Digital connectivity rather than isolated systems –
How a joinery business intelligently connects its entire production process
Digitalisation in the joinery sector today means far more than just individual CNC machines or modern CAD programmes. The real potential is realised when all systems communicate with one another and information flows seamlessly throughout the entire operation.
Many companies today work with a wide range of specialised solutions from different manufacturers – from CAD systems and panel and edging storage systems through to cutting systems, CNC machines and ERP systems. This often results in siloed solutions where information has to be maintained multiple times or is not always available in its latest form.
This is precisely where the project comes in.
At the heart of the system is the Zentro ERP/MES system, which acts as a central information platform, consolidating all data and facilitating communication between the various systems. It does not matter which manufacturer produced the machine in question. Communication takes place independently of the manufacturer, ensuring that operations remain flexible in the long term and that individual machines can be replaced or upgraded at any time without having to rebuild the entire process landscape.
Case study: GrömmerCarpentry
Grömmer Joinery employs around 50 staff and operates primarily in the commercial construction sector. Digitalisation and automation have been an integral part of the company’s strategy for many years. In collaboration with Zentro, the production process has been gradually developed and continuously optimised.
In the most recent phase of expansion, Production Manager Markus Hamedinger, working with Zentro, succeeded in further increasing the level of automation through the intelligent use of material and production parameters, whilst once again significantly reducing the internal workload in both work planning and production.
Today, numerous systems from different manufacturers work seamlessly together within the company:
- CAD SWOOD and AutoCAD
- Barbaric panel storage system
- Cutting with Schelling
- Edge banding stock from Tapio Material
- Edge processing with Homag
- CNC machining with Homag
- ERP/MES by Zentro
Instead of managing each system separately, Zentro acts as the central data hub. All information is consolidated across systems, processed and automatically distributed to the relevant machines and applications.
Centralised master data instead of duplicate maintenance
Product and material master data are maintained exclusively in the ERP system. From there, they are automatically distributed to all connected systems, such as SWOOD, Barbaric, Schelling or Tapio.
This ensures that no duplicate data sets are created. Changes are immediately available to all systems involved and need only be made once.
Intelligent materials management
Zentro also takes charge of central coordination in the area of warehouse logistics.
The actual stock management takes place directly within the respective automated warehouse systems, such as Barbaric or Tapio. These systems continuously report their stock levels back to the ERP system. This ensures that an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of all material stocks is available in-house at all times.
Incoming goods can be recorded directly at the relevant machine store. Zentro automatically retrieves this information and makes it available for materials planning, availability enquiries and analyses.
In addition, material requirements from various sources – CAD systems, machine optimisation and manual bills of materials – are consolidated centrally. Based on this, the ERP system generates cross-system purchase order proposals.
An expert system takes the strain off work planning
A key component of the solution is a rule-based expert system within Zentro. The relevant material parameters for a component are defined as early as the design stage
. Zentro takes this information and, with the help of the integrated expert system, supplements it with all the details required for production. The appropriate edge banding, transitions and the required machine parameters are automatically derived from the material type, material thickness and other properties.
Depending on the substrate, edging material, adhesive or other material properties, the system therefore automatically:
- selects suitable edge banding materials,
- define transitions,
- generate machine parameters,
- calculate edge banding layouts,
- edge processing with Homag
- Define machining strategies.
Zentro then generates the required edge-banding programmes automatically and makes them available to the relevant machine automatically. This means the machine operator is always working with the very latest programmes, without having to select or transfer them manually. Even for new machines – such as the Homag KLM – the necessary part and machine parameters are generated automatically.
The manufacturing know-how built up within the company is therefore no longer confined solely to the minds of individual staff members, but is stored centrally in the expert system. This reduces the need for training, minimises errors and enables new staff to become productive more quickly. Furthermore, this significantly reduces routine tasks and eases the workload on the work planning department, whilst at the same time creating a consistent and error-free database.
A particular advantage is that the expert system can be expanded by the company itself and adapted to new requirements without having to rely on a software developer.
The right information for the right machine
Based on the component properties, Zentro automatically determines which machine is best suited to process the respective order. This takes into account parameters such as material type (solid wood or engineered wood), material thickness and other manufacturing-related characteristics.
In this way, components are routed to the machine best suited to the task. This automatic, rule-based machine allocation shortens production lead times and increases throughput – without employees having to make additional decisions or adjust workflows. At the same time, however, this calculation can be manually overridden at any time if production requirements so dictate.
The generated production data is automatically distributed to the relevant machines. Programmes for CNC machines are made available centrally via a web service and can be accessed directly on the respective machine using the part ID.
Optimisation data from the cutting machines, as well as feedback from the machines, is also fed back into the ERP system, where it is available for planning, post-calculation and analysis.
Transparency throughout the entire manufacturing process
As well as material data, Zentro also manages all production operations. Machines automatically report completion status back to the ERP system – via databases, status files or web services, depending on the manufacturer. This provides an up-to-date production status down to the level of individual parts.
It is also important to note that the status information does not end with machine processing, but can also be reported directly into the system by the technician during downstream processes at component or sub-assembly level.
Staff can check the processing status of a component at any time. In addition, target and actual times can be compared, and quality assurance data or completion notifications from the machining area and packaging can be recorded.
Vendor independence ensures investment security
A particular advantage of this approach lies in the system’s openness. Zentro connects machines and storage systems from a wide variety of manufacturers within a single process landscape. Existing investments are retained and new machines can be integrated regardless of the manufacturer.
This allows the company to remain flexible and to continuously develop its production without being tied to a single machine supplier.
Digitalisation with measurable benefits
The project demonstrates that digitalisation does not consist of as many individual programmes as possible, but rather in their intelligent interconnection. Through centralised data storage, automated information flows and a rule-based expert system, routine tasks are reduced, sources of error are minimised and existing knowledge is made permanently available within the company.
Staff have access to up-to-date information at all times, machines operate using consistent data, and decisions are made on the basis of a shared information pool. This creates an end-to-end digital process chain – from design through materials management and production right through to completion reporting and evaluation.
Our customers’success stories .
CARPENTRY
"With Zentro, we finally have all the information in one place. Everyone knows exactly what the status of an order is and what's coming up next. That makes our day-to-day work much easier."
Heiko Moldaschl
Junior manager and workshop manager
Schreinerei Moldaschl
Patrick Fleig
Technical Managing Director
Schreinerei Moosmann
BUILDING and FURNITURE CARPENTERS
"Everything works at least as promised and better than we thought it would."
Franz Hackl sen.
Managing Director
Tischlerei Hackl
CARPENTRY
"The biggest advantage of Zentro for us is that all processes are mapped in one interface. This creates transparency and traceability of orders. I chose Zentro because I think it's the best programme on the market."
Rüdiger Huschle
Managing Director
Schreinerei Huschle
PROPERTY DECORATOR
"We were looking for a long time for a solution that could meet our requirements in terms of innovation, flexibility, transparency and ease of use. Zentro Go was able to fulfil our individual requirements 100%."
