It takes 8 weeks and 24 to 28 phases to produce a ceramic sensor, which is a sophisticated sensing device used in acoustic sounders for ships, ultrasound scanners for hospitals, aircraft engines and other modern electronic equipment.

Despite the extensive production process, the Danish manufacturer Ferroperm Piezoceramics has so far had to rely on gut feeling for measuring the expenses for producing the individual products.

Ferroperm has replaced their old financial system with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, which also helps keep track of the production. However, there was a missing link in the solution; the ability to automatically collect data from the production process.

Celenia Webforms now constitute this link. In practice, Celenia Webforms is a web-based interface for Dynamics NAV. A summary of Ferroperm’s production data is created via a bar code scanner and is imported into the ERP system via Webforms. ”Now we have access to the necessary facts to make informed decisions that we can feel confident about,” said Finance Manager Brian Jensen, who is responsible for the implementation of Ferroperm’s new IT system.

Without Celenia Webforms, Ferroperm Piezoceramics would have had to buy an absurd number of full licenses for Microsoft Dynamics NAV – one for each scanner - to accomplish the task, which would have been a complicated and expensive solution.

Simple, inexpensive and stable solution
”If it wasn’t for Celenia Webforms, the only solution would have been to buy an absurd number of full NAV licenses. That would have been total overkill. Instead, we have Celenia Webforms in the production area. The staff scan the order when they start a production, and again when it is completed,” said Brian Jensen. ”It is a minor procedure, but it gathers information that is very important to us. Recording processing time is crucial for us and now we get precise information about the time consumption.

“If an employee scans an order of a thousand units into Celenia Webforms when he starts production, and six hours later records that 748 of these units work and 252 are waste, we have gathered valuable information in a simple and secure way. We can actually track-and-trace each individual order and process,” Brian Jensen explains.

New knowledge facilitates cost-effective production
Brian Jensen emphasizes that the intent is not to supervise employees, but solely to get overview of the waste and time consumption associated with the production of each product. The high-tech production method means that up to 250 parallel orders are in production at the same time.

”Now we set up production routes and parts lists for every product, which enables us to estimate the production in advance. We know exactly where a product is in the process and a warning pops up on screen if we get behind schedule. Furthermore, we can keep the customer posted,” Brian Jensen explains.

With the implementation of Celenia Webforms, the second phase of Ferroperm’s new IT solution is completed. Next is the third and final phase, a Business Intelligence system to help the company maximize the benefits of the new data.

”But we can already conclude that some products are too costly to produce, so we are going to have to say goodbye to some products, and possibly also some customers, when we get a good look at the numbers,” Brian Jensen foresees.

Download testimonial in pdf