At Mankenberg, digitization in manufacturing continues to gain further pace
On August 11, 2022, the first EB 1.12 went through paperless production, namely on the fast assembly line for bleeding and venting valves (EBML). This was the baptism of fire for the digital control of orders in production, which Mankenberg has earmarked for the near future.
The EBML was put into operation in March 2020. This was coupled with a changeover from order-related storage of unfinished parts to a kanban system in which material provision is based on the actual consumption of the parts at the assembly station.
Prior to the introduction of the EBML, standard EB 1.12 and EB 1.32 bleeding and venting valves had been assembled at various workplaces, which was very time-consuming due to high setup times.
Agile and digital
Paperless manufacturing is one project from the operational process and organizational innovations that Mankenberg has been using for five years to strengthen its agility and lead the company into a completely digital future. A printed piece of paper can quickly become obsolete. Handwritten notes are often applied, which are helpful for the moment but not visible to every person working on the matter.
With the paperless run of the bleeding and venting valve at the EBML, this is no longer an issue. For this, Mankenberg has adapted various core processes in its integrated order management system ams.erp, which the company has been using successfully for 20 years, and created a new dashboard to control the worklist.
The long-term goal is paperless control of all work sections in production. This is a steadily growing process with various partial successes - such as with the now completely paperless manufactured bleeding and venting valve on the fast assembly line.
Abandoning paper offers many advantages: reduced process costs, shortened lead times, shorter time-to-market, real-time monitoring and control of product quality, more transparency as well as sustainability and improved planning of personnel capacities.
