keytech PLM Supports the Whole Process Chain

Customer Report
keytech PLM Supports the Whole Process Chain
Thanks to a high level of vertical integration, Benz GmbH Werkzeugsysteme is able
to repsond quickly to every customer request. This calls for a high level of process
stability, especially with complex tools with
many process steps. The simple, secure
and transparent editing, documentation, archiving and also the permanent updating of
project-relevant documents, data and information are some of the primary administrative challenges for every mid-sized manufacturing company – at the Black Forest
aggregate specialist the introduction of the
keytech PLM Product Lifecycle Management solution offers an ‘all in one’ solution to support the entire process chain and
thus enables the professional management
and organization of all data and documents
created during the lifecycle of a product.
Innovation, Precision, Passion –
Benz GmbH Werkzeugsysteme
With the introduction of CNC technology in
the 1980s Benz GmbH Wekzeugsysteme
from Haslach im Kinzigtal was one of the
first companies to offer angle heads and
tools for CNC machines. Today their manufacturing emphasis lies primarily on CNC
milling aggregates such as angle heads,
high-speed spindles and multi-spindle heads
for machining centers as well as driven
live and static tools for turning and milling
machines. Benz Aggregate for the wooden and metal working industries has been
one of the market leaders for tool solutions
in engineering, in the automotive industry and for aviation and space technology.
At Benz Wekzeugsysteme:
Following transition, PLM Solution is perfectly
integrated into CAD and ERP
Benz Database Consists of 150,000
Items and 350,000 CAD Documents
“In contrast to most of our competitors we are
very diversified – from process research and
development, to engineering and production
through comprehensive after sales service,”
says Andreas Neumann, Engineering Manager at Benz. At Benz you will find challenging special solutions and large aggregates
up to five tons as well as angle heads and
small jobs. The vertical integration reflects
this diversity – almost all parts are produced
in-house to be able to respond as quickly as
possible to every customer request. CAD administrator Michael Häberle explains, “This
calls for a high level of process stability, especially with complex tools with many process
steps. The simple, secure and transparent
editing, documentation, archiving and also
Catalog of Requirements when Implementing PLM
Vendor Requirements
• Core competence in the PDM/DMS Field
• Clearly defined contact people and direct
communication channels
• Expertise in replacing PDM solutions from the existing
CAD environment as well as the integration of the
exisiting CAD and/or ERP programs at Benz
Product Requirements
• High standard functionality with little integration complexity.
• Integration of island solutions into one system,
no application change for engineers
• Minimal implementation effort, quick transfer of legacy data
• Multi CAD/Multi location/ERP, flexible and
company-wide implementation
• ‘Look & feel’ user friendly, intuitive user operation,
multi language
the permanent updating of project-relevant
documents, data and information is a major
administrative challenge for us.” In the Benz
database there are around 150,000 items
and more than 350,000 CAD-type documents as well as about 70,000 2D drawings.
From Island Solutions and Functional Difficulties...
Since 2001 Benz GmbH Werkzeugsysteme has been using the PDM (Project Data
Management) system that worked with the
SolidWorks CAD solution for managing
engineering data. Continually increasing
demands on data management as well as
functional difficulties in classifying parts,
managing class list of characteristics or with
change management led to an increase in
island solutions (such as Excel lists or an access database for change management they
created themselves) in the IT environment.
Finally, an announcement from the PDM
manufacturer that they would no longer service their own solution led to a rethinking of
the situation at Benz by those responsible.
...to an integrated an unified platform: keytech PLM
Following a recommendation from the CAD
reseller to have a vendor compatible data
management solution, Benz quickly decided that they should implement a new
PDM system. Andreas Neumann: “After
having worked through our requirements
specification our initial positive impression
could not be confirmed and we were initially
skeptical whether the path recommended
to us was the right one: the standard functionality appeared to be too limited, where
it seemed too much customization would
be required, the operation didn’t seem so
user friendly, the transfer of our large data
volume and the integration of our ERP system seemed too time and cost intensive.”
So in the spring of 2012 Benz began a new
search process by looking at several PLM
solution vendors – from the beginning one
of the competitors, keytech PLM, was a step
ahead. “With their standard version, keytech
PLM already covered many of our requirements and stood out with their deep integration with SolidWorks and the seamless
connection to our ERP system,” continues
the engineering manager. The implementation phase followed a clearly defined plan
with transfer of the legacy data, training and
setting a test environment. Since November
1st, 2012 Benz GmbH Wekzeugsysteme
has been using keytech PLM as the company-wide information backbone including
ERP connection with a total of 50 licenses.
keytech PLM supports the whole
process chain
Frank Schlupp, CEO of keytech Süd GmbH:
“It’s a long way from design to the finished
product – keytech PLM supports the entire
process chain with an ‘all in one’ solution
and enables the professional management
and organization of all data and documents
produced during the lifecycle of a product.”
Even the standard version of the PLM solution offers a comprehensive portfolio of functions for product data and product lifecycle
management (PDM and/or PLM), including
multi-CAD support, ERP integration, Office/
email connection, concurrent engineering,
bill of materials management, geometrical
search, classification, configuration management, multiple locations, multi language
production of drawings, plot and output management. By expanding to a DMS and ECM
system the emphasis lies on departmentwide optimization of all business processes.
