Finding the right technology partner to help you digitise your manufacturing facility is key for securing market positions in our dynamic digitally-driven business world. Dreamix has partnered with the biggest cable and wires manufacturer in Bulgaria – EMKA to develop a manufacturing execution system for them called Mesix. The solution aimed to solve problems such as paperwork and hand-written forms that slowed down process execution and at times even impeded analysis and decision-making. In the following versions, the system covered different aspects like traceability and warehouse management.
When asked if they would like to share their experience of working with us, EMKA agreed to an interview. Read about the problems they were facing and how Dreamix developed a bespoke software solution that fit their particular needs. We highly value our relationship with EMKA. At the very beginning of the project, our team started with the simple task of digitizing the data collection of the facility. Removing the paper sounds easy right? In fact, as Malcolm Gladwell writes in his book – The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, removing the paper was that little thing that made a huge difference in EMKA’s daily operations. By collecting the data from the production line we have managed to empower the decision-makers in the factory. Now they can track their operations and orders, plan their production properly, use the traceability which is required by their customers and more.
We sat together with Ivailo Georgiev who is the IT manager of the facility. Read more about our partnership with EMKA in the full interview below.
Q: Why did you decide to innovate your manufacturing?
A: Our processes regarding task distribution to our machine operators as well as feedback on current requests, amounts of produced goods and production issues used to be on paper. We relied on printed paper forms or hand-written documents that our employees had to manually fill out as part of their daily tasks. You can imagine the piles of paper we used to have on our desks.
By implementing a manufacturing software system we aimed to implement control and traceability of our production processes based on gathered information, e.g. data regarding technological processes. We also wanted to minimise errors and optimise the work of our machine operators by making the process more efficient.
Q: What was the problem that you aimed to solve by utilising new technologies?
A: The use of hand-written documents prevented us from making quick and efficient analyses and taking data-driven decisions based on them. We needed a system for production control, which would gather all the necessary information and store it in one central database.
Q: How did you choose to work with Dreamix and how did you find us?
A: Dreamix was recommended to us as a reliable partner in developing solutions that work with databases and analyse the collected data.
Q: What solution did Dreamix offer to you?
A: Dreamix offered us to build a client-server based system with an integrated database for us. The end clients use the program through a browser and each system component is modularised. We at EMKA have to define the specific functionalities of each module and after gathering the necessary business requirements Dreamix managed to create the bespoke solution for us. While developing the solution, each new product stage was tested in a virtual test environment before moving onto the production stage.
Q: What benefits can you observe after using the software solution so far?
A: We have been working on different modules with Dreamix since 2019 and so far we can outline the following benefits that we can already notice in our production:
- Optimising the time for our operators to enter data related to manufacturing machines;
- Error minimisation;
- The sequence of technological processes allows us to update and add order-related information from the beginning to the end of the production process;
- Based on the collected data we gain fast and secure access to it through inquiries from everyone using the software system. Plus, accessing and working with the available data is based on previously set rights featuring the users’ assigned roles.
A: Currently, we both rely on previously integrated system modules and work together with Dreamix on developing and integrating other modules. Our plans for the future also involve upgrading the whole system with additional features. We are happy that after the successful integration of the software solution Dreamix developed for us, we managed to eliminate our paper forms completely. However, the full ROI and a complete calculation of all resources we have saved by switching to a digital solution are still to be made.
At Dreamix we are pleased to see our customers happy. The aim of the company has always been to deliver high-quality software systems that fit the specific needs of the customer.
For the past 2 years, we have been investing heavily in R&D within the Manufacturing domain. We have started several initiatives with a tight focus on Quality Control, Predictive Maintenance, Data Collection and Analysis in Manufacturing.
We see the potential that the Manufacturing sector has and we want to be part of the transition to digital (IN4.0). We are also partnering with Industrigen to host a series of events devoted to manufacturing innovations. The next event is on December 2 at 4 PM (GMT) when we’ll be discussing Digital Twins and their major role in cost reduction and sustainable product development.
