From paper & pencil to digital solution

MS UniTek produces agricultural products such as leakage protection systems and performs forging work for various companies. The company, like many others, has been driven by large quantities of prints that kept track of the orders. In order to get a better overview of the volume of production orders and to streamline work processes, the company - after an unfortunate attempt with another IT solution - has chosen to switch to using Tracelink.

Until now, the company has managed production using paper and pencil, while the administration has used a self-created system in Excel to calculate prices, offers, etc. In addition, they used e-conomic for invoicing and smart time to record employees' working hours. "We had the rest in our heads," says Martin Sørensen, owner of MS UniTek.

An unfortunate first attempt

When Martin contacted Tracelink, he had wasted DKK 200,000 on a system that was impossible to use. "A year ago, we tried to digitize our work with an IT solution which, we had got the impression, could replace e-conomic and smart time," says Martin. Half a year later, the solution was still not up and running, as the system just never became ready for use - despite Martin having spent a lot of time, energy and resources implementing it. "It wasn't a matter of will, it just didn't work," points out Martin.

When the IT system did not live up to Martin's expectations, the company went back to their paper system and excel sheets.

A successful digitization process

"After the failed attempt, we got an employee who had previously used Tracelink at his workplace, and he encouraged me to get in touch," says Martin.

Martin needed:

• A better overview of the order quantity and a simple way to create orders that go hand-in-hand with the production itself - so he would get an easy and clear overview of the production, which would not become a large administrative burden.
• A quick overview of the order processes in production - to get a better structure of the work processes.
• An overview of the machines' capacity in order to be able to plan the various tasks based on available capacity - so he can give customers a reliable delivery date.

Today, MS UniTek runs with order templates, task management, time registration and a control panel on a large screen in both the workshop and office with integration for e-conomic. The control panel shows the order's path through production and makes it easy for employees to see who is going to start which task.

Order Templates

MS UniTek's orders are transferred directly from e-conomic to Tracelink using Tracelink's order templates. When the company receives a production order, the product is taken through several different steps before the product is ready for shipment. An order can simultaneously have several products to be produced. These products each get their own sub-order, as they each have their own process through production. The sub-orders are linked to the main order, which means the company has an easy overview of what needs to be done before the main order is ready to be shipped to the customer.

Task management

Production is characterized by various tasks, which include includes cutting with sheet and pipe lasers, edge bending, welding and painting. Using Tracelink's task module, the orders are linked to the work tasks in production and their various machines. The tasks are made "dependent" on each other, which ensures that the order is taken through the right processes. At the same time, it ensures that an employee does not waste time on a task/order that he cannot carry out yet, if the saw has not finished cutting the product, etc. In addition, the tasks are assigned a status, e.g. "Completed", "In queue", "Waiting", so it is easy to see how far the order has progressed.

Control panel

The company has equipped each machine with a tablet that has access to Tracelink, where you can see the machine's tasks. The control panel is set up on a large screen, which makes it easy for the employee to have an overview of all the machines' tasks. The employee therefore starts by looking at how many tasks are on the machines he or she is responsible for, and then goes to the first machine in the queue and starts the task on the tablet. This means that it takes no time for the employee to see which machine they should go to. “That's damn smart!” says Martin.

Result

A year after his first attempt, Martin has finally said goodbye to the paper system and hello to a digitized everyday life - with significantly fewer costs than the first time and in a much shorter time.

Martin has been given a full overview of the production, and much greater transparency has been created between the management and the employees. The work processes are streamlined, which means that all employees know exactly what they have to do, and Martin avoids orders falling 'by the wayside' or being forgotten. Employees spend less time per order and time is used more efficiently, as all employees can see which tasks need to be completed. Martin now knows the production time, so he can give customers a reliable delivery date, he gets the goods dispatched faster and can handle more orders in the future.

Read more about MS UniTek A/S.

May 2022