The smart factory in metal fabrication

Fabrication and machining shops are a different world from a high-speed line. Work is often engineer-to-order or make-to-order, with long routings. A job might visit a laser, a press brake, a welding bay and paint before it ships.

The question on the floor is rarely "how fast is the line running?" It's "where is that job, and when will it be done?"

Where the value usually is

Knowing where every job is. Real-time job status by operation, so the answer to "where is it?" doesn't need a walk around the shop. That alone changes the conversation with customers about delivery dates.

Real labour and machine time. Actual time against estimated time, by operation. Quotes and costing get better, and you find out which jobs really make money.

An order list people trust. Supervisors and operators working from the same prioritised list, rather than whoever shouts loudest.

Drawings and revisions at the workstation. The right revision of the drawing, on a screen at the machine, removes one of the most expensive mistakes in fabrication.

What makes it harder here

High-mix work means a lot of master data: routings and standard times for parts you might only make once. If ERP's routings are rough, the shopfloor system will expose it quickly. Plan time to clean them up. I cover what matters in the ERP master data MES needs.

Configured and engineered products add another layer. The order has to be buildable as quoted, and engineering changes have to reach the floor on time. That's the digital thread between CPQ, PLM and ERP.

Questions to settle before you look at vendors

• How do we track job progress today, and how accurate is it?
• How far apart are our estimated and actual times?
• How do drawings and revisions reach the operator?
• Which machines would give us useful data if we connected them, and which wouldn't?