TOSHULIN

With an extremely complex product and unpredictable order flows, Czech-based TOSHULIN implemented IFS Applications to improve gain the flexibility it needed to run its business efficiently. Now the component-based software from IFS is helping TOSHULIN increase productivity, improve order planning, and streamline manufacturing processes.

Complex ETO Manufacturing Required Flexible Solutions

TOSHULIN produces in an engineerto-order mode. Although based on standard designs and components, machines are highly customized— sometimes as much as 60 percent. And the long production cycles, 6–14 months, mean that changes in customer specification are very common. At times, when a contract is signed, the customer reports only a handful of requirements, with a detailed specification being developed later by the customer in cooperation with the TOSHULIN design department. Consequently, the workload in the plant varies a lot. 

A couple of years ago, the company started to use IT tools to manage the manufacturing process. However, the special demands of the  company’s manufacturing process, production management, delivery planning, and capacity optimization are very complex. Each machine tool requires individual deliveries of materials and components, as well as specific manufacturing capacities. 

Design processes proved the most difficult to support using IT technology, despite the fact that engineers use computer tools and a substantial part of the documentation is already available electronically. However, design is conceptual work, requiring problems to be identified and solved. Additionally, frequent changes in designs caused by customer expectations or technical issues make it difficult to develop an accurate schedule for design work.  Consequently, the manufacturing department works under constant pressure. “We have to schedule manufacturing under enormous uncertainty. At times, the only law prevailing seems to be Murphy’s,” concludes Martin Kvapilík, internal audit director in TOSHULIN. 

Overview Pinpointed IFS as Best Match

Implementation was preceded by a constraint-based, detailed assessment of the manufacturing structure in TOSHULIN in cooperation with IFS and Altec consultants. The results revealed two bottlenecks—the market, because of the highly specialized nature of the product and unpredictable trends, and the design department, where customer change requests and technical problems are coordinated. 

TOSHULIN purchased a production management solution founded on IFS Applications, and based on the dynamic order processing (DOP) Seiban model, where all order-related activities are assigned a single DOP header (Seiban). This makes it easy to create an order tree and make changes, track performance, and maintain control over the manufacturing process. 

Based on the original assessment, an entire manufacturing process was reengineered to make it compliant with the requirements of the design departments. Constraint-based scheduling was abandoned, with more focus on time control in the design departments. Milestones and checkpoints in the production process were modified. The order planning method changed as well. “The main changes are in planning and processes,” says Martin Kvapilík. Aside from IFS Manufacturing and IFS Distribution, the company also implemented maintenance and financials components from IFS Applications.

Shorter Lead Times

By reengineering the manufacturing process and implementing the manufacturing solution, lead times for certain DOP orders have been reduced by about 50 percent. “The system is one big training session for us. Style of thinking, how to manage things—it teaches us a lot,” comments Martin Kvapilík. 

The manufacturing solution based on IFS Applications has currently 180 users. It includes nearly 700 Seibans and more than 250,000 DOP orders, and stores 75,000 routings and 165,000 items. Of these, 75,000 are produced in-house, while the remaining 90,000 are purchased from external suppliers. The system repository contains more than 80,000 documents. 

All these achievements do not, however, seem to limit the potential of IFS Applications. TOSHULIN is planning to extend the scope of implementation to include change management, extended event server support and order delivery reporting in real time. “I often say to my colleagues that the system is big, and we have to grow if we want to fully utilize its capabilities,” concludes Martin Kvapilík.

About TOSHULIN

Established in 1949, TOSHULIN is headquartered in Hulin, in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. Initially, the  company’s activity focused on the manufacture of machine tools. In 1959, TOSHULIN produced its first vertical lathe with continuous drives, and with the NC line motion control system, equipped with a copying attachment. TOSHULIN, which has delivered more than 13,000 machine tools to 58 countries worldwide, has 370 employees, with 50 in the design department. Manufacture of vertical lathes and machining centers, with maintenance and upgrade services, yields annual revenue of €20 million. TOSHULIN maintains close links with the Technical University of Brno. The  company’s customers include Rolls-Royce, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. Other market segments include the oil industry, the transportation industry, the defense industry and the medical industry (producers of tomographs and X-ray machines).