Integrated/Continuous Workflow
With the implementation of keytech PLM,
Benz’s island solutions belong in the past as
the integration creates a company-wide continuous workflow from the existing CAD application via the PLM to the ERP system – item
Angle Head with BENZ CAPTO™
data can basically be transferred in both directions. Production planning and purchasing
can access technical drawings or bills of material from engineering in real time, whereby
access to outdated data and the possible errors associated with it will be avoided. For example, requests from purchasing or production to the engineering department regarding
changing drawing formats are reduced to almost zero with keytech; this represents an almost 10% load reduction for the technical department alone with automatically-generated
formats when releasing the main drawing.
Effective, fast, transparent and secure business processes
At Benz GmbH Wekzeugsysteme keytech
PLM supports the entire process chain
department-wide; all data and documents
created during the lifecycle of a product are
directly available to all departments – while
the data is created in the engineering department, it can already be used in other
departments such as purchasing, dispatch
or service. Michael Häberle finishes, “The
product creation process has since become
more effective, quicker, more transparent
and more secure: what previously had to
„We engineers now have considerably more
time to concentrate on our actual work.“
- Michael Häberle, Benz GmbH
be done by hand as a laborious, complex
task prone to errors has been made easier
for us now or completely eliminated with
keytech PLM and has led to clear optimization of work processes and therefore to increased productivity. A positive side effect:
We engineers now have considerably more
time to concentrate on our actual work.”
Andreas Neumann also sees a positive result: “Our requirements from the PLM solution were extensive and very complex
– keytech PLM’s high functionality and flexibility, the fast and problem-free implementation, the deep integration with our CAD
and ERP systems, extensive search functions as well as the focus of keytech employees on process and solutions instead
of problem-oriented thoughts gave us the
confidence that we had made the right decision and not just to have completely met
the current requirements but also to be
optimally equipped for future challenges.”
Contact Addresses
Author
Matthias Holzapfel
Johannesstrasse 51
78056 Villingen-Schwenningen
Tel.: 07720-959096
Email: [email protected]
Benz GmbH Werkzeugsysteme
Andreas Neumann
Im Mühlegrün 12
77716 Haslach i.K.
Tel.: 07832-7040
Email: [email protected]
Internet: www.benz-tools.de
keytech Süd GmbH
Frank Schlupp
Bahnhofstrasse 39
72172 Sulz am Neckar
Tel.: 07454-960380
Email: [email protected]
Internet: www.keytech.de/en
Michael Häberle Engineer and Andreas Neumann Leader Engineering at Benz
Benz GmbH Werkzeugsysteme
keytech Software GmbH
Benz GmbH Werkzeugsysteme located in
Haslach im Kinzigtal develops and manufactures aggregates for the wood and metal working industries. Since the company’s
founding in 1946 Benz initially manufactured components for agriculture, with the introduction of CNC technology in the 1980s
Benz was one of the first companies to
offer angle heads and tools for CNC machines in the metal working industry and
then later aggregates for the wood working
industry. They primarily produce CNC milling aggregates such as angle heads, highspeed spindles and multi-spindle heads for
machining centers as well as driven live
and static tools for turning and milling machines. Benz Aggregate for the wooden
and metal working industries has been one
of the market leaders for tool solutions in
engineering, in the automotive and the aviation industry and for space technology.
The Homag Group, a woodworking specialist, owns 51% of Benz, and 49% is owned
by the Zimmer Group, which also manufactures for the plastics industry and the furniture industry. Since 2000 they have also
had a subsidiary sales office in Charlotte
(USA) and since 2012 a service location in
China. The company employs about 250
people, of which 30 are trainees and 25 are
research and development specialists. The
revenue in 2012 was about 35 million Euros.
keytech Software GmbH was founded in
1993 and specializes in the optimization of
business process within the product lifecycle. With more than 1,000 successful implementations worldwide and more than 30
years experience in software development,
keytech is a leader in the German-speaking
PLM market. keytech works with their customers as they integrate their PLM ideas
in their company and take into account
existing processes during implementation.
As one of only few independent PLM vendors keytech offers a large number of interfaces with well-known CAD programs such
as SolidWorks, CATIA, Inventor, Solid Edge,
AutoCAD, EPLAN and others. keytech’s
years of experience with many ERP connections is the basis for successfully linking systems. In the past keytech has implemented several interfaces to well-known
ERP systems such as SAP, PSI, Microsoft
Dynamics, NAV, SIVAS, ABAS and ISSOS.
At the beginning of 2010 keytech expanded their portfolio to become a full-value
DMS system that enables real-time, interdepartmental access to revision-safe data.
With this expansion keytech unified the two
worlds of PLM and DMS into one system.
Benz GmbH Werkzeugsysteme
Im Mühlegrün 12
77716 Haslach i.K.
Germany
Tel.: +49 7832 704 0
Fax: +49 7832 704 8001
Email: [email protected]
Internet: www.benz-tools.de
keytech Süd GmbH
Bahnhofstr. 39
72172 Sulz a.N.
Germany
Tel.: +49 7454 96038 0
Fax: +49 7454 96038 29
Email: [email protected]
www.keytech.de/en

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