Automotive

The automotive industry is characterised by multiple variants and fierce competition in a COVID-19 impacted, sluggish market. This puts tremendous strain on the automotive industry.

While making thousands of parts with short production runs and frequent changeovers, it needs an agile system to support it. The automotive industry deploys a vast array of manufacturing processes e.g., stamping, machining, casting, moulding, heat treatment, forging, assembly and many more- each with its own unique issues of planning, execution quality, waste, and compliance management. Managing the tools required for these processes further adds to the complexities of manufacturing.

Apart from these internal complexities, the automotive business environment has its own challenges. OEMs change their schedules frequently and the production plans and demands of suppliers must be synchronised quickly. On the supply side, the pandemic has led to issues like chip shortages, port congestion and frequent disruptions due to COVID restrictions. And all these have to be managed within strict standards like IATF 16949:2016 by deploying various quality measures e.g., PPAP, APQP, FMEA, SPC, etc.

IcSoft manufacturing solutions have been thoughtfully designed to meet these critical needs of the auto component industry.

Download our brochure to learn more about how the features of IcSoft solutions address the needs of the auto component industry.

Consumer Products

Consumer Products manufacturers are facing dramatic disruptions which are transforming the industry and their daily operations. On the distribution side, the products need to be available at the right locations, at the right time and in the right quantities. On the supply side, processes are becoming increasingly unpredictable. On-demand side, consumer preferences are continuously changing. Consumer goods companies’ market share and growth are dependent on efficiently managing all 3 sides. Managing promotions and seasonal swings in demand add to the mission’s challenges.

To tackle these challenges, Consumer Products firms must introduce digital technologies to the shop floor and operations. These solutions must support mass customisation through high-speed assemble-to-order or configure-to-order manufacturing processes. With shorter product life cycles, it’s more important than ever to keep track of product data and engineering changes.

The key to attaining business efficiency is quickly adjusting production cycles as markets respond to new product releases and synchronise supply chains to it in an agile manner. Managing region and channel-specific pricing and promotions to profitably shape demand, whilst maintaining good service levels without risking high obsolete inventory is critical. With rising inventories and unpredictable demand, profit margins are more important than ever.

All of these intricacies of the Consumer Products business have been taken into account when developing IcSoft solutions. Download our brochure to learn more!

Metals

The metal industry has huge opportunities for digital transformation. Broadly we can classify it into metal products and other industries using metal as raw material.

• Metal production focuses on converting metal ores into semi-finished products e.g., bars, billets, etc.
• Other industries convert these semis into various products for their own use e.g., automotive, industrial & consumer products, etc.

Metal production uses continuous energy-intensive processes like smelting, refining and continuous casting to make semi-finished products like blooms, billets, and slabs. Depending on the level of integration, these semi-finished products are further converted into long and flat products like tubes, sections, etc., by the same producer or independent mills. Accurate costing, real-time dynamic production planning, scheduling and efficient utilisation of production assets are critical for metal producers to remain competitive.

Manufacturing companies using metals as raw material deploy a variety of manufacturing processes like casting, drawing, blanking, forging, etc. Each of them has its own variety and unique requirements. Machining needs sequencing the orders using the same tool together and blanking may need to consider sizes to minimise cutting waste. The list is endless

That is why a generic ERP is typically used only partially in the metal industry. Download our brochure to know how IcSoft meets the unique requirements of the metal industry!

Industrial Products

Disruptions in the manufacturing industry are reshaping the daily operations of industrial products manufacturers. To remain, competitive manufacturers, have to offer increasingly custom-built products. This leads to deeper traceability of component usage data and as-built records for future service requirements.

To meet delivery commitments manufacturers need timely and accurate insight into the operational status of planned production and to take timely actions to manage disruptions. Each family of industrial products follows its own stringent quality standards and tracking compliance with those is mandatory for the manufacturer of Industrial Products e.g., API610 standards are mandatory for pumps in oil and gas industry

These require lean manufacturing software which handles complex engineering data, drawings, and revisions efficiently across the value chain. Multiple levels of bill of materials, phantom sub-assemblies, alternate BOM and routings must be supported. As on-time deliveries are critical for the customers, effective material planning and efficient scheduling considering finite capacity are also of paramount importance. Real-time management of inventory mandates real-time tracking of in-process materials and finished goods. Industrial product manufacturers also need solutions for a rapid digital transformation not only for data collection and descriptive analysis but for prescriptive use of this data for real-time decision making to manage their business in these turbulent times.

IcSoft solutions have been designed keeping all these nuances of the Industrial Products industry in mind. To know how the solutions support these needs, download our brochure.

Hi-Tech

Electronics and high-tech manufacturers require innovative manufacturing solutions to seamlessly handle its regulations and complexities.
Electronics and high-tech manufacturers are being forced to find new solutions to manage low margins, high volumes, complex supply chains, fluctuating demand that are exacerbated by high consumer demand for unique solutions and product variety. Furthermore, this industry’s rapid rate of innovation results in frequent new product releases, short product life cycles, and a high rate of obsolescence.

CXOs in High Tech industry need manufacturing software that can keep pace with rapid digitalization e.g., compatibility with IIOT. Before a product is put into large-scale commercial production, the design and engineering documentation, prototypes, testing, and approvals, as well as the complex product data, must all be meticulously maintained while adhering to numerous quality and compliance standards. Mass production of a large variety leads to managing frequent changeovers efficiently to achieve high utilisation of capital-intensive machinery.

Managing engineering changes in time is the key to minimising obsolescence in this low margin industry. End-to-end traceability via item serialisation is required to identify the root causes of any quality concerns detected in the markets and handle prompt product recalls, as High-Tech products are components of many high-value consumer products and automobiles. Serialisation-based warranty management is also a must in this industry, as warranty is a major revenue generator in these markets. Another key requirement for the manufacturing software is the ability to support mixed-mode manufacturing in this industry. In this, few high volume, make-to-stock products and a large number of low volumes of make-to-order custom products are managed within the same supply chain. Thus, the ability to define decoupling points between forecast-driven and order-driven manufacturing in the value chain is a critical requirement for this industry.

That is why a generic ERP is typically used only partially in the High-Tech industry. To know how IcSoft meets the unique requirements of the High-Tech industry download our brochure.