A typical sheet metal workshop can process dozens of orders daily, which translates into hundreds of operations on different machines and work centers. Managing such a large production volume is not a trivial matter. The production flow is usually interrupted due to problems such as unscheduled machine shutdowns, incidents related to internal logistics, conflicts in planning, and so on.
One of the main tasks of the workshop manager is to ensure the necessary conditions to achieve maximum efficiency. For this, they need to have a tool that allows them to manage production and its problems as a whole, in the simplest and fastest way possible. Lantek WEM is the tool designed to fulfill this need.
WEM, an acronym of Workshop Execution Manager, is a new application that allows the real-time visualization of the status of production and the handling of any problems that may arise, all in a visual, extremely easy and agile way.
WEM achieves its objective by offering different views for monitoring production and the resources associated with it:
- The so-called resources view shows the production associated with each machine in a Gantt chart displaying the basic information on each task to be executed. You can check its status, degree of progress, whether it is delayed with respect to what was planned, and other information of interest in an interactive graph.
- The orders view offers similar features to the resources view, but focuses on production orders. Searching for an order and checking its status, viewing its production route and even making changes to its planning are just some examples of the features it offers.
- There is also work centers view that allows you to check the real-time status of each machine, what order it is executing, its recent production history, causes of stoppages and OEE and even the machine’s schedule, allowing you to configure exceptions.
In addition, WEM is integrated with other Lantek products, such as Workshop Radar and inventory solutions, which allows you see at all times whether the material needed for the order is present in the workshop and its location.
WEM can be used on a desktop computer, though it is designed for use on a tablet and even on a mobile device. This allows the workshop manager to monitor the status of production and receive notifications about machine alarms, conflicts and production problems at any time and in any place.
In short, Lantek WEM is the complete, easy and intuitive tool for the management and monitoring of workshop production. The greater awareness of the production status that it provides, together with information in real time, enables the workshop manager to anticipate possible problems and delays in production and to take the necessary corrective actions. Moreover, being able to see the production in an interactive Gantt chart and balancing the workload between equivalent machines with a simple drag and drop, ensures a better use of resources.