Location: 67227 Frankenthal, Germany · Industry: Turbomachinery, mechanical engineering, plant engineering, service, assembly, metalworking · Products: Turbocompressors, steam turbines, turbo blowers, service and spare-part components for turbomachinery · ERP: SAP ERP · Website: https://www.howden.com/en-gb/contact-us/locations/europe/howden-turbo-de · S4P modules: FELIOS|BDE powered by 4BDE
Initial situation
Manufacturing at Howden Turbo GmbH is characterised by complex processes and demanding quality requirements in turbomachinery and plant engineering. With around 580 employees, turbocompressors, steam turbines and turbo blowers are manufactured. With the ERP system SAP ERP as the central data source, production and shop-floor data collection were to be more closely integrated and transparency in manufacturing increased. Manual feedback routes between the shop floor and ERP led to information delays and increased entry effort.
Challenge
Without continuous, current capture of production data, actual manufacturing progress and possible delays were difficult to track in a timely manner. The goal was to capture operating data directly in the manufacturing process and evaluate it transparently. In the complex turbomachinery environment with long lead times and high quality standards, reliable feedback from production was decisive for meeting delivery commitments and reacting early to deviations. In addition, the solution had to cover the interface to SAP ERP and the existing APS system seamlessly.
Solution
To optimise its manufacturing processes, Howden Turbo GmbH relies on FELIOS|BDE powered by 4BDE, connected to the leading SAP ERP system as well as the FELIOS|APS planning system. Order, production and operating data are thereby used end-to-end to enable transparent production control and pre- and post-calculation. Feedback is captured directly at the shop-floor terminal; data flows automatically back into SAP and is available for evaluations, deadline monitoring and cost analysis. Shift supervisors and manufacturing management always have a current overview of order progress and capacity utilisation.
Results and benefits
With the flexible shop-floor data collection solution, Howden Turbo GmbH achieved higher transparency in manufacturing. Production data is captured in real time, processes are better understood and deadlines are met more reliably — delivering greater on-time delivery performance and efficiency. Manual records have been largely replaced, data quality for SAP feedback improved and a solid basis for the analysis of lead times and production costs established.