About Krohne

Krohne is a leading manufacturer of flowmeters, a specialized equipment for measuring liquids and gas flows. Krohne’s products are used for different types of applications and are used by, for example, water companies, nuclear power plants, the oil industry, pharmacy, mining and in many other sectors and companies. Due to the large variety in use, the customer often defines his own specifications. For example, the customer can decide on the size of a pipe, the type of meter, the used materials, the specific configuration and much more. This results in a very wide range of possibilities on the production line.

You can only complete the sales puzzle if you control all production pieces

In parallel with Krohne’s wide variety of production possibilities, the information landscape in which all data relating to sales and production are processed is also very fragmented. In order to increase the efficiency of the production process and to optimize the service to its customers, Krohne therefore looked for a solution to optimize the cooperation and information flow between sales and production.

The objective of the project is to make the expectations that are linked to a sales order transparent for all stakeholders in the chain. Via a digital collaboration platform, Krohne wants to give all the involved departments a clear insight into the status of production of every single part. From shop floor to top floor. As soon as there is an issue on the production floor (e.g. a line stop, a material shortage, a resource that is late), the priorities and decision-making can be adjusted in real time at both production and sales level. This is possible because all information is made transparent in a single integrated platform. The ultimate goal is to involve the customer directly into this collaboration platform whenever there is a deviation or lack of clarity.

Until recently, the flow of information still passed through Excel sheets, e-mails and paper. Consequently, for every small change in the chain, the latest information had to be gathered from several sources. This wasted precious time because people were busy looking for information and analyzing the latest status or change. This had an impact on the speed of decision-making and collaboration.

Krohne pays a lot of attention to customer satisfaction. In this context, we consider the timely delivery of all pieces of a sales order as the complete puzzle. In order to complete this puzzle and thus meet customer expectations, it is necessary for the organization to have all production items (or pieces or parts) under control. Where today the ERP ensures the creation of production orders on a batch level, effective single piece follow-up is not evident. The link between the production order and the final sales order can only be made through a complex search in the ERP system.

By introducing a One-Piece-Flow follow-up, Krohne can manage the production process more flexibly for everyone in the chain. This allows the company to improve the efficiency of the production process. On the other hand, when we look at the relationship between Krohne and its customers, the larger whole becomes more transparent. As soon as one piece in the One-Piece-Flow can make sure that the customer’s expectations cannot be fulfilled, the digital platform automatically gives a notification that is visible to both the production operators and the sales organization. This information sharing throughout the chain facilitates much faster decision-making, which means that timely adjustments can be made depending on priorities and expectations.

In reality, a small change in the production process can affect the larger picture. For example, a resource that is too late, a non-confirmation of a component, a line stop, etc., can all affect the final delivery. Thanks to the analysis of all information flows, Krohne can now map all the pieces of the puzzle that are necessary to complete the puzzle. Responding quickly and adequately to any deviation can greatly increase lead times, efficiency and the reliability of deliveries.

Planned situation vs actual situation

Thanks to graphical displays, you can trace up production status up to single production part level. We consider each individual product (‘piece’ or ‘part’) as a case. Each case contains all linked sales order data, production order data, drawings, quality information, supplier details, and so on. All this information comes from different underlying systems and is brought together in one digital overview.

 

Integrated portals give Krohne a clear insight into the planned situation. The platform enable the company to compare this in real-time with the actual situation on the production line. This gives Krohne the opportunity to intervene immediately as soon as the planning of an order is in danger. In order to create this platform, no systems or applications were replaced. It is thanks to the combination of the active systems (data) and the right people (decisions) that the improvement is ensured.

 

When a problem is identified in the production process and the planning might be affected, a signal is automatically sent through the entire stakeholder chain. Thanks to the platform, all those involved look at the same version of the truth. This has tremendous value. The operator receives a warning for the affected production orders, the sales organization is notified of the linked sales orders and in the future, even the customer will directly be invited to the platform to discuss the situation in real-time. This way of transparent collaboration offers the possibility to discuss whether to order alternative goods, to do partial deliveries or to change planning.

Efficient collaboration between all stakeholders

In other words, the entire chain is controlled based on events. Based on data in the ERP system, the priority of the orders in the queue can be planned or adjusted in real-time. This allows Krohne to validate the delivery time, stock availability, outsourcing and possible non-confirmations at any time. Every change in the chain can then immediately influence the priorities in the production facility and become a reason to inform the sales organization and the customer.

