The MAGIS CB application was created specifically for the cardboard and packaging production. It is a field-specific modification of the generic MAGIS application. It is mainly oriented towards custom production, where the parameters of each product type can be specified individually for each order. The parameters of each product affect the price calculation (the sale price and the production cost), the capacity plan (Both rough and the detailed one) and other calculations.

 

The MAGIS CB application was created specifically for the cardboard and packaging production. It is a field-specific modification of the generic MAGIS application. It is mainly oriented towards custom production, where the parameters of each product type can be specified individually for each order. The parameters of each product affect the price calculation (the sale price and the production cost), the capacity plan (Both rough and the detailed one) and other calculations. The application has built-in algorithms for calculations based on size and other parameters usually included for production of these kinds of products. MAGIS CB is designed both for production of single products and composed products (SETs), where each final product is completed by combining more separate parts.

Strengths of the MAGIS CB application

• Focus on specific production type and resulting ease of implementation. Pre-set processes and forms.
• Complete functional equipment. Very high rate of automation of processes usual for this kind of business, human resources cost savings, cost saving.
• Exact calculations of profitability of contracts and products.
• Increased quality of supplies. Meeting of deadlines, improvement in timeliness of deliveries due to the planning system. Improved reliability evaluation from the customers.
• Increased quality of production documentation, improved image of the company.

 

What the application can do

	Complete processing of the transaction process, from acceptance of the customer order to truck unloading.
	SCS (Supply Chain System). Electronic communication with customers and suppliers, allowing, among other things, for automation of the order acceptance by the system of the producer, order confirmation, etc. The interface serves for electronic communication between various systems of suppliers and customers through the “SCS core”.
	Automatic evaluation of received orders without the need of intervention from the salesman. Automatic check of set business conditions (credit limits, customer credibility check, exceptions to the rules). Order profitability check. The order delivery date immediately checked when the order is accepted, for preliminary (rough) capacity plan.
	Automation of the material requirement calculation process, material reservation and monitoring of the material availability in the storage. In case of using SCS/SCM functionality, checking the amount of available material at supplier.
	Automation of movement of the basic material (table paper, paper boards), all movements detected by bar-code reader.
	Detailed operative production plan (so called minute plan). Continuous updates of the production plan according to the actual production status.

Printing of complete product documentation of the order, unique identification of products (pallets / paper rolls).

	MES - on-line detailed production monitoring – detailed overview of current production progress and current activity of machines at any moment. Within the production process, it is possible to configure the machine in accordance with the information on the product label (bar-code on pallet / roll).
	Automated and fully unattended transferring of finished goods, by capturing bar-codes from pallets (pallets pass through checkpoints). There is also a reliable signalization of potential errors in this process (missing or damaged ID of pallet/roll, call of “human” attendant.
	Preparation of finished production distribution is also monitored (truck loading). Orders can be monitored from the point they enter production to their expedition, or unloading at the customer. Report about unloading is received by SMS from the hauler.
	The process of truck loading is automatized using mobile storage terminals (hand-held / pallet stackers).
	The billing process is fully automatized. Based on the loading process and other parameters (e.g. billing periodicity) the relevant document is issued and automatically sent to the customer. Automatic accounting of all documents created by the whole process is set up by default.
FSC / PEFC	Requirements for the FSC/PEFC certificate or other types of certificates involving chain of custody are registered within the commercial and production process. The application deals with related product labeling, identification papers and most importantly, allows controlling of the certificate conditions fulfillment for primary resources and certificates required from products.
	Continuous online informing of the customer about the status of his orders. Order backlogs, safety stock status.

 

The structure of MAGIS CB

The MAGIS CB system is partially based on standard modules of the generic application MAGIS PRO and is extended by specific modules. 

The standard modules, which are identical to the generic solution, secure financial and accounting operations and supply of material:

• ZA – supply and storage. Supply depots and stocks.
• ZA-NA – purchases. Standard application, which is part of MAGIS PRO.
• FI – Financial accounting
• UC – accounting, reporting and asset management
• MP – wages and human resources

Specific modules for given production types:

CB-P Sales (Business case management). Business records in the field of custom production. Detailed product parameterization is supported, as well as product pricing (based on product parameters), sales plan (dates of orders) considering production capacities, etc. Pre-defined templates, with the option of detailed parameterization are part of the application, e.g. for rolls of paper, cardboards (tables, flap boxes, shaped cuts), paper bags of different levels of complexity (with valves), various types of office paper, self-adhesive labels, etc. The detailed specification allows, based on given parameters, various relevant calculations including pricing (selling price and cost price). 

CB-V Technology, planning, production management. This is a module based on the generic application, designed for custom production management. The application supports technological preparation of production (technological sheets, calculations), rough capacity planning (capacity reservation in accordance with the workplace capacity) and on the more detailed level, also scheduling of operations for each machine. Includes detailed monitoring of the production process for each operation, with the differentiation of planned / executed operations. The planning mechanism supports dynamic calculation of preparation times according to the sequence of the operations on manufacturing machine. Within the production process, the products are monitored by using identification elements coded by bar-codes unique for each packaging unit (paper roll, pallet, etc.). The application supports process management in production of simple products (paper, boards, flap boxes, shaped cuts, etc.), but also the production of composite products (SETs), which involves montage of separately-made parts (boxes with inner equipment, paper stands, etc.). 

CB-MIS Business Analysis. Analysis of business actions sorted by various criteria. This application is an extension to the basic business application. 

RJ Quality management. Laboratory measurement records - connected to business and production records, issuing of certificates.

The application puts an emphasis on the continuous business case monitoring within the whole business and production process, coherence of information and its accessibility.

