Sandusky gets integrated design, manufacturing and spares management

Paper-making machine manufacturer and refurbishing company Sandusky expects to slash time to design and build, while improving consistency on, for example spares, because of its new integrated true engineer-to-order design cum ERP system. The firm is one of the first to go for relative newcomer in2grate’s ‘d2order’ system, which includes closely-coupled engineering design, web-based sales product configurator, manufacturing and finance with elements of PDM (product data management), CRM (customer relationship management), 3D CAD and project-orientated ERP systems. Andrew Wilkinson, group director at Sandusky, says: “Every system we supply is unique. So the speed with which we can respond to customers, and the accuracy of costings are critical business factors. “The new software [which includes 27 seats of d2order, 25 seats of Solidworks 3D modelling software and 75 seats of JobScope ERP software] will improve our ability to do this by integrating and automating many of the processes involved in generating this business critical information.” Bob Clements, managing director of in2grate, suggests that this kind of company, like many others, really needs an engineering business PLM (product lifecycle management) system approach, but without the associated costs. d2order here will help the firm track project costs, estimate delivery times and payment schedules, and track repair, maintenance and warranty issues. All information related to a product can be accessed by everyone who needs it throughout the entire design to manufacturing process. For example, the system creates a full set of manufacturing data, including drawings, bills of material, cutting lists, routing information, CNC machine tool data, assembly and packing information and order/delivery confirmation. 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. in2grate is a joint venture between NT CAD/CAM and ERP software provider Open Business Solutions, part of the Anisa Group.