Industry
Manufacturing - digital solutions.
Records, approvals and data flow between systems.
When clients usually bring us in
- the existing system no longer keeps up
- the work happens in spreadsheets
- data is duplicated across systems
- you need a new application
- you want to modernise an old system
- you're building a new digital product
What this means for you
- a solution that respects how your sector actually works
- we start with the part that pays off first
- one team for the digital and the physical side
What we can digitalise
- records and work orders
- approvals
- inventory
- internal applications
- reports and dashboards
- AI over technical documentation
Where manufacturing loses the most time
In manufacturing the core system is usually the ERP, and around it accumulates a layer of work that does not belong there or cannot get in: paper job cards, quality records in spreadsheets, defect photos on a phone, approvals by email, and month-end reports built by hand.
That layer is the usual subject of digitalisation: not replacing the ERP, but a system that captures the layer and connects it to the ERP.
- job cards and records of work done
- quality, measurement and deviation records
- data capture on the line, including offline
- approvals and sign-offs inside the process
- technical documentation and instructions at the workstation
- connection to the ERP and the warehouse
- reporting on shifts, downtime and scrap
- traceability from order to dispatch
A production floor has its own requirements
| Requirement | What it means for the system |
|---|---|
| working with gloves on | large targets, minimal typing, mostly selection |
| poor or intermittent connectivity | offline use with later synchronisation |
| shifts and changing operators | fast sign-in and a clear record of who confirmed what |
| noise and protective equipment | visual feedback rather than sound |
| audit and traceability | an unalterable record of measurements and deviations |
| older machines with no interface | capture via devices, scanners or manual entry |
What we need from you
- which ERP you use and who maintains it
- one job card and one quality record as they look today
- who works on the line and what devices they have
- where connectivity is poor or absent
- which reports are produced by hand and by whom
A typical case
The example illustrates the type of task, not a specific client.
A manufacturer has an ERP but prints job cards on paper. Operators write down quantities and deviations by hand, the shift lead retypes them into a spreadsheet in the evening, and at month end someone assembles a report from those spreadsheets. The system captures the job card on a tablet at the line, offline if needed, and writes measurements and deviations into the ERP on sync. The shift and scrap report is available the next morning.
How such a project runs
Process mapping
A walk along the line and a record of what goes on paper today and what gets lost.
Requirements and criteria
Which measurements and deviations are mandatory, who confirms them and what must stay traceable.
Design and prototype
A prototype of the operator screen, tested with gloves on.
Phased build
One line or one shift first, then wider rollout.
Rollout and support
Go-live during the least disruptive shift, with on-site support in the first week.
What you receive
- a working system in production, with a separate test environment
- documentation of the process, the rules and the integrations
- user guides and training for your team
- test scenarios and acceptance test results
- access, source code and data under the agreed model
- traceability from order to dispatch
Signs that it is time for a change
- job cards are on paper and the data is retyped twice
- quality records live in spreadsheets
- the scrap figure is known only at month end
- a customer or a standard requires traceability and there is no system
- the ERP does not cover what happens on the line
- a new customer requires data exchange you cannot deliver
Production management: what the ERP does not cover
The ERP knows what was ordered, what is in stock and what was invoiced. It does not know what is happening on the line right now: which order is running, why a machine is stopped, how many parts were scrapped and who signed off a measurement. That gap is why manufacturers keep spreadsheets, whiteboards and paper job cards alongside the ERP.
A production management system closes that gap. It does not replace the ERP - the ERP stays the source for orders, materials and costs, while the production system becomes the source for what actually happens during a shift.
| Question | ERP | Production system |
|---|---|---|
| what we have to make | yes | takes it from the ERP |
| which order is running now | no | yes, in real time |
| why the line is stopped | no | reason recorded at the time |
| how much scrap and why | often at month end | as it happens |
| who signed off quality | no | unalterable record |
| what an hour of downtime costs | costs | time and cause |
Production planning without a spreadsheet
In most companies we talk to, the shift plan lives in a spreadsheet that one person knows how to edit. When that person is away, or an order's priority changes mid-week, the plan stops being true and nobody sees it in time.
- a plan built from ERP orders, not retyped
- machine capacity and staff availability in one view
- a priority change that immediately shows its effect on other orders
- a plan the line can see, not only the office
- plan versus actual, shift by shift
Analysing production data
Production data is only worth something once it answers a question management actually has: where we lose time, which product takes the most capacity relative to margin, which line has recurring stoppages. A dashboard without such a question becomes a nice picture nobody opens.
- equipment effectiveness by line and shift
- most common causes of downtime and their duration
- scrap by product, machine and operator
- planned versus actual production times
- an alert when a metric deviates, not only a report
How we work in this sector
Where we start
We look at which processes run manually, where data is duplicated and what would deliver the biggest effect.
First step
We start with a bounded scope that can be rolled out quickly and measured.
Scaling
Once the first part works, we add the next step of the process or the next location.
Support
After rollout we stay available with an agreed response time.
Related work
FAQ
Do you have to replace our ERP?
No. In most cases the ERP stays and we capture the work that happens today on paper or in spreadsheets and connect it to it.
What if there is no connectivity on the line?
The application works offline and syncs when the connection returns. That requirement has to be set in advance because it shapes the design.
Can we capture data from older machines?
Often yes - through devices, scanners or constrained manual entry. What is feasible becomes clear after a walk along the line.
Tell us what you need
A few sentences are enough: what you need, for which process or system and by when. We will reply by email.
Related solutions
Sounds like your project?
Send us the project description, your existing system, the tender documents or the event date.
Or email info@epix.si