Digitization at EWIKON

Highly flexible manufacturing systems are an art in themselves — especially in the field of plastics processing. Only with deep digital integration can the increasing individualization wishes of customers be implemented. Together with status c, EWIKON has embarked on this path — consistently, efficiently, and successfully.

Project

  • SAP warehouse lift integration

  • Connection of KBS light strips and picking trolleys

  • Introduction of status C operate:IT (formerly Digital Workplace)

Industry

Plastics processing

Time span

continuous since 2014

Achievements

  • Reduction in order picking time by up to 40%.

  • Company growth in employees by over 30

Flexibility and competence for individual requirements.

For more than 40 years, EWIKON has been one of the leading international full-range suppliers of hot runner systems for plastic injection-molding. With competence and flexibility, the company successfully meets the challenge of increasingly complex mold concepts. Its tailor-made solutions, without which an efficient and material-saving production of modern plastic parts would be unthinkable, are appreciated by customers from all industries. Worldwide.

But with the constantly growing volume of orders, the demands on the manufacturing processes are also increasing.

Turning overload into unleashing - in SAP R/3.

It wasn’t just the output, but the portfolio of the company which expanded continuously — and faster than its central warehouse could handle. On top of the overload, there was also diversification. The increasing use of technical plastics on the processing side required more and more custom-made hot runner systems, through manual warehousing without automatic SAP R/3 integration. Incorrect order picking and stock discrepancies occurred more and more frequently, resulting in production bottlenecks and delivery delays. The solution: Purchase of an automatic warehouse lift and SAP integration for the booking system. Another case for status c.

Efficiency is easy - but only together.

Thanks to add-ons that could be used immediately, status c began with the integration of the warehouse lift to SAP R/3 — without an interface and directly via status c connect:IT. For this, a small team was set up to cooperate with EWIKON, after which additional requirements were rapidly discussed, designed, developed, and integrated. Production was soon running far more smoothly, even with the limited storage space. Next came a reduction in picking time of up to 40 percent. The intensive, uncomplicated cooperation between the two companies opened up new perspectives for further boosting operations.

Heiko Stahl

Director Supply Chain Management, EWIKON

“Shared development with status c is very straightforward, flexible, and human. We’ve had fun while greatly increasing our productivity: Processes have become much smoother and faster, leading to real boosts in motivation for everyone.”

From Situation Room to Strategic Partnership.

Where initially the focus had been on solving an acute problem, it now shifted towards optimizing all processes. Additional SAP add-ons such as status c light:IT were integrated to simplify picking with intuitive, pick-by-light systems. As a result, not only satisfaction and efficiency grew, but also the company itself. status c and EWIKON have since decided to expand their cooperation further — jointly developing and implementing a completely new concept: The digital workplace. A true, eye-to-eye, Industry 4.0 partnership.

Task force for digital future viability.

A collaborative roadmap was designed — from experimental prototypes to full integration. EWIKON provided essential input to the requirements, while status c had the chance to create a novel product. The result: Paperless, fully transparent production with real-time data and intuitive user interfaces — including order prioritization and individual, live instructions in production.

By mid-2021, half of all workstations were already equipped and, as the benefits of this system only keep proving themselves, we’re enthusiastically continuing what we began. Together, into the future.