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CPQ and Design Automation in the Food Machinery and Equipment Industry

A manufacturer of confectionery machinery and equipment is continuing to drive forward the trend toward modularization and standardization.

Client:
Manufacturer of confectionery machinery and equipment 
> 400 employees

Industry:
Food processing machinery

Topics:
CPQ, modularization, standardization, design automation, PDM and ERP integration, data consistency  

Situation:
The current situation can be described as follows: The sales department uses Excel to calculate quotes and creates them in Word. The sales documents are not always consistent, and it is often unclear which version is the most up-to-date and what the cost of each feature is. Training new sales staff often takes a very long time.

After an order is received, a sales order with the individual machine items is created in the ERP system. One of the most experienced employees reviews the order and creates an internal work order using Word. The design department copies a similar order, checks it for completeness using a machine-specific assembly overview, creates the order variant in the 3D CAD system, adapts various manufacturing and assembly drawings, creates new parts in the ERP system, etc. The production planning department copies a similar bill of materials from the ERP system or builds upon a master bill of materials, supplements it, and so on. 

Task:

  • Objectives: Increase revenue with the same team through standardization; shift from ETO to CTO
  • Create a product portfolio overview, analyze revenue, and prioritize based on potential cost savings in design  
  • Map the process from inquiry to delivery, including IT system interfaces and any data gaps
  • Development of a Tacton Design Automation POC based on a product with corresponding savings potential in design  
  • Review of current 3D CAD models, configuration-based structuring of the models, and creation of an order-neutral CAD master model
  • Incorporation of product logic into the design, mapping of constraints and functions in Tacton Design Automation
  • Enriching the CAD models with additional intelligence
  • Deepening and expanding the configurator following approval of the POC
  • Involving Sales in the CPQ and quotation configuration process
  • Mapping the quotation process in Tacton CPQ, including standardization of functions and configurable sales item texts
  • Establishment of a suitable classification system for configuring quote texts, mapping pricing, costing, quote layout, etc.
  • Tacton PDM integration, including duplicate checks, project management, etc.
  • PDM-ERP integration, including new part creation and BOM transfer
  • Result:

Result:

  • First comprehensive POC (Proof of Concept) completed within 2 months
  • Acceptance within Design for CAD automation
  • A selected product area in Design now believes it can handle 3x as many machines per year (600 instead of 200)
  • Sales was convinced by the standardization approach and joined the project with a focus on CPQ
  • Discrete quotation and order structures now enable approximately 70% of orders to bypass design and go directly to production as CTO orders  
  • Prerequisite for data consistency between Sales/CPQ, Design (M-CAD/E-CAD/PDM), and Production/Logistics (ERP)
  • Potential for expansion to additional product areas and business units 
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