WIDEBEAM PARTNER PROFILESWIDEBEAM was a European Commission supported project that introduced best practice IT and communications to small to medium businesses. The 14 WIDEBEAM project partners were drawn from engineering, manufacturing and IT / communications consultancy in UK, Spain and Bulgaria. The partners supply a wide range of products and services, e.g. abrasive discs and wheels, capacitors, contract programming, electrical generators, electronic systems, multimedia products, stamped and forged parts, transformers and welding equipment. Resistance welding (spot welding) includes weld guns, controllers and transformers. Other welding equipment includes MIG, MAG, TIG, etc.
The WIDEBEAM consortium gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the Integration in Manufacturing Group within DGIII of the European Commission. Without that support, the project would never have been undertaken.
Isomatic UK Ltd. Guildford, UK, supplies electrical and electro-mechanical products, including welding transformers and controllers, plus contract programming, to international markets. The work includes marketing, finance, engineering / IT consultancy and project management. This included co-ordination of European collaborative projects WIDEBEAM, TACTICS and MESSENGER. Isomatic UK is in the middle of a supply chain which includes four members of the WIDEBEAM consortium as shown in the following diagram. For more information browse the home page http://www.isomatic.co.uk
CIMMEDIACimmedia Ltd. located near Alcester, UK, is a consultancy focused on the application and integration of communications and multimedia technologies in the Engineering and Manufacturing sectors. Consultancy activities include:
Special emphasis is placed on the requirements and problems of SMEs. Cimmedia is acting as one of the Best Practice Co-ordinators for WIDEBEAM. E-mail: cimmedia@msn.com
IIC CONSULTINGIIC Consulting, located near Leamington Spa, UK, is an independent consulting practice formed in 1992 to help companies exploit the new technologies in Engineering Information Management. Experience has shown that companies need and wish to implement electronic management of their intellectual property, engineering information, but frequently lack sufficient knowledge or resources. IIC provides additional resource and expertise to help companies from initial concept to fully implemented system.
The key to a successful system of information management is the initial planning. It is vital to chose a suitable application for managing information to act as the keystone of future management throughout the company. IIC has experience with several systems modelling tools which help to define the problem and map out the solution strategy. IIC also continually researches the products and systems available for EIM. This information is available as the "EIM Source".
IIC has provided many Management Awareness sessions to help company managers understand the strategic nature of managing engineering information and the benefits that it can bring in greater profit and competitiveness. IIC services are tailored to help companies take advantage of the benefits from Engineering Information Management in the fastest and most effective way. These services include;
IIC Consulting was a Best Practice Co-ordinator for WIDEBEAM and was largely responsible for the engineering data exchange and data management contributions and for conducting the CAD data exchange trials. Aplicaciones de Ingeniería y Formación, Madrid, Spain, is a consultancy company created in 1994 with the objective of providing specialised consultancy, training and engineering services (including best practice) for SMEs. APIF concentrates its activity in projects matching the requirements of a large number of SMEs with operational problems of loss of competitiveness, inefficient manufacturing and management processes, needs for modernisation and update of information system, process control based on the latest Information Technologies and training demands in specific management and technical issues. APIF is the local WIDEBEAM co-ordinator for Spain. E-mail: jmg@apling.com Portable Welders Ltd. (PW), Bicester, UK, produces robot, manual and hand-held welding guns, mainly for the motor industry, an example being shown in the picture below. PW already had good CAD and production IT systems but needed to extend and improve these to communicate 2D and 3D CAD designs with its major customers and subcontractors. PW also needed to communicate production management and control information within supply chains. PW has subcontracted the design of robot welding gun transformers and the controller for a hand held welding gun to Isomatic Lab. PW can now communicate electronically with its suppliers to enable machine readable information to be transferred in both directions. For Bulgarian suppliers this ends the 10 day delay when posting documents which are too large in size or number of pages to be faxed efficiently without corruption over bad telephone lines. The ultimate objectives for supplies from Bulgaria are improved quality control, shorter lead times and a turnover increase from new business supplying transformers to other welding manufacturers. PW needs to keep the cost of component parts low to remain price competitive. See http://www.portablewelders.com or E-mail ian@portablewelders.ltd.uk Isomatic Lab. Ltd, Sofia, Bulgaria, undertakes engineering design, subcontracts manufacture of the resulting products and provides contract programming