Integrating Job Shop Systems Achieves True Small Shop Control

Allen Precision integrated three software products, each from a different vendor. The job shop had found each software program to be a sophisticated tool in its own right. If there's a cost-competitive 'integrated system' available that can do for Allen what this integrated system comprising different vendor's products does, Allen is unaware of it. Once Allen integrated CAD/CAM into the system, an increase occurred in actual efficiency of approximately 20%. Allen attributes that simply to having eliminated the tendency for people to say "well this is the way I think it ought to work"-that's now taken out of the process.

There are integrated, single-vendor software packages available, which may suit the needs of a job shop. It is more likely, however, that smaller shops and manufacturers begin by buying one software package to solve an immediate need. Later, another perceived need is solved by another software program. Eventually, the shop has several software packages, all fulfilling specific needs.

At that point, it is time to consider integrating several shop software systems to preclude redundancies; and, as integration did at Allen Precision, Asheboro, North Carolina, it can lead to higher efficiency levels, reduced variances and more consistent estimate-vs.-actual results. Integration at this time can bring the benefits of increased productivity that accrue to any closed-loop system.

As job shop workloads begin climbing, it is time to look at the "invisible" part of your shop software operations. For the smaller shop, which typically buys off-the-shelf software, there are lost efficiencies, compared to manufacturers which can buy integrated systems costing tens of thousands of dollars. However, achieving those same efficiencies with software that may even be better for smaller companies, is within the reach of every job shop and small manufacturer.

Consider one, quick example. When shops begin with an accurate estimate, or find software that helps do so, the whole profitability picture can be affected if the process engineer ignores the layout and uses different speeds/feeds for the CAM programs. Similarly, redundant program or administrative procedures also rob you of valuable resources. Yet, many software products naturally will overlap with other products you use, creating redundancy.

In 1988 Allen purchased Smart Shop. The shop previously relied upon job cards, but sought a method to provide more control. Like most shop floor control packages, Smart Shop tracks each job, having knowledge of every job's location in the shop, at any time; before Allen accepts a job, it knows whether this job made money the last time it ran, and how much must be earned this time. Because Allen can compare the estimated versus actual hours after the job, it can spot problems. Allen has a simple, computerized means of tracking quotes with Smart Shop, and has a higher degree of control to the whole process of making the part.

By 1989 Allen found itself becoming buried under an increasing quote request load; lead times were growing shorter; and customers demanded quote turnaround in a day. Allen still was attempting to keep up by manually computing its estimates. Now, instead of receiving a print in the mail, with one or two weeks to respond, more and more customers faxed the print and wanted the quote within 24 hours-sometimes sooner. Allen began to look for a computer system to help with the burgeoning estimating task. Owner Charles Allen was doing all the quoting, and began breaking in his son, Lee, to the task, but "there simply was no way to get all of our feeds and speeds into my brain," Lee remembers. Allen looked at several systems, actually evaluated one over a long period before rejecting it, and finally purchased the Machine Shop Estimating system from Micro Estimating Systems.

Allen began using MSE to estimate parts, side by side with the manual estimate. After a few weeks the company sent actual computer generated quotes to customers and computer generated layouts to the shop floor. In addition to the time-savings and accuracy, Allen found consistency was an important benefit. What became quite clear is the impact of machine tool setup time. On the small amount of parts, ones, twos, fives and tens, Allen probably was not charging enough on the part, on the 500, 5,000 whatever those quantities Allen was charging too much.

During 1994 Allen purchased its first CAD/CAM system. At $12,000, it wasn't an inexpensive package. After nine months of frustration with incorrect NC output coding, the company threw out the package. A three-week trial of the TekSoft CAD/CAM went so well that Allen switched to TekSoft. Now, rather than dedicating one person to programing the parts and having the operators program the machines, the operators program both the parts and the machines.

Whether the job shop owner already has stand-alone software packages for designing, quoting, shop-floor control, CAD/CAM or NC, or is just beginning to look at new software packages, achieving software efficiencies is possible at reasonable cost. Several years ago, as its workload began climbing, Allen started to look at that "invisible" part of the software operations. Allen asked itself-What does it really take to bring a sophisticated order into our shop and to get it out? Allen started with the telephoned quote request and followed that as it became an order, and finally shipped. It was revealing to discover just how much work must be done up-front, just to quote a part and enter an order-before the paperwork ever gets to the shop floor.

First, Allen turned to shop floor control to watch real costs and avoid shrinking profits. In the earlier example, when estimators and process engineers work with differing numbers, it is a challenge to standardize and synchronize each depart-ment's data source.

Next, Allen installed computer-aided job estimating to simplify the tedious, detailed number crunching. But in addition to using computer aided estimating to standardize quoting activities, Allen soon found MSE sped the process and as well as simplified teaching estimating to younger employees.

