WOCA has increased production by 20% – same manpower

”Without ROB-EX, WOCA Denmark would not have improved efficiency to the extent that we have – and certainly not as rapidly. WOCA has been able to shut down the nightshift, thanks to ROB-EX – and we have increased day-time production by 20% – without additional manpower”, says Jesper Hornsleth Jacobsen, Head of Production (WOCA). WOCA Denmark develops and produces environmentally friendly wood care products.

ROB-EX optimises all processes in mixing – filling – packing production

With ROB-EX, WOCA Denmark is able to view the entire process from the mixing of the product in vats and tanks to the filling of finished product into buckets, canisters and other types of containers for liquids. Scheduling and coordinating of production, quality control and the filling department are carried out in ROB-EX.

”It is amazing!”, exclaims Jesper Hornsleth. ”Now that WOCA has implemented ROB-EX, we are able to utilise our resources much more efficiently – both as regards machines and manpower. By pooling orders and leveling production over the whole work week, WOCA utilises capacity optimally and the result is that we make optimal use of our time.”

A positive impact on everything from purchasing to production, stock control and sales

All production orders at WOCA Denmark are initiated by sales orders. Production is both MTO (make to order) and MTS (make to stock). Sales orders are imported into ROB-EX from the ERP system, and the finished production plan is exported back into the ERP system. This makes it possible for both internal sales and stock personnel to see when products are ready for delivery. ROB-EX has been instrumental in releasing liquidity as the amount of funds tied in stock has decreased, and the promised delivery times have become much more accurate and reliable – and customer communication has improved as well:

”WOCA has improved customer services, we have shortened delivery times and we are now able to handle inquiries that we used to have to reject off-hand. All of this is due to ROB-EX providing us with a complete and continuously updated overview of production capacity,” says Jesper Hornsleth Jacobsen.

We are in complete control – reporting and feedback from production in real time

WOCA Denmark has recently implemented ROB-EX TimeTrackerShop Floor Operator on each machine separately, in the production and filling departments. Operators are able to see the production scheduled for execution for the next two weeks. The operators report  production start and completion directly into the plan. This means that Jesper Hornsleth Jacobsen is able to follow production in real time, and is kept updated on progression at all times.

”It means EVERYTHING! We have eyes on all aspects of production and are able to detect all deviations immediately,” Jesper Hornsleth Jacobsen explains.  ”If anything unforeseen happens, we are now able to notify customers immediately – communication with our customers is the be all and end all for us.”

WOCA now approaches production proactively –  no idle capacity

With TimeTacker, Jesper Hornsleth Jacobsen and Jim Grytner have a complete overview of actual production output compared to planned output, and they are able to act proactively when there is idle capacity somewhere in production. ”We know that the machines are able to meet the planned output, as we have set up standards for production time for each product,” Jesper Hornsleth Jacobsen continues, ”WOCA updates and adjusts standards for production time continuously. We generally operate with positive tolerances when we set up standard production times  – as both machines and operators operate more efficiently with optimal scheduling. We are continuously updated on progress – we no longer have idle production capacity, unless this is deliberately scheduled. When we do so, we are now able to schedule the allocation of the affected operators to other assignments in advance.”

Jesper Hornsleth now characterises production as ”boring – in the best possible way”. ”We no longer experience chaos – and we no longer require operators to work overtime. Everyone is kept updated on assignments, and this means improved work satisfaction. Our Supply Chain staff have a calm and productive working day, where they experience a department in full control of things. If something goes wrong in the scheduling process, we now have an overview of precisely where we need to address the given problem, and we can simulate a number of different scenarios in ROB-EX and choose the solution that has the least detrimental impact on our customers.”