software & controls
When a company becomes a vital link in the supply
chain of the global precision bearing industry every
facet of its operation must be tuned for maximum
efficiency. One such company is Sheffield-based Pen
Cutting Tools, and the best operational efficiency is
attained with the aid of ERP manufacturing software.
Driven by energy demand
There is a world
shortage of the
large bearings
used in wind
turbines -
currently a
three year wait”
WITHIN the nacelle of a wind turbine there are sets
of bearings in the drive-train that allow the transfer of the
rotation of the blades via a gearbox back to the generator.
There is also a large bearing at the base of each blade where
it is attached to the hub. These allow the pitch of the blade
to be trimmed according to wind conditions, to maximise
energy extraction and stop any torque overload during
high winds. Such has been the uptake in this renewable
source of energy that globally there is a shortage of the
large diameter special bearings required. As a supplier to
the companies that manufacture these bearings, Sheffieldbased
Pen Cutting Tools is under pressure to deliver.
Managing director John Shaw, explains: ‘Many of the
bearing suppliers are investing heavily to support
renewable energy projects, with wind and wave power
generation being the most favourable at present. These
bearings can go up to 4m in diameter and there is currently
a three-year wait for any large diameter bearings.’
Pen Cutting Tools has capacity to produce tooling and
driving units for the manufacture of bearing products up
to 600mm diameter, which cover most bearings currently
used on wind farms. The favoured design is twin spherical
bearings, featuring two roller tracks designed for the
relatively slow moving heavy loads. To match demand Pen
has expanded its production facilities from traditional
milling, turning and grinding to embrace high-speed
milling, 5-axis wire erosion and die sinking machines. All
of these processes are used to finish parts from engineering
plastics, tungsten carbide, diamond and hardened steel.
It’s not just the capital equipment that has seen
investment to improve productivity. A key purchase has
been Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) manufacturing
software from Seiki Systems - ‘purchased to replace an old
manufacturing system, which we had run for around 15
years. We had a new IT hardware system installed with a
networked server followed by the Seiki Systems software,’
says Shaw. In fact, Pen Cutting Tools was one of the first
companies in the UK to install the ERP software and a full
training package was provided to help the company get up
to speed as quickly as possible.
Shaw says the amount of time saved in the front office
by the software is incredible: ‘From the data input, the
software automatically develops documentation in a logical
way, from quotation to order right through to delivery note
and invoice. It avoids the duplication that was taking place
with our old system, keeping the whole process as
streamlined as possible.’
62 MWP may 2008
As it runs mainly small batches, the quoting process can
be a bottle-neck for the 25-strong company. However, the
search facility within the software allows similar jobs to be
found and essential information, such as margins, hours
booked and so on, viewed before any new quotes are
provided. John Shaw adds: ‘Searching the many jobs that
have been loaded on the system, within a couple of minutes
I can get a good feel for the process time required for a job.
Then I only need to update the material price. It requires
far less running around to track down the information.
The margin figure was set up for us by Seiki Systems. After
we told them how we worked it out, they duplicated that in
the system. It helps to highlight any jobs that were taken on
at too low a price and allows you to quote more accurately
the next time.’
Although accurately costing the wide variety of tooling
required to produce tightly tolerance bearings is vital to the
company's profitability, a quick turnaround is also
important. The lead time from design to production of a
bearing used to take four to five months, the goal now is to
do it in eight to 10 weeks, including prototyping and
tooling for production. This is not easy when the material
specified can have a three to five week lead time. To avoid
any material-specific delays consignment stocks of wear
parts and consumable tooling is held at the customer or by
Pen Cutting Tools. This is charged when the stock is used
and has helped the company win a number of contracts -
running as a Kanban system for solid carbide shoes, hot
forging tools and so on. A significant amount of raw
materials is also held.
Says Shaw: ‘I’m aware that we don't use every aspect of
the ERP software but it’s very flexible and the elements we
do use provide more than enough benefits. For example, I
can now track our turnover as invoices are issued, on an
hourly basis if I want, this is something we have never been
able to do. Previously it would have been an end of week
updated figure. The dynamic data allows us to alter what
we are doing to stay on top of the business. It also keeps
historical data so that we can track peaks and troughs to
help us address issues that occur throughout the year.’
The company will be looking at Seiki Systems
scheduling system soon to help manage the machine
loading on the shopfloor. And, if it is as flexible as the ERP
software and able to fall in-line with how the company has
to work with its customers it may well be the next
investment Pen Cutting Tools makes.
www.seikisystems.co.uk
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