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Industrial machinery

Lantech.com
Mass customization speeds machinery design

Products NX, Teamcenter Business initiatives New product development Value chain synchronization Commonization and re-use Business challenges Produce more machines without increasing employees or equipment Respond quickly with customized solutions for clients needs Keys to success A product configurator that drives 3D design Re-use of engineering data for purchasing and assembly Managed workflows Results 4X work done by same size staff in same amount of space (vs. 2D process) Order processing down from four days to four hours

NX and Teamcenter help a secondary packaging machine manufacturer cut order processing time from four days to four hours
Endless variety in secondary packaging Almost everything that is produced or delivered, from vehicle parts to mobile phones, is packaged in one way or another. In addition to the immediate product packaging, there is usually

additional packaging geared towards transportation. This packaging, known as secondary packaging, happens at the end of the production line, and the machines that do this work, also known as end-ofline packaging machines, are the specialty of the Dutch-American company, Lantech. The variety of secondary packaging is almost endless. The Lantech.com branch in the Netherlands known as Rembrandt Packaging prior to the merger with

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Results (continued) Cost savings of 85 percent in order processing Shorter production lead times Greater accuracy in supplier specifications;more discounts

Lantech in 2001 specializes in case packing machines while the American company focuses on pallet wrapping machines. Both branches and all the other outlets sell and deliver our entire product line, says FrankWijers who, as Lantech.coms plant manager, is responsible for internal order processing, engineering, production and delivery of the machines. The lines between who does what are blurring. Lantech.coms three biggest product lines are case packing machines, palletizing machines and pallet wrappers. Cases are erected using the case packing machines. (Erecting is the industrys word for unfolding the case automatically, shaping it and then stabilizing it using either tape or glue.) Cases are then filled and closed. Palletizing machines carefully place the cases on a pallet. Then pallet wrappers ensure that the pallets can be safely transported by wrapping the cases with film. Lantech.coms wrappers not only wrap right-angled packaging products, but also irregularly shaped ones, in such a way that the pallet is efficiently wrapped and the products will not be damaged during shipping. Clients define their machines With 400 employees, Lantech.com has an international presence. Direct client contact is maintained through its own branches as well as distributors in coun-

tries on every continent. Other sales are handled through channels where the Lantech machines are included as a component in a larger production line. This could be done through so-called technical integrators, which are companies that set up production lines and want to integrate a packaging unit at the end, Wijers explains. It is also done by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers of major packaging lines who order the end-of-line products from us. Our machines are a relatively small but important cog in the works when it comes to the whole system. Clients can define their own machinery through configurators made available by Lantech. We used to make a specific machine for each client, says Frank van Loon who, as Lantech.coms senior project coordinator, is responsible for the completion of major assignments, including engineering, procurement, construction and client contact. We tailored every dimension that the client wanted. But we stopped doing that almost ten years ago. After researching where the majority of the turnover lay, we began to standardize. Lantech developed an automated product configurator to build machines to customer specifications using the NX digital

The same thing applies to the NX models. The models are strictly structured and everyone who knows their way around NX can quickly work out how the relations in the model are constructed.
Frank van Loon Senior Project Coordinator Lantech.com

product development and Teamcenter digital lifecycle management solutions from Siemens PLM Software. A clients input is entered into NX, which was acquired in the late 90s. NX was then called Unigraphics. The input is processed using the product family concept. The clients choices, such as range of cases and speed, are converted into control parameters for NX, explains van Loon. Machine parts are automatically modeled in NX, while other machine components that are not needed are omitted from the design. In this way we create a clientspecific machine. When necessary, certain items are designed from scratch to complete the project. This might be the connection to other machines, for example, or the control components the client wants. Copies are made of client-specific parts, and these are assigned new numbers. The other components of the machine already exist as items in the Teamcenter engineering process management system, which was acquired at the same time as Unigraphics, as well as in the companys logistics system. Part family members and their order-related derivative models are also managed in Teamcenter. The rules employed in the product configurator are documented centrally and are managed as working capital. The same thing applies to the NX models, says van Loon. The models are strictly structured

