1. The Success of a Factory Project Requires More Than Technical Expertise

In large factory projects, a successful outcome stems from how well production, logistics, automation, and other business processes work together. “If the entity is not coordinated correctly, it can, at worst, lead to a situation where processes and systems do not function as planned. This, in turn, means that things have to be designed and built multiple times. In other words, the price tag goes up and deployment is delayed,” says Hans Dumbrajs, an expert from Kodum.

Kodum has been involved in several factory expansions and commissionings of new factories. Our main responsibility has been the design and implementation of integrations as part of extensive international projects.

In the most recent project, it was a very significant factory expansion that doubled the factory’s capacity. In this particular project, integrations for internal and external logistics, maintenance, purchasing, and sales were designed and implemented. Our responsibilities included the implementation of SAP IS and SAP PO interfaces, as well as the configuration and programming of SAP ERP.

In this text, we share the story of the implementation of the factory project in question.

●     What was done: Design and implementation of SAP integrations for factory logistics, maintenance, external logistics, and internal logistics.
●     How: Kodum was responsible for the coordination of the entire SAP integration package, the architecture, and the implementation of SAP interfaces in a multi-vendor environment.
●     Outcome: The factory and systems were successfully deployed on schedule, supported by a high degree of automation and smooth processes.

In Factory Projects, a Multi-Vendor Environment Requires an Understanding of the Whole Picture

Kodum joined this factory project at a stage where the decision to build the factory had already been made, vendors had been selected, and work on the construction site was underway. The IT project was about to begin, and the client had a clear vision of the type of SAP partner they wanted for the project. “The client specifically wanted us on board based on previous experiences. Our role was not limited solely to technical implementation. We participated as early as the process design phase and helped define how integrations could support process automation as efficiently as possible,” Hans says.

Factory projects often involve a large number of vendors. In this project, there were hundreds of actors in total, and numerous ones within the IT project alone. “In the project, we were constantly moving between different processes and vendors. One day the focus was on external logistics deliveries, the next on high-bay warehouse automation, and the third on raw material deliveries for the production lines. It is precisely in this kind of environment that managing the big picture becomes paramount,” Hans continues.

If each vendor only looks at their own area, situations easily arise where systems ultimately do not communicate with each other as planned. “In many projects, work is done strictly according to specifications, but if the whole picture or the client’s actual goal is not understood, misunderstandings easily occur. At worst, different vendors build systems that are ultimately incompatible,” Hans sums up.

Automation Is Tangibly Visible in the Factory’s Daily Operations

A key objective of the project was to build processes that are as highly automated as possible. One concrete example can be found in customer deliveries.

When a customer places an order, the system plans the delivery and automatically transmits the information to the selected transport company. Following this, the transport company reserves a pickup time, the information is transferred to access control, and when the truck arrives at the gate, the system automatically recognizes the license plate.

After this, the high-bay warehouse automatically starts picking the products, the driver is informed of the correct loading dock, and the products are transferred to loading by laser guided vehicles (LGVs). Once loading is complete, the system detects the situation and opens the exit gate. “In an ideal scenario, the entire process works without any involvement from the client’s staff. Automated processes bring concrete benefits to the client, such as smoother operations and significant cost savings,” Hans states.

Error Management Is Part of a Functional Whole

In large integration environments, automated handling of exceptional situations is very important. Therefore, exception management was also designed as part of the overall system.

In the project, Kodum was responsible for defining error management and process state management. In practice, this meant, for example, automatic re-sending of messages during connection problems, comprehensive logging, alerts, and transaction traceability. “Process exceptions must be taken into account in integrations already at the design stage. Good error management means that problem situations can be managed automatically and the progress of processes can be traced retroactively as well,” says Hans.

The Outcome: Factory Deployed on Schedule

As a result of the project, the factory and systems were brought into operation according to schedule. The success was driven particularly by understanding the big picture—that is, combining business processes, technology, and the client’s goals into a functional entity.

The event-driven integration architecture ensured process state management in a distributed system environment. At the same time, the high degree of automation enabled efficient and smooth processes right from the start of deployment.