Zahnradwerk Pritzwalk GmbH

Until reunification the information technology was based on products from the East German company Robotron. After privatisation the new managing director introduced a PPS system from a small software company that went bankrupt shortly afterwards, whereupon the company acquired the licences to further develop the system themselves. "Therefore the IT department was still able to map all the functions of the company in 2008," explains the managing director of Pritzwalk, Dr Carsten Binder. However, this system had all the disadvantages of a DOS-based system. It was very slow and then there was the typical DOS screen, no mouse capability and a lot of keyboard shortcuts.

"If we wanted to get our daily sales data, it sometimes took up to five minutes. On the whole, everything was mapped. But the system's speed, flexibility and consistency did leave something to be desired," recalls Binder. A process analysis was therefore performed in the factory together with the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, from which targets and requirements were derived. After validation of the market, three ERP systems ultimately remained on the shortlist for selection. Armed with a detailed requirements specification, a core team from the university, management, and key users from all departments carefully scrutinised these programs.

The modules developed by COSMO CONSULT include, amongst others, cc|mobile solution, cc|quality management and cc|supplier evaluation. With cc|mobile solution, all goods are registered via a mobile device using barcodes, so that the data collected is sent directly to Microsoft Dynamics NAV where it is stored and processed. The supplier evaluation solution assesses all suppliers based on an up-to-date grid system and classifies them according to their delivery reliability and quality. The number of complaints is taken as a basis for quality. A workflow enables interaction between sales, logistics and purchasing, so that, for example, the logistics department can see the new order immediately after the order is accepted. The hardening shop also documents all activities.

Thus, a complete data collection is created that covers the entire manufacturing process. In the final inspection the parts are measured again and a log is created that is automatically assigned to the respective production orders. All measurement logs that are generated during the order run are also stored in the system. Only when all the data has been collected and evaluated is a final completion report generated and the product is added to the finished parts stock. Invoicing can also be tracked precisely. Once an invoice is dispatched, the amount automatically appears in sales.