IcSoft MES Implementation at a Leading Indian Furniture Manufacturer
Company Overview
A leading Indian furniture manufacturer, the company holds a dominant position in the market with a 15% market share. It is recognized as India’s largest furniture brand, serving both home and institutional segments. With a strong retail presence of 430+ stores across 84 locations, the company offers a wide range of furniture products.
Headquartered in Mumbai, the company operates in the consumer durables sector and specializes in sheet metal-based furniture manufacturing. It has seven manufacturing facilities located in Mumbai, Haridwar, Shirwal, and Bhagwanpur, and expanded with a new plant in Western India in 2019. Its manufacturing capabilities include punching, bending, welding, powder coating, assembly, and packing, supported by a forward-looking management team focused on innovation and operational excellence.
Business Challenges
- Frequent supply-side disruptions, especially post-COVID
- No real-time scheduling software, leading to visibility loss
- Daily changes in production schedules due to supplier delays
Uncoordinated operations caused:
- Excess work-in-progress inventory
- Shortages of required parts
- Production stoppages and delays
Manual scheduling led to:
- Quality issues in bending due to unloading/reloading
- Rework in powder coating
- Overtime due to peak production loads
- Paint shop inefficiencies due to manual sequencing and color changeovers
- Documentation errors from physical drawings
- Lack of traceability for root cause analysis in quality issues
Objectives
- Implement a smart manufacturing system in the new Western India plant
- Achieve real-time visibility across operations
- Reduce production cycle time and rework
- Improve delivery reliability and customer confidence
- Digitize process and product documentation
- Integrate IIOT, ASRS, and AGVs for smart material handling
- Support sustainability goals through waste reduction
- Ensure traceability for quality control and international compliance
Outcomes and Benefits
The company is already experiencing notable benefits from the IcSoft MES implementation. Few salient ones are mentioned below:
- 50% reduction in production cycle time
- 1.5% reduction in powder coating rework
- Overtime cost has been reduced through optimal production leveling
- Complete visibility into machine loading has led to confident order promising to prospects and win more business.
- End-to-end traceability, from packet identification to coil and batch number of powders used has also led to more business from international customers.
- Lesser changeovers have led to reduced waste generation supporting the company’s sustainability initiatives.
Icsoft Solution Implementation
- Selected IcSoft Manufacturing Execution System (MES) after rigorous evaluation
- 100+ users onboarded
- Low-code architecture enabled rapid deployment despite COVID travel restrictions
Modules implemented:
- Scheduling
- Quality Management
- Document Control
- Process Monitoring
- Data Acquisition
- Warehouse Management
Key Features:
- Finite capacity scheduling with real-time updates
- Mid-point scheduling for dynamic rescheduling
- Attribute-based order grouping for efficient paint shop operations
- Digital documentation for paperless workflows
- Process-level quality alerts and statistical process control
- Work order-based machine control
- End-to-end traceability (coil number, paint batch)
- Automated material handling via ASRS and AGVs