 

Thanks to this new way of working, Krohne can cooperate more efficiently with its suppliers and customers. This allows them to act immediately in any situation without using e-mails, phone calls and searching for information that is distributed via several information islands.

 

The speed of communication has increased enormously because all stakeholders look at the same information in the same platform. From the shop floor right up to customer level, everyone works with a single real-time version of the truth. The aim of Krohne is to improve the throughput times and the production process with as much as 40% thanks to the current digitization project. Moreover, thanks to horizontal integration in the chain, Krohne expects to give a strong boost to the relationship with its suppliers and customers.

The foundations for a smart factory

The current project ensures that Krohne becomes even faster and more efficient. But the company is already preparing for the future. This means that Krohne also wants to make its factory smarter. The One-Piece-Flow follow-up is a first step towards the digital shadow of the production piece. In the digital shadow, process information can be added in addition to logistic data and production data. The digital shadow or the digital representation of the piece forms the basis to grow to a Smart Factory.

 

Would you like to know the full story? Then register for free for the knowledge events on 13 November at OMC Turnhout or on 22 November at Krohne Dordrecht, where Krohne will give an inspiring presentation on this topic!

 

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Strategic partnership

Ometa and Business & Cloud Integrator Ctac Belgium recently signed a partnership to help companies organize efficient information management and create integrated digital workstations. In this way we want to optimize the way in which companies work together internally and externally. Overloaded mailboxes will then be a thing of the past.

Expertises brought together

As a Business & Cloud Integrator, Ctac has in-depth knowledge of various sectors such as manufacturing, retail, wholesale and real estate. Within these sectors, the company has gained extensive insight into the existing business processes and the associated technologies. “As a result of a fragmented landscape of business applications and the increasing speed with which information is exchanged both internally and externally, we notice that there is increasing demand for structured data management and new ways for efficient digital collaboration”, explains Frederik Depovere (Director of Sales & Business Development at Ctac).

In Ometa, Ctac has found the ideal partner to offer a solution for these challenges. Ometa has developed a no-code platform which allows business applications to be easily integrated with each other. Data from multiple systems is brought together in real-time in a new digital work environment, one where all relevant communication and documents can be added. In this way knowledge workers always have the right information at exactly the right time. “This means that the email traffic decreases drastically and it ensures that they can make decisions faster. Ultimately this stimulates efficient collaboration both within and between companies,” adds Luc Deleu (CEO Ometa).

Ometa mainly focuses on the further development and innovation of its platform. In addition to the possibility to integrate numerous ERP packages, PLM systems and other business or drawing applications, we also offer the possibility to add data from machines and IoT. While we are increasing the relevance of our platform, Ctac focuses on an ever better service to their customers and the markets in which the company operates. With Ometa, Ctac not only has an innovative platform but also a strategic partner. Together, both companies will provide the market with new solutions for smart information management and digital collaboration.

As a result of a fragmented landscape of business applications and the increasing speed with which information is exchanged both internally and externally, we notice that there is increasing demand for structured data management and new ways for efficient digital collaboration.

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On 2 and 3 October 2018, the yearly Connect to Innovate event by SAP and VNSG will take place in Nieuwegein, The Netherlands. As a worldwide certified SAP partner,  Ometa will also be present of course.

We invite you to our stand on 3 October, where we are happy to meet you, share knowledge and tell you all about our product and solutions. This year, we will be focusing on ‘the best of both worlds’.  Or how an integration between SAP and SharePoint/Office 365 can offer you many benefits. Whereas SAP can function as the solid backbone of your company processes, SharePoint/Office 365 holds many great functionalities for digital collaboration and document management. Ometa offers intelligent integration solutions that allow you to create a new digital work space in which the power of both systems is fully leveraged.

Moreover, on 3 October our customer Duracell will be giving an inspiring session on how the production company made the shift to becoming a speed factory and how it is now preparing to become a smart factory. With the real-time integration of SAP right up to the production floor, the company achieves enormous efficiency and speed gains. Success factors in becoming a smart factory are the capturing of machine data (via OPC UA), the creation of a ‘digital twin’ and machine learning.

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On 25 October 2018, our partner Ctac Belgium is organizing cNOW – Taste the future in the Palm Breweries (Steenhuffel, Belgium). During this event, you will discover the latest innovations that will help improve your business performance. The day will include many flavourful ingredients that are certain to inspire you. And the best part is: you can select the ingredients that seem the most interesting to you.

