Production in surface technology involves complex processes and the use of a variety of chemicals and hazardous substances shaped. Managing them presents companies with significant challenges: legal regulations, quality assurance and safety requirements must be met while increasing efficiency and productivity. The presented innovative software solution for the Warehouse and hazardous materials management offers intuitive recording and comprehensive networking of all operational areas. The goal is to be quick and easy to obtain an overview of the processes while ensuring safety and environmental protection.
Many companies in all industrial sectors are faced with the task of digitizing their processes and finding suitable digital applications for them to find specific needs. This is difficult because software solutions already exist in some operational areas other areas still work analogously. There are also a variety of software solutions on the market, but they are often not specific to them requirements of the electroplating industry. The biggest challenge is the lack of communication skills among different people applications to each other.
PDB systems (Production Data Base) are used in production, LIMS (Laboratory Information and Management Systems) are used in the laboratory, and ERP systems (Enterprise Resource Planning) help in corporate planning. Although these applications make individual operational areas more efficient design, a holistic overview of the processes is often missing. These isolated solutions lead to a confusing flood of data and are difficult to manage Risk of data loss. In addition to this digital data processing, operational communication often takes place analogously - for example in the form of written routing slips or oral agreements. This makes it difficult to obtain a systematic overview of the status of operational processes.
One example is the management of company warehouses. Almost every operational area has a warehouse, from the administration to the Production through to chemical storage. While in the administrative area it is relatively easy to manage physical things like PCs, printers, toner or Managing telephones is a much more complex task in production. The spare parts warehouse is often still well organized. The Challenge starts with chemical storage.
At this point, physical inventory management is no longer sufficient. Here comes the management of each chemical associated with it Requirements such as hazardous substance labeling, storage status, best-before labels, storage quantity regulations, to name just a few. The particular challenge here is to meet the demands of the legislature. Becoming more and more common due to changing Evaluation standards for chemicals with regard to risk assessments for people and the environment have changed the storage conditions. That requires a permanent update of the safety data sheets as well as correct assessment of the chemicals and a quick implementation of the resulting measures resulting demands.
Standard storage systems often cannot meet these specific requirements.
Efficient warehouse management and secure chemical storage
The modular software makes it possible to represent each operational area as an independent unit. Bearings can be customized and customized structured as needed, for example:
Spare parts warehouse
Operating and auxiliary materials
Chemical storage
Stock upper and lower limits can be defined for each product, which are linked to alerts. For example, is the capacity When a hazardous materials storage facility is exhausted, a warning message is displayed immediately. The same applies to small quantities. The user defines for each product its minimum quantities and critical stocks, taking into account delivery times and delivery quantities, for example, in order to ensure a smooth Ensure operational flow. Automatic notifications to responsible people make it easier to place orders on time.
To ensure complete management of chemicals, safety data sheets and operating instructions for handling the chemicals are provided Chemicals are stored and managed directly in the software with the date to be viewed. Clear selection criteria provide insight Hazard classifications, storage classes and water hazard classes. The minimum shelf life of the chemicals is also taken into account, so that older batches are preferred. The data structure of the chemicals can be flexibly adjusted.
Many companies in the electroplating industry are now obliged to comply with all of the above-mentioned legal requirements for chemical handling.
to create a sustainability report and determine the CO2 footprint for locations and products. This aspect is also discussed in the
Software taken into account. If CO2 data is provided by the product manufacturer, this can be stored when the chemicals are created.
Through these functions, the data platform can help companies not only ensure the safety of their employees but also meet future requirements
with regard to environmental and sustainability considerations.
Automation and digitalization of processes
To further accelerate processes, the software supports automatic image recognition to record arrivals and departures. The Implementation of RFID technology (Radio Frequency Identification) also enables automated booking of material movements. Objects are read as they pass through barriers and corresponding bookings are made. All movements are traceable because they must be acknowledged by the responsible persons and subsequently documented. These functions guarantee both process security and allocation of the activities to responsible persons.
Linking all operational areas
A key advantage of the software is the integration of existing systems such as PDB, ERP and LIMS. This networking allows seamless Data exchange and thus communication between all operational areas. In addition, work instructions can be sent automatically to relevant people be transmitted. The integrated quality management module ensures compliance with standards.
By transparently displaying the flow of goods, material flow, production processes and information flows, the software enables efficient Control of the entire production processes - an essential step in the digitalization of surface technology.
Conclusion
The presented modular data platform offers an innovative option for storage and hazardous materials management. It improves transparency and Efficiency of production processes, reduces resource consumption and reduces costs. At the same time, it ensures the safety of people and people Environment and supports companies in meeting current requirements such as sustainability and carbon accounting. This becomes an important one Contribution to the future viability of the electroplating industry.
Authors: Fabian Herbst, Dr. Elke Spahn, Frank Benner, Sigrid Frey
Your BAG team
Back