Allen then asked what it could do to streamline the work flow. One thing became clear: there was redundancy between Smart Shop and MSE-most of the standard information was being reentered. Allen approached the software vendors, and received their cooperation for an interface between its estimating and shop-floor control software systems. (The reader might correctly point out that many shop-floor control packages also include "estimating," but often these packages simply offer a quoting capability, not a true estimating functionality.)

Within a few months, Allen began a new procedure, by which the clerical staff types all pertinent information into the estimating system. The estimator prepares and prints the quote. Since shops may prepare multiple quotes for a customer's part, there's no reason to export an estimate to Smart Shop until the order is received. When that quote does becomes an order, the staff adds the PO number to the estimate and exports the estimate information directly into the shop floor control system, which then creates the order. In the shop control package, everything previously prepared in estimating is available. Changes can be made, if necessary, and all of the shop travellers are printed.

With the arrival of the TekSoft CAD/CAM package, another opportunity to improve the shop efficiency soon became apparent. When comparing estimated with actual results, Allen noticed the actual often was not as close as the original tests between MSE and the manual methods. The cause of the problem soon was apparent; job shops that track variances between estimates and actual jobs, know the difference must lie somewhere between the estimator and the manufacturing engineer. Allen kept finding variances whenever the machinist on the floor disagreed with the estimator: "There's no way you'll ever run carbide that fast," "or you'll never do this or you'll never do that." Sound familiar?

Allen realized that estimators and process control engineers often would disagree on speeds/feeds, leading to continuing production cost discrepancies. In both MSE and TekSoft, machine speeds and feeds are required: MSE has a comprehensive speeds/feeds library; in TekSoft, the operators choose the speeds/feeds from a book or from their experience. Sharing the fine MSE speeds/feeds library by TekSoft would almost certainly preclude such variances in the future, but it wouldn't be as simple as it had been to integrate Smart Shop and MSE. Along with other job shops that use both MSE and TekSoft software, Allen discussed the idea with the vendors.

So, once the shop specific tables on speeds, feeds, rates and costs are in place, it makes good sense to ensure that everyone works with the same numbers. By integrating this-speeds/feeds-with the CAD/CAM and Estimating functions, Allen recognized that once it had a part estimate, it would know that the cost for making that part would not show up as a variance.

In the estimating program, after selecting the material and the machine on which the job will run, each particular tool is selected. The speeds and feeds are chosen automatically, based upon the material, the machine and the tooling.

By forcing the two software programs to use the same figures, Allen is sure to hear from the machine operator when something looks wrong or can't be run as shown on the process layout printed by MSE. When that occurs, and once Allen determines exactly which figures are correct, it modifies the shared database. Allen knows the speeds/feeds database it built for use with MSE is correct. But there are valid reasons for those figures to be wrong, such as tool wear or aging machinery. In the past, there typically was no feedback to correct the wrong information.

Today the two products share a single speeds/feeds database. It has precluded the chance of redundancy and errors. When Allen gets a new machine, or when an aging machine must be pampered, it only has to change one set of figures. "I believe that this shared speeds/feeds library is an advantage few other CAD/CAM packages offer, especially for users now accustomed to constantly updating two disparate databases with the same information Allen has used the shared library since February, 1996, but continues to customize the information by providing feedback from the shop floor regarding actual manufacturing conditions, as they relate to speeds and feeds. Nearly all of Allen Precision's machine tools use DNC to link into the company network, so when the operators pull up their next job drawing on TekSoft, their CAM program matches the estimate.

When the operator or manufacturing engineer prepares the machine program, he already has the drawing and the process layout from MSE. He can use 1/2 inch carbide end-mill chosen by the estimator, or he still can say, "no, I want to use a 3/4 end-mill." He still can customize the job in the CAM program the way he believes it should be machined.

At month end, the Smart Shop Job Summary report shows Allen the actual versus estimated results, and shows the variances. Anytime the variance exceeds 5-10%, that's a red flag for the company. They ask why it happened? What can be done to improve? What broke down in the system that caused the job to run other than as estimated?

As can be seen, job shops and smaller manufacturers can achieve the heralded advantages and efficiencies promised by today's "integrated systems," known by terms like Manufacturing Execution Systems or Enterprise Resource Planning. These systems, however, encompass many functions that the typical job shop does need to automate. A simple, but effective integrated system that will ensure that the estimate and actual costs agree, plus a way to know when they do not, can be a priceless software tool.

For more information about Micro Estimating Systems contact:
Chuck Beyer
Micro Estimating Systems, Inc.
11217 West Forest Home Avenue #3
Franklin, WI 53132
414-427-8300
Fax 414-427-8301

For more information about Allen Precision contact:
Lee Allen
Allen Precision
Asheboro, NC
910-625-0254
Fax 910-626-5358