Ometa will add some ingredients to the event as well. We will have a booth where we welcome visitors to come and talk to us about their challenges and discuss the solutions that we could offer. Next, Ometa will do an expert session where you can ask us in-depth questions on the Ometa platform. We will also explain you how we can build the best solutions together. Last but not least, our customers Duracell and WML will give inspiring sessions on how they are using Ometa to build the bridge between SAP and Office 365 and how they benefit from this!

Check out the full program here and see you at cNOW!

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How do you get a successful One-Piece-Flow overview? How do you build the bridge between your sales organization and your production facility? And how do you even involve the customer in your own production process?

These questions and many more will be answered on Tuesday 13 November 2018 in the Open Manufacturing Campus (OMC), the innovation hotspot for production companies situated at the Philips production site in Turnhout, Belgium.
The sessions will be given in the Dutch language.


Expect an inspiring afternoon where Krohne demonstrates how making information flows transparent will result in improvement on production times and delivery processes. Based on practical examples from leading production companies, Krohne will demonstrate how you can improve the efficiency of your manufacturing company and reduce your lead times. Moreover, we also focus on how we can better meet the expectations of the customer thanks to innovative information technology. Last but not least, we pay attention to the importance of change management within your organization. Because a good solution only works when end-users are involved and when they are positive about it.

An inspiring  afternoon about speeding up information flows, connecting people in real-time, improving production processes and meeting customer expectations.

 

PROGRAM

12h30 Reception
  With drinks and sandwiches.
13h10 Devoteam update on Duracell project
  Arnold De Ploey (project manager Duracell project) gives an update about the latest version of the operator portals in Office 365 that are real-time connected with SAP. Also the extension with Power BI for a production environment is shared. Moreover, you will get an inside look at the next steps of the Duracell Smart Project.
13h40 Ometa presents ‘the digital shadow’
  Luc Deleu (CEO Ometa) will explain the concept of the digital representation of a physical product and how it can improve the efficiency and quality of a production process. The One-Piece-Flow data management becomes a digital foundation to upscale your company from speed to smart.
14h40 Pause + guided tour through the Philips/OMC site
  Pause with drinks and snacks. You will get a unique opportunity to see the Open Manufacturing Campus and Philips Lighting production site from close-by and visit Luxexcel, the worldwide unique 3D printing company of ophtalmic lenses for your personalised (AR/VR) glasses.
15h40 Presentation by Holmatro
Gert Jan Uijtdewilligen (Corporate ICT Manager at Holmatro) explains how they integrate the company’s ERP information in real-time to the shopfloor. A new concept that allows companies to push production orders according to the right priority towards the operators. This new way of working improves the reliability of delivery times as planning becomes real time.
16h15 Presentation by Krohne
  Leon de Borgie (Corporate operational excellence manager at Krohne Group) explains the importance of obtaining a One-Piece-Flow. By having a full grip on its production process, lead times and efficiency have increased by 40%. Moreover, the company is now able to synchronize flows in production with its sales organization. This allows them to give a greater customer experience. In the future, Krohne even wants to give customers direct insight into their production orders.
17h15 Closing note
By Marc Corthout (Business Development at OMC), showing how open innovation in engineering and manufacturing creates an ecosystem between SMEs reusing (and expanding) the knowledge and experience built up in large companies like Philips.
17h30 Networking with dinner buffet

 

We offer you a program which is relevant for both business and IT, for experts and decision-makers. Are you available on 13 November? Then we look forward to seeing you at the Open Manufacturing Campus in Turnhout!

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How do you get a successful One-Piece-Flow overview? How do you build the bridge between your sales organization and your production facility? And how do you even involve the customer in your own production process?

These questions and many more will be answered on Thursday 22 November 2018 at the Krohne production site in Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
The session will be given in the Dutch language.

Expect an inspiring afternoon where Krohne demonstrates how making information flows transparent results in improvement on production times and delivery processes. Based on practical examples from leading production companies, Krohne will demonstrate how you can improve the efficiency of your manufacturing company and reduce your lead times. Moreover, we also focus on how we can better meet the expectations of the customer thanks to innovative information technology. Last but not least, we pay attention to the importance of change management within your organization. Because a good solution only works when end-users are involved and when they are positive about it.

An inspiring  afternoon about speeding up information flows, connecting people in real-time, improving production processes and meeting customer expectations.

