Mass Customization and Optimization

challenge

A JR Automation customer had a problem—their CNC mill could only run product in batches, and to change batch size, numerous operators had to manually adjust the product fixtures. Additionally, production planning had to be manually entered into an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The process was inefficient, hard to optimize, and decreased product throughput.

solution

When a customer came to JR Automation with the challenge of improving the processing efficiency of one of their CNC mills, our Software Integration Team knew just what to do: mass customization and optimization. The team saw the inefficiency, and potential material waste, of manually entering production plans. We worked with our customer’s automation and ERP developers to create custom software that interfaced with the customer’s current ERP system and CNC mill. The software would load a daily export of products from the ERP system, analyze the products scheduled to be processed, and optimize the production plan for product throughput and waste reduction.

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outcomes and benefits

The software our team developed analyzed all products scheduled to be machined, which not only optimized product material usage, but also operator time. Production plans were automatically sent to the CNC mill, and the number of times part fixtures had to be changed over was reduced by optimizing product material usage. This allowed the machine to run at a higher capacity and reduced the amount of work required to manage the machine.

Automated Production Plans Optimize Operator Time and Product Material Usage

Industry

Aerospace & Defense Automotive Battery & Energy Construction Consumer Products Ecommerce & Packaging Fibers & Textiles Food & Beverage Heavy Equipment Life Sciences

Technical Capabilities

Software & Data Integration

Region

From the client

Our team created software that interfaced with an ERP system and CNC mill, automating production and significantly reducing scrapped product material. Automated production planning optimized and cut machine downtime by reducing the number of times part nesting needed to be changed over to accommodate batch sizing.

ABOUT JR AUTOMATION

JR Automation provides intelligent automated manufacturing and distribution technology solutions. We transform how the world's leading manufacturers make and distribute products.

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