services. Engineering work includes transformers and controllers (pictured below) for weld guns, electric traction motors and bar code label printers. Following the WIDEBEAM project, the company can now electronically communicate compatible engineering design and manufacturing information with western associates and customers plus Bulgarian sub-contractors. Isomatic also now provides Internet access for Unitraf AD, Struna and the local partners in the INCO-Copernicus project TACTICS (http://www.isomatic.com/tactics). The priority objective has been to reduce lead times for new designs, enabling a large increase in contracts to be won for products and variants to customer specification. The long term business plan is to become a major supplier within Europe, providing Western Manufacturers with a low labour cost source for engineering components without the need to buy in from the Far East. See http://www.isomatic.com/ or E-mail isomatic@isomatic.com Unitraf AD, Drianovo, Bulgaria, manufactures transformers, including the special water cooled welding transformers designed by Isomatic Lab. for Portable Welders Ltd. The picture below shows an example. The WIDEBEAM project has facilitated the installation of a local area network in the factory and offices, plus the ability to communicate design and manufacturing management information from customers and to suppliers of copper, iron, plastic and aluminium parts, e.g. wire, stamped sheets, water-cooled copper tube secondary etc. The priority objectives are to reduce lead times without holding unnecessary parts stock and to double sales of welding transformers in each successive year. In its newly privatised form Unitraf AD aims to become a business which can compete in international markets. E-mail unitraf@isomatic.com Leslie Group Ltd, Birmingham, UK, is a 170 person, 10M euro company, operating crank and friction screw stamping presses, traditionally stamping hot brass for the water fittings and decorative product markets. Forging from brass, copper or aluminium is provided, together with turning ferrous and non-ferrous parts. There is also sales and in-house assembly of refrigeration products. Leslie has a 16 year growth record, changing its philosophy and culture from sub-contracting to a thinking, planning company, initiating its own changes instead of merely responding to market needs. In working towards world class performance the company has re-structured according to manufacturing systems engineering principles. With support from the WIDEBEAM project, Leslie has revised its business processes to improve efficiency and growth with fast response. Leslie has invested in Windows NT business software, a 32 user network, video conferencing between the two sites and is progressing to video machine monitoring. Production and supplier communications have been the top priority. For more information browse http://www.leslie.co.uk or E-mail: leslie@birmingham.co.uk Atlante, Madrid, Spain manufactures multimedia interactive kiosks, including fibre glass moulding, painting, serigraphy, etc. to the integration of all the electrical appliances into the kiosks, the touch screen, the computer, sound system and the security electrical system. Atlante also develops multimedia information provision for applications in education, marketing, advertising and training, etc. Customers include the Spanish National Football League (LFP), Banco de Santander (2nd bank in Spain), Argentaria (1st national bank), APPLE Computer Spain, FLEXI-PLAN (Grupo EUELEN), Grupo NUTRECO, FACO. Atlante has improved engineering and design phases for the kiosk manufacturing process through improved IT, supported by WIDEBEAM. The priority objective is to achieve cost reductions while increasing sales volume. In addition to participation in WIDEBEAM as an engineering and manufacturing user, Atlante produced this multi-language CD-ROM for dissemination and training. Atlante is now part of Indra Sistemas, E-mail: jdeteresa@indra.es The Lober Group, Madrid, Spain, offers complete design and development solutions for electronic products, prototype production, industrialisation and manufacturing to customer requirements. Customers include Alcatel Standard Electrica, System Pool S.A. (Porcelanosa Group), Estampaciones Rubi S.A., Ormazabal Group, ITISA Group, Control Y Telemando, Centro De Arte Reina Sofia Museum, El Greco Museum, Madrid City Hall and Madrid Autonomous Government. Lober is exploiting the WIDEBEAM results with electronic communication within and among its offices throughout Spain, which can be applied to both suppliers and customers. Communication between work centres and with foreign suppliers was proving slow and expensive with frequent need for travel. Interchange of fax messages, telephone calls and mail resulted in ambiguous conclusions, misunderstood elements and misplaced documentation. All these problems are being solved by introducing IT best practice from the WIDEBEAM project, with electronic file transfer via the Internet. LOBER’s exploitation plan is to achieve manufacturing cost reduction by tighter control in the handling of documentation and information, prompter operations and a global improvement in efficiency of productivity, quality control and competitiveness. Fábrica Española de Componentes Electrónicos (FACO), Madrid, Spain, manufactures and distributes capacitors for electronics and electrical appliances. Nearly 40% of turnover comes from export, mainly to Europe and Latin America. FACO is an approved supplier to many of the main