Integrating a corporate ERP with a Lantek solution

Under the umbrella of Lantek Integra, we have our own specific software for the business management of metalworking factories. That said, when the client already has an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implemented that is generic or cross-cutting to whatever different operations there are during manufacturing, Lantek has integration mechanisms that offer countless possible added value services that make the processes between the Lantek systems and the corporate ERP cooperate. These integrations are carried out via web services (Avantiaservices) or special communication files (Powersync, Masterlink). These coded files can be totally standard, according to the definition by Lantek, or customized, according to the particular needs of the ERP software the client has.

The integration offered by these mechanisms can be carried out at any point of the system, but we highlight the following scenarios:

• Quoting: The Lantek systems understand the production process of a part, including the cutting and other operations, and can give an estimate of the cost of these operations, the material used, and even apply certain margins based on a series of rules defined by the company, and calculate the final price of a part or series of parts. The quote can include, for example, additional costs or transport expenses and can be exported to another system. In other cases, only the production cost of the part is exported so that the corporate ERP system can calculate the final quote.

• Manufacturing:  Lantek systems record the manufacturing of the day and/or week that the company must produce. In a scenario of integration, we import the definition of the parts, from their manufacturing route to the geometry, to finally generate a manufacturing order with a specific amount, material and thickness. Once all the production orders are in the Lantek systems, the technical office manager can program their operations based on different criteria, such as the delivery deadline or the capacity of the workstations, allowing them to make decisions all in real time.

• Validation: Once nesting is completed, we can export the related information, such as the sheet consumption (weight and traceability labelling used), the scrap generated, the parts lost, the use of validation and much more data. With all this information, the corporate ERP system can manage the state of the orders and the inventory to know at all times the stocks of material, scheduling the necessary purchases in the event of stockouts.

• Inventory: We face scenarios in which the material is not managed exclusively by Lantek, but another business management program. In these situations, there is a synchronization of inputs and outputs so that both systems have the same data, guaranteeing the consistency of the inventory in both. In addition, if there is a purchase of material in the corporate ERP system, it is synchronized with Lantek and the consumption of material caused by the nestings is returned to the ERP during the validation process, keeping the stock updated. Along with the nesting process, the Lantek system can generate material needs that are sent to the cooperating ERP system in order to schedule the purchases that make it possible to have sufficient stock for the manufacturing process.

• Invoicing: Synchronization with the accounting systems can be done bidirectionally; that is, Lantek exports the information from the sales and/or purchases invoices and records the payments made in the accounting system, whether they are total or partial payments. Lantek has a credit management system which, thanks to this transfer of information between systems, will always be up to date.

As we have seen, Lantek can be integrated with other systems in all of the processes a company has, from manufacturing to invoicing, adapting to the different integration options that clients need. This ability to be open and at the same time specific is one of the strengths of Lantek solutions for metalworking companies.