Lantek Sheetmetal News

Welcome to the summer edition of the quarterly UK newsletter from Lantek Systems. As a company in the sheetmetal industry we hope you will find it interesting and will wish to continue receiving it.

Lantek is a leader in sheetmetal software, with its Expert II and Expert III systems. These provide tools which will enable companies to optimise manufacturing methods, and reduce material usage while controlling costs and maintaining delivery schedules.

In the newsletter we will be featuring case studies which give an insight into how different enterprises in this sector operate, and how an investment in Lantek software has contributed to their success. Additionally, there will be news about new developments within the software, practical information about how to apply it for maximum benefit, as well as news about forthcoming events and special offers.

The Lantek Systems team

In this issue:

Emsea manages its growth with Expert III

Manufacturing management for the sheet metal industry Lantek provides consistent results for LaserMaster Contact Lantek Emsea manages explosive growth with Lantek Expert III

Recognising a gap in the subcontract laser market, Chris Sweet and Mark Causer set up Emsea in Tewkesbury to meet the requirements of manufacturers in the South West of England. Starting with a Mazak X48 Hi-PRO laser in 2004, success was immediate, with the company producing parts for a wide range of applications including prestige vehicles, agricultural equipment and architectural structures.

Chris Sweet’s knowledge of Lantek made the software his natural choice for programming the Mazak. “Lantek Expert II was an essential element of the company start up. The nesting is good and we utilise its common line cutting, tag, and micro jointing capabilities.” Because of the huge variety of parts which it produces, Emsea makes use of both automatic and manual nesting, depending on the nature of the job, in order to optimise its material usage. Lantek’s nesting considers the complete range of parts required, including components scheduled for remanufacture. By automatically infilling large parts with smaller ones, and considering sheet remnants, the software adds to its customer’s efficiency and cost saving.

Since Emsea started, turnover has trebled, reaching nearly £2 million. This increase in revenue put a considerable strain on its business systems, so the company needed to find a more efficient way of managing quotations and the progress of jobs, thereby ensuring that it maintained high levels of customer satisfaction. Chris Sweet said, “We looked at several job management systems but selected Lantek Expert III because it integrated with Expert II, it was dedicated to sheet metal applications, and it would automatically calculate quotations straight from the part drawing.”

Emsea has now invested in a new 4 Kw Trumpf 3030 and two press brakes to meet the increasing demand. This stands at around 260 different jobs each week, and equates to thousands of different parts. Chris Sweet added, “We would struggle to manage this volume of work without Expert III.” Starting from the customer’s design, CAD data can be imported or the part can be drawn in the Lantek system. Combining the automatic cut length calculations with information about the material and material thickness allows Expert III to generate the run time for each part. Nesting within a sheet then gives the material utilisation, which produces a cost per part, enabling Emsea to quickly arrive at an accurate and profitable selling price. The quotation itself is generated from Expert III in a format designed by Lantek specifically for Emsea to match its corporate image.

Once a quotation has been accepted, all the data feeds through to the Sales Module, automatically generating shopfloor documentation and updated work in progress reports. As each operation is completed, the current status of each part is validated and entered into Expert III, to keep track of production. With this information, Emsea can now advise customers of the exact status of their jobs with just a few mouse clicks. This ensures that delivery times are met and that customers have increasing confidence in Emsea as a reliable supplier of high quality laser parts.

As each job is completed, Expert III generates delivery notes and invoices, while an interface to the company’s Sage accounting package collates the financial data. Chris Sweet said, “The delivery notes and invoicing are brilliant. It used to take days to complete a months worth, it can now be completed in a few hours.” The transition to Expert III, which the company is finding very easy to use, was completed in about three weeks, while training took a further week. Additionally, remote support allows Lantek access to the system at Emsea, to offer the rapid resolution of queries. Chris Sweet concluded, “We expect to see the full benefits of Expert III over the next six months, but already we would find it virtually impossible to manage the volume of work without it. It has given us much better control of our deliveries, and our customers are happy that they receive their parts on time or early.”

Manufacturing management for the sheet metal industry, from Lantek.

Lantek Expert III is an extension of Lantek’s powerful nesting and CAM software, and provides management information and accurate quotations tailored to the needs of the sheet metal industry. Just launched, the new Version 26 gives fabricators the ability to create quotations directly from a nest of parts.

