategic decisions.