 

 

PROGRAM

12h30 Reception
  With drinks and sandwiches.
13h10 Devoteam update on Duracell project
  Arnold De Ploey (project manager Duracell project) gives an update about the latest version of the operator portals in Office 365 that are real-time connected with SAP. Also the extension with Power BI for a production environment is shared. Moreover, you will get an inside look at the next steps of the Duracell Smart Project.
13h40 Ometa presents ‘the digital shadow’
  Luc Deleu (CEO Ometa) will explain the concept of the digital representation of a physical product and how it can improve the efficiency and quality of a production process. The One-Piece-Flow data management becomes a digital foundation to upscale your company from speed to smart.
14h40 Pause + guided tour through Krohne Altometer factory
  Pause with drinks and snacks. You will get a unique opportunity to see the Krohne factory from close-by.
15h40 Presentation by Holmatro
Gert Jan Uijtdewilligen (Corporate ICT Manager at Holmatro) explains how they integrate the company’s ERP information in real-time to the shopfloor. A new concept that allows companies to push production orders according to the right priority towards the operators. This new way of working improves the reliability of delivery times as planning becomes real time.
16h15 Presentation by Krohne
  Leon de Borgie (Corporate operational excellence manager at Krohne Group) explains the importance of obtaining a One-Piece-Flow. By having a full grip on its production process, lead times and efficiency have increased by 40%. Moreover, the company is now able to synchronize flows in production with its sales organization. This allows them to give a greater customer experience. In the future, Krohne even wants to give customers direct insight into their production orders.
17h15 Closing note
By John Deken (BWU)
17h30 Networking with dinner buffet

We offer you a program which is relevant for both business and IT, for experts and decision-makers. Are you available on 22 November? Then we look forward to seeing you in Dordrecht!

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From speed to smart

One of the key concepts of Industry 4.0 is the real-time connection of information. This allows us to bring the right information towards to right people in the right context. Therefore, in the past two years, Ometa has realized a project at Duracell in which we consolidate information coming from several islands into web portals for the shop floor operators.

Unique about these portals is they are two-way. Operators can request information and they even get access to write back to the different underlying systems. These are systems and applications where they did not have access to before. Nowadays, the SAP, Proficy, Inifinity and Cimplicity systems are accessible for everyone via user-friendly portals. This real-time connection of the shopfloor speeds up the information and communication flows (read the customer case here). So now that we have gained speed, we should also become smarter. To optimize the information flow even more, Ometa and Duracell started a new challenging project in September 2017.

Smart technology for exciting projects!

Several parties (like Devoteam and Reniver)  have joined forces into what has become a co-creation project. The goal of the project is to create a digital twin for each individual battery. Why? Because by clustering all the data during the whole life cycle of the production process, you get an instant view on all the related information of a specific product, such as its bill of material, suppliers, raw materials, routing lines, production teams, and so on.

This allows Duracell to test its batteries per individual piece. The results of these tests then classify the products. Consequently, when products are rejected, we can do a trend analysis on all the captured data. Next, we try to find relations between these trends and the current settings of a production line. The latter means that we are also able to capture data coming from machines thanks to our new OPC UA connector. Trends based on knowledge from the past can identify potential quality issues due to machine settings, inaccurate handlings or storage issues. The ultimate goal is that Duracell is able to make predictions about the quality of products while they are still on the production line.

Human data analysts are unable to analyze this large amount of data points. Not only the large data set, but also the high speed at which data is processed, requires the help from machine learning techniques. More specifically, supervised learning will help to discover which trends and settings repeatedly appear when erroneous products are being produced. During the production of a new batch of batteries, algorithms can indicate when there is a higher chance for errors or quality issues by making all parameters intelligible.

This means that predictive quality adjustments can be made whenever the risk for quality issues is high. In the end, a Digital Smart Assistant will be able to help the field operators in optimizing the production process by anticipating future actions based on previous learnings.

Smart technology needs smart developers!

In order to realize the Digital Smart Assistant, we are currently adding new technology to the Ometa framework that is able to manage the complete digital representation of a product. By creating interfaces towards AI environments and thanks to our recently added OPC UA connector, Ometa is able to disclose data coming from machines and to combine this with data from business applications. This is truly a huge enrichment of our software and the potential for other manufacturing companies is high.

 

For the further development of our smart technology, the Digital Smart Assistant project an the worldwide roll out of our product, we need smart developers, functional analysts and project managers.  Are you looking for an exciting new challenge in a fast-growing software company? Then be sure to check out our career opportunities!

 

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(Presented by Luc Deleu at the European Parliament, June 2018)

 

Artificial Intelligence is not new, but the availability of computing power, new technologies to capture enormous amounts of data points and the speed by which we can connect, store and analyze data give new insights and opportunities that can lead to business performance breakthroughs, new business models and changing markets. By combining the technologies that are available today, the speed by which the industry can learn from its processes, products and customers will increase exponentially.