By integrating management, design, nesting and CAM, Lantek Expert III provides a flexible software package which can be tailored to meet the individual needs of each company. Starting with the customer relationship management module, imported CAD files and historic job data, such as sheet load and unload times, can be evaluated to form the basis of a new quotation. Increased accuracy is achieved by using Lantek’s nesting module. Groups of components can be optimised to fit on both new sheets and remnants to utilise the minimum amount of material, then simulation of the cutting process generates an accurate run time for the machine tool.

In addition to helping users arrive at quotations which will be competitive and profitable, Expert III will also monitor sales effort and the sales pipe-line, helping to apply metrics to these activities.

Once the quotation has been accepted, Expert III automatically transfers the job data to its manufacturing module. Here the system can keep track of stock levels and purchasing, and maintain traceability for each part. This will enable engineers to quickly find from which nest a part originated and, with the works order module (WOS), keep track of costs and progress around the factory. Terminals on the shop floor enable users to record operations as they are completed, providing real time feedback. This allows managers to compare the actual time taken for each operation with the planned time. Checking the true situation on the shop floor makes it possible for companies to refine their costs and highlight potential problem areas in production.

Lantek Expert III provides consistent and reliable results for LaserMaster

One of Cornwall’s only laser profiling companies, LaserMaster in Redruth, chose the Lantek Expert III CAM and Job Management software to help it get the maximum productivity from its 3.5Kw Bystronic 3015 machine.

Formed two years ago, LaserMaster cuts a wide range of products for industry, local government and the county’s thriving artistic community, in materials such as stainless steel, brass and copper up to 15mm thick. LaserMaster wants to encourage business in the South West by helping to promote the growth of technology in Cornwall. Craig Lincoln, General Manager, LaserMaster said, “The Bystronic came with a CAM system, but we found that it was slow and clumsy to use, leading us to look for a replacement. We were on the verge of purchasing another system, but we found inconsistencies in its pricing tools, as it calculated different prices for identical components.” Following the demonstration of Lantek Expert III, LaserMaster was convinced that it was the correct choice. He continued, “We cross checked the prices generated by Lantek Expert III with those created by our original system, and they came out within a few pence, giving us confidence in the results.” The period when LaserMaster was producing inaccurate costings had a direct impact on its business. Now that Lantek has been installed the company has gained extra work, thanks to the accuracy and consistency of the new quotation package.

Component designs come in the form of CAD files and rough sketches. LaserMaster redraws the sketches, either in AutoCAD or directly in Lantek, to get them into electronic form. The Lantek quotation module then considers the material specification and thickness, and calculates the cutting length based on a nest of parts, enabling it to produce an accurate cost per component. Craig Lincoln added, “Once the base parameters have been set up, Lantek is reliable and a fantastic piece of software.” Remote technical support is provided with DeskShare software, which enables engineers to operate the company’s system from the Lantek office in Malvern. LaserMaster has found this to be a very useful facility, helping it to quickly resolve queries and maximize the productivity it gets from its investment.

Expert III has also had a positive impact on administrative load. Once a quotation has been accepted, all the existing data is automatically fed into the manufacturing module. Similarly, once the job is complete the system generates invoices and delivery notes, eliminating double entry of data in the accounts system and greatly reducing the possibility of an error. Craig Lincoln commented on the documentation, “All our paperwork is consistent and has a much more professional appearance, which reflects well on our company.”

LaserMaster has yet to make extensive use of Lantek’s common line cutting methods, which reduces the overall length of a cut path, but in trials has found it to work well. “When we tried it on other systems, there was double cutting of edges, which wastes time and damages the finish.” The company anticipates that it will add extra seats and modules of Lantek Expert III as its requirements develop. Additionally, it is expecting to achieve further long-term efficiencies in its operation and administration. Craig Lincoln concluded, “I don’t know how we managed without it and I feel sure that it will be a major contributing factor to company growth.”

For more information contact

Rob Powell Lantek Systems Ltd
Tel. +44 (0)1684 585384
Email rob.powell@lantek-systems.co.uk
Web: www.lantek-systems.co.uk .

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