Integrated true engineer-to-order system set for great things at pharma machine maker

Tablet compression and coating machines manufacturer Manesty, part of the IWKA group, which supplies the global pharmaceutical industry, is going for £160,000 worth of integrated engineer-to-order management system from integration and automation in2grate, part of the Anisa Group. The system, which is due for completion by the end of the year, will bring together the processes involved in sales, design engineering, manufacturing and finance with elements of PDM (product data management), CRM (customer relationship management), 3D CAD and ERP. Bob Clements, managing director of in2grate, says: “Like many design and engineer to order companies, Manesty had lots of silos of disconnected information. It had used a PDM system but this didn’t adequately resolve the connectivity issues, or the contract management difficulties inherent in this type of contract-driven business.” Such businesses, he believes, have specific information visibility requirements that require an engineering business PLM (product lifecycle management) system approach, but without the costs typically associated with such systems. So the ‘d2order’ system currently being implemented at Manesty comprises a PDM system integrated with a job contract control system in which each user gets a common interface on the desktop providing seamless visibility and access to all information on both systems in their own format. Duplication and latency can thus be removed at every stage of the business processes – and hence the expected savings in terms of accuracy and timeliness of information. Says Manesty’s Jeff Robinson: “Most business system vendors fail to appreciate the specific requirements of the contract, design-to-order environment, on the premise that all manufacturing organisations produce pre-designed products to sell off the shelf. “Consistency of specification from enquiry to service delivery is key to ensuring accurate cost and margin control. By controlling the whole process d2order will ensure that these critical business factors are consistently achieved.”