1. Labour intensive manufacturing
Gateway to
Productivity
Two software solutions to plan and execute labour-intensive manufacturing
+13%
Productivity
−60%
Inventory & WIP
−40%
Lead Time
−40%
Quality Issues & Rework
Our solutions
Two software solutions to plan and execute labour intensive manufacturing
Production scheduling (APS) – Flow Optimizer
- Master Production Schedule (10 week horizon)
- Balance demand, capacity & material constraints
- Bottleneck identification & planning
- Fast "what-if" scenario simulations
- Multilevel BOM support
- Handles large volume orders & resources
Replace manual planning with automated, intelligent scheduling that maximizes capacity utilization
Production execution (MES) – Flow Manager
- Real-time operator guidance on worker devices
- Paperless production & material tracking
- Digital quality management & defect tracking
- Shopfloor visualization dashboards
- Worker performance analytics & training insights
- Barcode/QR/NFC license plate tracking
Capture all production data with real-time visibility and immediate quality feedback
Expected Results
+13%
80%
90%
BeforeAfter
Improved productivity
(7%–15%)
−60%
BeforeAfter
Reduced inventory & WIP levels
(50%–80%)
−40%
5 wks
3 wks
BeforeAfter
Reduced lead time
(25%–50%)
−40%
BeforeAfter
Improved quality & less rework
(25%–50%)
- Increased customer satisfaction through reliable delivery dates
- Manage higher complexity without loss (↑ SKU, ↓ order size)
- Paperless production and operations
- Easy transition to multiple shifts
- Enable scale of management (fewer managers per worker, less admin)
- Increase plant capacity utilization
- Identify individual training requirements
- Support better decision-making with data-driven insights
From batch to flow
Before & After
What a shopfloor looks like before and after flow, visual management and digital execution are in place
Before
Issues observed
- –Large amounts of WIP and inventory on pallets
- –Floor space used for storage rather than value creation
- –Manual movement of materials
- –Limited visual management – status not visible
- –Batch production rather than flow production
- –Paper-based instructions and reporting
Symptoms
- –High lead times
- –Quality issues discovered late
- –Excess inventory
- –Low visibility of bottlenecks
- –Difficulty tracking orders
After
Flow layout
- ✓Reduced pallet stacks
- ✓Clearly marked flow lanes
- ✓Machines grouped by product family
- ✓U-shaped production cells
Mounted screens
- ✓Current order & production target
- ✓Actual production & OEE
- ✓Machine status & downtime reasons
- ✓Quality alerts
Quality at source
- ✓Tablet-based inspections
- ✓Picture-guided work instructions
- ✓Digital SPC
- ✓Automatic defect logging
Focus & Values
2. Bringing digitalization to highly cost competitive environments
↑ROI
3. High return on software investment
4. Simple solution, easy to use, focused on the value drivers with most business impact
5. Standard consumer devices (for workers)
6. Customizable report platform based on Excel templates
7. Integration to ERP systems (Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, …) or manual management
8. Proof of value before client commitment (pilot project)
9. Low implementation cost
10. Better to be "roughly right" than "exactly wrong"
Technical Capabilities
Production SchedulingFlow Optimizer (APS)
Enables
- Master Production Schedule (FG, SFG planning) with 10 week horizon in daily buckets
- Planning for flow – balancing resource utilization while optimizing on-time fill rate
- Identification of bottlenecks and planning of overtime
- Capacity constraints on 1) people skills and 2) seats/machines
- Material constraints (RM, SFG inventory and purchased materials)
- Scenario planning and fast "what-if" simulations
- Validation of input data
- Sales order and/or production order prioritization
- Preferences: work assigned to the most qualified machine/worker
Scale
- Handles large amounts of orders and resources
- Multilevel BOM
- Fast calculations, reduced time for planning
IT setup
- Cloud solution
- Customizable user interface
- Multi-user solution
- Customizable report platform based on Excel templates
Production ExecutionFlow Manager (MES)
Shopfloor worker
- Record actual time for each operation step and display standard time expectations
- Digital work instructions and operator guidance on the individual worker device
- Paperless production: registration and display of all production related information
- Material flow management: know the location/seat of each "container" in production
Shopfloor visualization
- Online monitors revealing bottlenecks, pace and progress
- Quality management and non-conformance tracking – create rework routes on the fly, with immediate quality feedback
- Customizable, real-time shopfloor visualization (Grafana)
Analytics
- Detailed worker performance and management information: KPIs, plan compliance, skill level and training needs
- Production status, lead time analysis and quality analysis
IT setup
- License plate system based on barcodes, QR codes or NFC
- Fail-over solution
- Cloud-based software platform – in the cloud or on premise
- Integration to ERP systems (Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, …) or manual data load
Implementation Approach
Structured path to value with proof of concept before full commitment
Step 1
Pre-study
Step 2
Proof of concept project
Step 3
Full scale implementation
Step 4
Operation
2-3 days
- Assessment of expected value
- Assessment of implementation efforts
- Identification of pilot project area
1-3 months
- Pilot installation
- Hardware & software provided by GATEWAY on lending basis
- Team from client participates and owns
1 month
- Integration to ERP or manual setup
- Train the trainer
- Documentation
- Deployment on cloud or local server
- Customization of solution including reports
Ongoing
- Harvesting value:
- Increased productivity
- Increased quality
- Increased capacity
- Reduced lead time
- Increased customer satisfaction
Start with a low-risk pilot
Hardware and software are provided on a lending basis during the proof of concept – you see the value before you commit.
Schedule Your Pre-Study
Contact Information
Jens Erik Jagd Hansen
Phone