 

 

Business case

We put an emphasis on continuous, transparent and detailed monitoring of the business case (order) for the whole duration of the process. Meaning, the process is monitored from the initial price offering (framework agreement) and following trade agreement.  Within the business preparation of the order, the production capacities are reserved (rough capacity plan) and dates of delivery are confirmed. At the same time, within the technological preparation step, individual manufacturing operations, material costs or possible co-operations (if needed) are specified based on sample technological process. After the contract is confirmed by customer (or in advance), request for material inputs and reservation of those items is enabled.

Based on assigned technology, preliminary cost calculations for application of the business case can be made. Production and technological documentation needed for securing the manufacturing of the customer order is created and registered completely by the application. 

The application supports securing material by the Just-in-time method. Meaning making purchases just when it’s needed. The movement of items, specifically purchased for a certain purpose (order), which the customer order can’t be fulfilled without, are monitored by using mobile devices (mobile storage terminals) at the time of manipulation with those items, to prevent time losses. 

All operations of the production process can be closely monitored, as they are defined within the prescribed technology. The application allows detailed operation scheduling for manufacturing machines, including determination of their order and evaluation of preparation times, based on each specific order. The scheduling algorithm on this level of planning (detailed production plan) dynamically modifies the preparation time values by various criteria. The sequence of customer orders on each machine is taken into account, which considering the various parameters of each product, can greatly affect manufacturing times. The application supports dynamic recalculation of the preparation times provides a tool for minimizing the time losses. 

Executed operations are continuously labeled by machine operator by providing the actual manufacturing time values, the amount of manufactured goods and possible mismatches. This kind of monitoring provides important information for transport dispatcher and allows checking the actual times with prescribed standards. At the same time, it is possible to continuously check the customer order status and thus react in time in case of potential overdue deadlines. 

Continuous production monitoring simplifies the usage of bar-codes in the production process, which are in product documentation and on the product itself. Dispatcher (or foreman) has a panel he can use to monitor graphical representation of customer order status on each manufacturing machine, with detection of possible conflicts between plan and reality, or between the plan and terms of contract. 

Finished production (possibly certain intermediate products) is delivered to distribution warehouse and then distributed to customers with proper documentation, which is also secured by the application (delivery note, invoice, certificates). Monitoring of the whole process is designed so in the moment the contract is confirmed, it is possible to provide the customer with trustworthy information exact delivery date (with minute precision) and so possible threats to the delivery date are detected already during the production process. 

All transactions, which could be considered accounting operations, are continuously automatically processed based on pre-set accounting regulations. 

Well-arranged monitoring of accumulated business data and data about usage of production capacities is provided by managerial extension MIS, which has its own data warehouse, filled automatically directly from the application.

 

 

Detailed description of selected features

 

Detailed production planning – scheduling

The application supports detailed production planning. It is a tool for dispatcher, which allows him to schedule queued customer orders on each manufacturing machine. This module closely cooperates with the primary system. Within the features that are already in use, capacity reservation on the manufacturing machines and checking/scheduling of the date of completion, considering the reserved capacities, can be done based on data provided within the order, and proper technological documentation. The purpose of the module Operative production planning is to do detailed operation planning of the order, meaning distributing the order among the manufacturing machines. The application keeps track of each machine’s timeframe with minute precision, distinguishes between operating time and downtime and allows the dispatcher to place unassigned operations from entry queue to the timeline of the machines.

 

Planning module works with calculated runtime and based on order and parameters of operations it calculates the SetUp Time. The SetUp time depends on the sequence of customer orders on given machine and other parameters. So it is dynamically calculated and thus recalculated when a change in the sequence of orders occurs. This gives the dispatcher appropriate tool for minimizing the set-up time and for securing better utilization of the machine. The planning module has number of parameters allowing the best possible accuracy of calculations of the set-up times and run-times, with product parameters taken into account, for considering the test-run of given product, etc. Output of the planning is detailed graph of usage of the machine’s timeline with selected (minute precision by default) precision. Part of the outputs is checking for potential collisions within the compiled plan, e.g. check of key materials availability before the production is initiated, checking the production dates against the terms of contract, etc. Monitoring reality against the plans is supported by providing feedback in form of “shift report” and is part of the plan outputs.

 

 

Quality management

Processes of monitoring and checking quality allow registering of each laboratory measurement, evaluate those measurements and provide proper documentation (certificates, protocols). If further progress in production is dependent on results of those measurements, it is possible to connect that information directly to the production process.

 

Storage operations

The application supports direct management of the storage operations in palletized storage with use of mobile storage terminals. The storage terminals are best connected to the system by using the wireless RF network, but can also communicate offline. The application is used for immediate registering of primary material supplies (rolls of paper, tables of predefined scale / cuts).

The identification of paper rolls is done according to the recommendations of FEFCO / European Containerboard Organization. The records provide, among other things, information about movement and consumption of a specific roll and about stock level in all monitored metrics (m2, kg, number of rolls). For identification of boards, similar Identification of the manufacturer is used, allowing the determination of type of paper, quality and size of the board.

 

References

Smurfit Kappa Packaging Czech s.r.o., manufacturer of corrugated cardboard, cardboard and packaging

Smurfit Kappa Packaging Czech s.r.o – Morava paper, paper manufacturer.

Segezha Packaging s.r.o., packaging manufacturer (paper bags)

Obaly Morava a.s., manufacturer of corrugated cardboard, cardboard and packaging

Plojhar spol. s.r.o., manufacturer of cardboard, packaging

Mikes s.r.o., manufacturer of cardboard, packaging

BK Obal spol. s.r.o., manufacturer of cardboard, packaging

Multicorr s.r.o., supplier of primary material for packaging manufacturers