electronic component consumers and large corporations, national and foreign, such as ALCATEL, ERICSSON, SHARP, PIONEER, BOSCH. FACO has its own commercial department for relationships with customers in Spain, whereas for export markets, FACO has agreements with distributors and representatives in destination countries. FACO has exploited the WIDEBEAM project by implementing a production monitoring system using bar code reading. This reduces manufacturing costs and lead times, maintaining quality by elimination of paper work errors. Superabrasive, Krun, Bulgaria, manufactures high technology diamond tools, e.g. polishing discs, grinding wheels, turbo cup wheels, blades and core drills, as shown in the accompanying picture. The company has implemented a local area network, including external fax and E-mail facilities with support from WIDEBEAM. Superabrasive’s exploitation plan is to expand into the markets of the EU, USA, Canada, Brazil etc. with new customers who will expect improved IT and communications. The priority objective is to offer them a standard product and special-to spec. service, removing the current delays of 10-20 days just for information exchange. Struna, Sofia, Bulgaria. manufactures MIG, TIG, etc. welding machines for repair shops, assembly and other industrial applications. An example is shown below. WIDEBEAM has been used to install a local area network with workstations for accounts, production control, mechanical design and printed circuit layout, with electronic fax and Internet connections. The exploitation aim is to expand outside Bulgaria into Romania, Macedonia, Algeria, Tunisia and further afield. WIDEBEAM has facilitated CAD/CAE followed by electronic communication between four sites in Bulgaria, outside suppliers and new customers with more advanced IT capabilities than previously encountered. Struna’s objective is to maintain its quality and price advantage, while reducing lead times and raising its image in developed countries. Westac Power Ltd, Aldershot, UK, manufacturer of the Powerpac range of diesel generating sets and power systems within the range 4 — 2,000kVA has an international reputation for quality. Although still a young company, Westac, with its highly experienced and qualified personnel, has a wealth of background and practical knowledge in the power generation industry world-wide. An in-house design team gives the ability to offer a diverse range of engine/alternator combinations, control systems ranging from key start to automatic mains failure for standby power systems, and automatic synchronising and paralleling of sets. A full range of additional equipment is also available covering static and trailer mounted sets, weatherproof and acoustic canopies plus ISO containerised sets. The Company is dedicated to providing it’s expanding customer base with quality equipment constructed to the latest industry standards, whilst maintaining a highly competitive pricing structure. Constant updating of all manufacturing equipment ensures a quality product. Success is based upon the ability to develop and maintain personal contact with customers offering them a rapid response to all enquiries, and providing a level and quality of service unsurpassed throughout the industry. Full membership of the UK AMPS Trade Association, recent certification to ISO 9001 together with numerous prestigious contracts are testament to the company’s performance in attaining its objectives. Links to rest of Isomatic UK site: Return to WIDEBEAM home page Copyright for the contents of this web page is owned by the WIDEBEAM consortium. Reproduction is permitted without charge on condition that the WIDEBEAM project and the support received from the Integration in Manufacturing Group within DGIII of the European Commission are acknowledged. Page content was last updated in November 1998. The HTML code was revised and its syntax checked on 26 July 2005 using BBEdit on an iMac These pages are hosted by West Dorset Internet
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IIC publishes The Engineering Information Management Source, a definitive guide to EIM, on CD, in paper form and also on the Web (for outline information and updates). In addition to EIM guidelines, case studies and reference material, it contains details of over 75 products and vendors active in the UK. For details of the latest edition or any other services, E-mail: iicconsult@compuserve.com.
APIF
UNITRAF AD
The LOBER Group
E-mail: lober@lober.es
FACO
E-mail: capacitor-faco@jet.es
STRUNA
E-mail: struna@isomatic.com
WESTAC POWER
Westac has been developing the business with improved efficiency and competitiveness by investment in improved IT and communications, supported by WIDEBEAM. This will provide rapid and precise response when negotiating specifications followed by control of procurement, assembly, test and inspection. The nature of the business inevitably results in a different equipment build for each order, requiring parts and sub-contract procurement on an order by order basis. There is no opportunity to stock finished products so stock control of parts and assemblies is very important. The prime requirement was for a communications system which will manage communications with major customers and suppliers in the supply chain. Communications, (fax, E-mail and internal messaging) is now distributed to desk top level to speed up direct customer/supplier contacts.
See http://www.westac.co.uk/ or E-mail: sales@westac.co.uk
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