Case Study - Connova AG: Revisited
Upgrading to include full material location/life tracking to ply level
In 2014 CONNOVA AG, based in Switzerland, purchased CrossTrack AMS along with JETCAM Expert. This provided material location and usage tracking along with integrated nesting and scheduling to drive their Zund CNC knife cutter. Nests were often 15-20% more efficient than before and much faster to generate. They have full material batch traceability, with data much faster to enter and traceability reports generated in seconds. Integration into a camera-based prototype ply digitising tool allowed users to take images of handdrawn ply templates that could be turned into cut-ready DXF files, reduced the process of digitising plies from 16 hours per week to just 2. CONNOVA saw a return on investment in under two months.
This case study revisited the company three years later, after the subsequent purchase of CrossTrack CMS, which provides full life traceability of rolls, kits and plies. They also upgraded their ply digitising tool and added an Aligned Vision 3D laser system to increase accuracy and speed of the hand layup process.
CEO Jon Andri Joerg noted; "In the past we’d often get the question ‘what shall we do with this material as it expires tomorrow’. That just doesn’t happen anymore."
The company has grown 15% since installing CrossTrack CMS, but has not needed to increase staff. Joerg noted that JETCAM has helped them to win business because of its ability to generate instant traceability reports. He concluded; "CrossTrack was a logical upgrade, in line with our aim of continuous improvement. It’s a tool that helps to build trust and confidence in our operation."
Highlights:
- Full location and life tracking down to ply level
- Paperwork reduced by a further 20%, as documents could be associated with material types, stock, assemblies or kits
- Instant traceability reports by right-clicking on material stock or kits
- Useful for locating consignment stock, as unlimited locations can be defined
- Automatic roll allocation when dynamic nests are created
- Tracking new material types by length, quantity, weight or volume
- Requested updates further reduced time spent on common operations
- Improved speed of ply digitising imports
- Integrated lasers for ply placement give ‘next step’ reporting
Software in use:
Machine in use
See also:
