Platform for the metalworking industry
Personnel scarcity is a more important challenge than AI and cybersecurity
Figures show the added value of the systems.

Workforce scarcity is a more important challenge than AI and cybersecurity

AI and cybersecurity are screaming for attention, but a bit of sobriety around these and other trends seems in order. What entrepreneurs in the metal industry are primarily looking for are smarter production methods and ways to respond to personnel shortages. Here, both ERP and CAD/CAMPDM software offer a helping hand.

The world is running from trend to trend. Artificial intelligence is said to be the Holy Grail for making all kinds of business processes more efficient. At the same time, a lack of cybersecurity is a danger to entrepreneurs. While the focus on both AI and cybersecurity seems justified, they are not the topics of most concern in the metal industry. There, staff shortages are at the top of the priority list. If metalworkers know how to anticipate this, the sector can expect a doubling of turnover, according to an ABN Amro report (Consolidation in metalworking, 2023). Software and digitization, when responding to staff shortages, are one of the most important means of achieving this. The two most obvious systems for making processes more efficient are ERP and CAD/CAM software.

pexels shkrabaanthony 6620967
Small tweaks to an ERP system can make people work just a little smarter.

Not to be fooled by AI

Mark Ruiter, founder of ERP vendor Torza, definitely notices that there is a lot of focus on AI. "But people should not be fooled by AI. It doesn't always add value yet. "If I want Torza ERP to automatically process emails, I use AI at most for retrieving an order number. I see it more as functionality you can use. AI is not going to help the manufacturing world solve the staffing shortage."

Structuring data with ERP system

What ERP software in particular can help with, according to Ruiter, is making small adjustments that allow employees to work smarter. He mentions automatically processing an e-mail into a job by extracting the order and project number from the e-mail.    

"Behind the scenes, then, an ERP system is the way to structure data." Business software should primarily be supportive and help entrepreneurs in the metal industry respond more flexibly to market demands. "In doing so, the ERP provides structure. The world is a lot more complex now than in the past. By assigning rights per user, you reduce the chance of making mistakes. You also do that by processing data automatically. As a supplier I can help by building in checks, so that something like the number of pieces and the sheet thickness cannot be reversed in the system."

Photo credit Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko
Personnel with skills are scarce, so companies will have to look for other ways to grow. .(Image: Tima Miroshnichenko)

Fear of switching packages

In a world of rapid change and increasingly discerning customers, Ruiter says companies should certainly not be too afraid to change themselves. He says he sees companies fear switching software packages or adding an external module. "I can only advise companies to think with software vendors. If you have good ideas, get your ERP system to match them. Add a module, maybe two, or switch systems. You have to dare to change when processes or customers demand it. Don't feel trapped by one ERP system or another."

Overcoming scarce craftsmanship

The metalworking industry itself obviously sees the growth potential that ABN Amro predicts. But how do you respond to this when there is a shortage of personnel? "That indeed limits growth opportunities considerably," says TopSolid sales manager Michel Peters. "Skilled personnel are scarce, so companies will have to look for other ways to grow. Still, CNC production must remain reliable, even if there is less expertise."

pexels cottonbro 7479042
There are more possibilities for exchanging data. Such as between an ERP system and shop floor software as well as to machines.

Not too much influence AI yet

Peters, like Ruiter, does not yet see too much influence of AI in the metalworking industry. "People do see certain developments as part of AI, but it's not really that. Think about storing experience usably in the software for easy reuse. When companies apply that reuse of experience after automatically recognizing previous similar situations, that looks like AI. Yet good CAD CAM software has been capable of that for years." Peters believes very strongly that companies need to think precisely now about what they want or need to change. "If you keep doing what you are doing, you will run into problems in five to 10 years," he said.

Take action now

A sizeable group of companies would benefit from taking action now, partly also with the staff shortage in mind. "This should focus on capturing the experience of 60-year-olds in software. After all, you can't just hire personnel with similar experience. Give someone with experience a drawing and he'll fix it. A new employee with less experience may see a previously used CNC file in the history, but the knowledge to pick up the new product is missing from that CNC file."

pexels cottonbro 7480242
There should be more emphasis on capturing the experience of sixty-year-olds in software.

Higher efficiency rate

In conversations with customers, Peters sees that a number of companies are not yet ready to embrace smart CAD CAM software or shopfloor software. "While figures show the added value of the systems. At one of our customers, a number of machines have been robotized and loading takes place automatically. There the efficiency rate is sixty percent, so about sixteen hours a day. The stand-alone machines, not programmed by our software, ran only three out of eight hours in an operator's working day. So less than forty percent. That percentage difference has to do with preparation, not the form of loading."

Time and error reduction

Digitizing knowledge, experience, drawings and product data has another advantage: it creates more possibilities for exchanging the data. For example, between an ERP system and shop floor software, and to machines. Peters: "If the shop floor software sees that there is a need for tools, it links that information to the ERP system. This creates an automated purchase requirement and invoicing and logistics processes. That's not AI, but it is cleverness. It saves time AND reduces the chance of making mistakes."   

"*" indicates required fields

Send us a message

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Kunnen we je helpen met zoeken?

Bekijk alle resultaten