For years, many companies have been facing the challenges of digitalisation. The focus is on the search for innovative solutions and the optimisation of processes.
With its innovative Mould Monitoring software solution, Digital Moulds has already laid the foundation for process optimisation. With the simplified and uniform mould data exchange, the entire life cycle of an injection mould is transparently documented and visualised.
Optimised maintenance intervals, reduced costs and process optimisation are just a few of the advantages that result from the use of Mould Monitoring.
But what does it take and what advantages do companies gain from using Mould Monitoring?
Relevant factors and the exact procedure – How to successfully integrate MOULD MONITORING into the ERP system
In order to integrate tool documentation into an existing ERP system, an application programming interface – or API – is essential. With such an interface, the data exchange is bidirectional. This means that the data is imported from the Mould Monitoring software into an ERP system with little effort and can consequently also be retrieved again.
Before embedding the third-party system – what factors need to be considered?
By monitoring the processes with Mould Monitoring, we offer our customers the possibility of optimisation. In the injection moulding process, with the right documentation, maintenance and service intervals can be optimised, reports can be made available in real time or costs can be reduced.
Factors to consider when embedding a new system are:
- Objective – What is the objective of integrating Mould Monitoring?
- ERP System – Which ERP system is already used and is it compatible with Mould Monitoring?
- Duration – How long does the integration of such a system take?
- Costs – How high are the costs for embedding this new system?
The duration of such an integration depends, for example, on the size of the organisation or the complexity of the current environment. Therefore, the process should be carefully planned before the integration.
The embedding of Mould Monitoring is done by means of a Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface, or REST API. With the help of such an interface, data from other systems can be transferred quickly and easily without duplicates or data loss.
The approach to integration
- Defining and setting goals – what should be achieved with the integration?
- Set the data source, transmission interval and data quality.
- Integration of a query logic on the ERP side.
- Use Mould Maintenance and manage all maintenance and service data.
In exceptional cases, the interface documentation between the Mould Monitoring REST API and the query logic on the ERP side can be adapted in an agile way. Such individual adaptations are only made if not enough data can be provided from the already existing standard interface.
In which ERP systems can Mould Monitoring be embedded?
With an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, different areas, such as production, sales, or procurement, are networked with each other. Business processes can thus be planned, supported, and optimised more easily.
Mould Monitoring can be embedded in any ERP system via the REST API interface. It therefore makes no difference whether companies use SAGE, SAP, Oracle or Microsoft to support their business processes.
What is Mould Monitoring?
Mould Monitoring consists of hardware and software that actively documents the injection moulding process. Production parameters determined via sensors can be easily recorded with Mould Monitoring and, for example, transferred to an ERP system. The time-consuming search for data can thus be avoided and resources can be better utilised.
What are the advantages of Mould Monitoring?
Mould Monitoring is attached directly to the injection mould, entirely according to the plug & play principle, and runs independently of the injection moulding machine and autonomously of local infrastructure.
This makes this technology also suitable for use by suppliers of plastic components of the mould owner (OEM). The data is recorded in real time. If there are deviations from the target process parameters, current notifications can be sent immediately.
The monitoring of injection moulds is independent of location. Since it is cloud-based software, production-relevant content can be accessed from anywhere at any time.
Summary
The integration of Mould Monitoring into an already existing ERP system can be achieved with only a few steps. The prerequisite for the linking of both systems without data loss is the coordination of all measures according to the predefined goals.
The already existing ERP system plays a less important role in the integration of Mould Monitoring. Essential for the implementation is that Digital Moulds already has a comprehensive interface documentation.
Digital Moulds offers a complete service from the hardware to the software for data acquisition, to the integration into an already existing ERP system. With a detailed consultation, individual solutions can be found and quickly implemented.
