MiGlass were established in 1936 and employ 80 colleagues in a 55k sq. ft. factory producing innovative glass products in short lead times to both the high volume and bespoke lower run sized customers.
MiGlass have a strong commitment to investing in the relevant tools and equipment to enable the business to develop and grow. The missing ingredient to the improvement plan was a software system that could centralise the core business sales and production data, whilst streamlining the sales process from estimation and order processing, to manufacture and delivery.
“This was an exciting project, as MiGlass were unique in their requirements due to the nature of their core business. This meant that a customised system had to be delivered in line with existing procedures and methods”
Brian Gold Marketing Director.
Jotika developed the concept of overage for manufacture. In this environment of high volume and complex processes, there is little room for manoeuvre. By allowing overage for manufacture, OptimiserX cuts additional glass to size and the Production Manager Tool presents additional items on process department work to lists. For delivery and invoicing the original order quantity applies, with the option to amend original item totals as per final tally minus rejects. This gives maximum flexibility and control to ensure that orders are completed on time and in their entirety.
Jotika also extended their glass product type range to include a template/part type. MiGlass customers order highly specific glass items, which are part of a pre designed product. This feature means that they can create, store and easily recall highly complex glass products, including: specific glass makeup, dimensions (rectangle, shape, DXF), up to 25 additional processes per glass layer, production notes and price rates. The part or template could also be configured with a particular production sequence dictating the route of manufacture, even specifying particular machines to ensure product consistency for future orders.
Replacing essential spreadsheets, by delivering the features necessary to integrate with existing procedures, meant that MiGlass could then make use of other tools offered by Jotika and realise their objectives for improvement. Gtrak3 completely centralised and streamlined estimation and order input, allowing for one single point of entry. This dramatically reduced time in rekeying information from estimation to order, order to production and delivery to invoicing. Data was then exposed for all members of staff to access in a simple search and view screen. Customer service and response was instantly improved as a result of better visibility.
The Production Manager Tool was also implemented to access detailed information regarding production routing, capacity and progress. Gtrak3 Production Manager handles over 150 different processes at MiGlass, each with individual units of measure depending on application. A variety of on screen views and reports give the production management team a view of daily workload by order and product line for selected processes such as cutting, straight line edging (SLE), tempering, water jet, painting and despatch.
The Delivery Management System is installed in despatch, where they can control orders and product lines ready for delivery. Items are flagged when complete and this updates customer service views instantly. Delivery notes are then raised based on the daily schedule and only for items complete. If any items are delayed or the customer requests a part delivery in advance, a part delivery note and part invoice can be generated based on the deliverable items. A daily outstanding report is generated to show the outstanding quantity and value of un-delivered/un-invoiced items in production. This system offers total control for the management team and as deliveries can be historically monitored via reports, they can also check whether orders are consistently delivered on time.
Steve Neal Production Director at MiGlass explains the results and future plans for improvement:
“Since the implementation of Gtrak3 we have the tools available to refine various planning techniques, basic data, metrics and operating procedures, to enable information to be managed and controlled efficiently. This in turn has helped MiGlass implement a work to date system that has seen a measured improvement month by month. The delivery scheduling system is a powerful tool and has helped tremendously with transport logistics and vehicle utilisation; this along with the above improvements has enabled MiGlass to support customers with flexibility concerning lead-times and order amendments. We are really pleased with the improvements Gtrak3 has helped achieve and intend to further improve the use of Gtrak3 and the supporting systems to achieve world class service levels. The next stage of the improvement program is to install barcode tracking and the production monitoring system that will help control the movement of product within the factory, providing all departments with real time information on order status. This development will also help the business to manage capacity and improve upon key performance indicators such as yield and right first time manufacturing.”
“Flat glass processing has such a bespoke and fast moving climate that companies end up creating their own methods and procedures to deliver for customers. Bespoke software can solve the problems that no off-the-shelf package can. Also it is inherently in a position to provide the optimum solution, since it is designed for a specific company and a specific need. Although Gtrak3 has evolved in the glass industry over the past 25 years, and has many features and benefits to offer as standard, there is always something different at each new company. It is not a case of bending your business around the software, but moulding the software around your business needs.”
Brian Gold Marketing Director.
