Location: 21465 Reinbek, Germany · Industry: Mechanical engineering, plant engineering, feed technology, process engineering, metalworking · Products: Pellet presses, extruders, dryers, mills and plants for feed, biomass, recycling and process engineering · ERP: SAP ERP · Website: https://www.akahl.com/de/ · S4P modules: FELIOS|BDE powered by 4BDE
Initial situation
Manufacturing at Amandus Kahl GmbH & Co. KG, with around 500 employees, is characterised by complex workflows, high variant diversity and demanding requirements in machine and plant engineering. Pellet presses, extruders, dryers and mills for feed, biomass and recycling applications are produced in extensive manufacturing projects. In this environment, the need for continuous real-time data from production is growing, to assess states, progress and deviations quickly and reliably. The ERP system SAP ERP covers commercial core processes; a complementary solution for transparent shop-floor data collection was required.
Challenge
Without sufficient transparency in production data, it becomes considerably more difficult to reliably monitor manufacturing processes, detect disruptions early and make well-founded decisions for shop-floor management and production control. In a complex production environment with high quality requirements and long lead times, a digital connection between ERP and shop floor was essential. Manual feedback was time-delayed, error-prone and did not provide a reliable basis for post-calculation and deadline monitoring.
Solution
S4P delivered a solution for structured capture and use of production data to improve transparency across manufacturing processes. This creates a reliable data basis for production control, process deviation analysis and continuous improvement on the shop floor. FELIOS|BDE powered by 4BDE is bidirectionally connected to SAP ERP: order and master data flow automatically into the BDE solution, feedback data is reliably returned to SAP. Operators report times, quantities and fault reasons directly at the terminal; shift supervisors and manufacturing management receive a current overview of order progress and capacity utilisation.
Results and benefits
Greater availability and usability of production data enable processes to be controlled and evaluated with higher transparency. This supports faster responses to deviations, improves the data basis for shop-floor management and creates an important foundation for more efficient workflows and data-driven production improvement. Disruptions are detected earlier, capacities are planned more effectively and the quality of SAP feedback data is sustainably enhanced.