and everyone who knows their way around NX can quickly work out how the relations in the model are constructed. In this way,maintenance is guaranteed and not tied to one person. Improvements benefit the bottom line The motives for the use of the product configurator are primarily economic. Lantech is a technology driven company, says Wijers. We are continuously striving for the optimization of our processes, which we endeavor to reach through technically progressive solutions. By examining the concept of client-specific from a different angle, we have managed to cut the time necessary to start procurement on an order from four days to less than half a day for regular orders. This is a cost savings of some 85 percent. In addition, the company can employ proven technology and does not have to constantly reinvent the wheel. This has shrunk production lead times. Also supplier specifications are more accurate, procurements are made at greater discounts and warranty and servicing costs are lower. And we are doing almost four times as much with the same number of people in the same square footage as we were doing ten years back, Wijers adds. Efficiency extends to supplier relationships To accelerate the procurement process, ordering is done digitally, as much as

Solutions/Services NX www.siemens.com/nx Teamcenter www.siemens.com/teamcenter Customers primary business Lantech.com specializes in case packing machines, palletizing machines and pallet wrappers. www.lantech.com Customer location Cujik Netherlands Where NX and Teamcenter contribute hugely is when it comes to the quality and consistency of the data. Frank van Loon Senior Project Coordinator Lantech.com

possible. The parts list is sent from Teamcenter to the ERP system. This is the basis for the order, which consists of both the order data as well as the geometrical information that the supplier needs. We always send a PDF file of the design, containing all the details that are relevant to the production, says van Loon. The geometric description is delivered as a STEP or DXF file, so that it can be immediately processed, van Loon notes. We are becoming more demanding with respect to this. We expect our suppliers to cooperate when it comes to the flexibility and speed that is demanded of us, and that means optimizing and automating the procurement process. Lantech does draw a distinction in this regard between the local suppliers in the Netherlands and those in low-wage countries. The former are more expensive, which clients are often prepared to pay for as long as they get something in return. Lean thinking is important to us to achieve optimal production capacity and highquality work, says Wijers. That must be the rule no exceptions, and that includes our suppliers. A foundation for the future The assembly process is supported by documentation that is made available in an order-based manner on the shop floor where there is access to designs and exploded views, among other things. Where NX and Teamcenter contribute hugely is when it comes to the quality and consistency of the data, says van Loon. Furthermore, thanks to all the improvements in the engineering output, we have managed to do four times as much as compared to the 2D era. We have witnessed a dramatic rise in the level of the quality of the engineering data both with respect to the models and the

information for third parties such as suppliers and assembly. The six mechanical engineers in the Netherlands who use NX and Teamcenter are supported by managed workflows designed for speed, including the approval process. Lantech is implementing the process management functionality of Teamcenter, which will help the company prepare for a future where strong growth is expected. According toWijers,managed workflows guarantee the quality of the processes and cut the training time for new employees. Another important future project is the further integration of the Dutch and American organizations. Although the former boundaries between the companies are becoming increasingly blurred,Wijers would also like to see the geographic distance ceasing to play a role. We are now studying the coordination of procedures, working methods and standards, he says. The first step will be the ability to look into each others Teamcenter databases. When the groundwork is complete, we will easily move to Teamcenter multi-site functionality. Then it will no longer matter where something is done, as long as it is innovative, fast and high quality in the Lantech style.

Siemens Industry Software Americas +1 314 264 8499 Europe +44 (0) 1276 413200 Asia-Pacific +852 2230 3308 www.siemens.com/plm
2013 Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. Siemens and the Siemens logo are registered trademarks of Siemens AG. D-Cubed, Femap, Geolus, GO PLM, I-deas, Insight, JT, NX, Parasolid, Solid Edge, Teamcenter, Tecnomatix and Velocity Series are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other logos, trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of their respective holders. Z3 14313 9/13 F

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