The digital representation of a physical product

The digital representation of a product is a collection of all the available data that we can gather throughout the whole lifecycle of that specific product. It stores the unique values of the product in all phases: in development and pre-production, during manufacturing and when its consumer is using the product.  Humans are not able to process this large amount of data. However, new technologies and AI allow us to convert the collected information into knowledge. As a result, the digital representation enables us to learn from each step of the lifecycle of a single product.

So how can AI learn from these representations?  We can compare the characteristics of a product (e.g. quality or the lack thereof) with its digital representation.  This allows us to discover new correlations. These correlations deliver us new insights of the product and its production process. By comparing several individual digital representations, we can discover:

  • Differences in production temperature, machine setups, machine handling, etc.
  • Changes of suppliers, materials, versions of subassemblies, etc.
  • Different production lines or plants, teams, skills of operators, etc.

When we look at the quality of a product, the correlations that we can find thanks to big data and AI, allow us to understand new reasons that determine the quality of a product. Moreover, it can even turn quality into a predictable element.

Nowadays, Ometa is focusing on the production process and we try to find changes in correlation with the related quality. We are currently running a ‘smart manufacturing project’ that has already proven that we can discover and apply process adjustments which could not be discovered without the help of AI concepts. When we look at the entire product life cycle, this example shows that we are still focusing on the production phase. But we can go further.

Closing the product lifecycle loop will change business models

The next big step is closing the product lifecycle. The digital representation should not only cover the digitization of the production process but also the usage of each individual product when it goes to market. Imagine, if we could also digitally follow the actual usage of a product by its consumer, assumptions during engineering could be validated, neutralized and improved before new production starts.

 

So what can the industry gain by closing the full product lifecycle loop?  Today we are confronted with the fact that our industry is still based on mass production with short life cycles of the products (sometimes not more than two years). The reason for this short lifetime is not necessarily bad quality. Usually profits drive these short lifetimes. Today profit is made during the cycle ‘engineering up to production’. Once the product is sold, a ‘customer disconnection point’ emerges.

 

Therefore, if we continue capturing and clustering data via the digital representation after the product is sold, new business models can emerge. We could shift towards a market in which the industry stays connected with its products and where it would have no benefit to produce enormous amounts of products with short lifecycles.  In contrast, connected products would lead to a better understanding of customer usage and experience. When products stay connected with their industrial producer throughout their whole lifecycle, then quality, new product introductions and services can be improved.

From mass repetitive manufacturing to mass custom manufacturing

In previous decades, the growth market for industry was defined by mass repetitive production and low labor cost. Consequently, many of our production facilities moved to countries with a lower labor cost such as China.

The digital representation and available AI concepts will become a game changer. Not labor cost, but knowledge will drive the market. As data becomes information, information turns into knowledge thanks to AI and knowledge will lead to better customer understanding. This will allow us to move from a mass production industry towards a smart service market where products become customer specific and production will become a one-piece flow. This means that each production order on the production line will be pre-ordered with tailored demand. This will allow our industry to make a shift from mass repetitive production towards mass custom production.

This can only happen if we stay connected with the user/consumer and the product/service that we deliver throughout the whole lifecycle. By continuously clustering the enormous amount of data points and using smart AI learning systems, we will be able to create customer specific product designs and increase the speed and intelligence of our production processes. For Western countries, this can create a competitive advantage against the repetitive mass production model with its low labor cost. Why? Because with a business model based on mass custom production and fast delivery times, waiting for a ship to come in becomes a thing of the past.

 

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Great news! We added a Salesforce connector to our framework.  This means that from now on, you are able to connect your Salesforce application in realtime with your ERP system or with other business applications. This allows you to keep critical data synchronized at all times. The new connector can help you to optimize your customer relations, to get a complete view on your customers and to attune customer data with e.g. production data.

Are you using Salesforce in your organization and would you like to learn more about our latest connector and its benefits? Then we are happy to discuss this with you!

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We are very excited to announce that Ometa has developed a mobile solution.  Soon it will be possible for Ometa customers to read and write data from and to external business applications (ERP, CRM, etc.) on a mobile device!

Unique about our mobile version is that it enables you to build as much mobile apps as you like. By using the Ometa framework you will be able to configure and change your apps in just a matter of time. This sheds a whole new light on mobile app development.

 

More info coming soon!

 

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