Complete tool cart brings new momentum to workplace

The impact of thorough tool management on the work organization of a machining shop is huge. It not only benefits efficiency and productivity, to name just a few cliché indicators. This was also realized at Desart Industries in Lier, when they ordered as many as ten stocked custom tool carts from Hoffmann Group.

As part of the Buyse Metal Works Group, with sites in Aalter and Lier, Desart Industries profiles itself as a very broad supplier of all machining work in the larger series. Especially in turning, where the company can handle pieces up to 600 mm. The shop floor in Lier is currently populated by 48 people and a machine park of 45 pieces that is CNC for 95%.

"Until now, Desart Industries has invested heavily in its machines every year, but at the same time, the management of its own hand tools remained a problem. After all, both the original tools and the accompanying tool carts were outdated, and there was no clarity as to which tools, for example, belonged where," said Steven Geerts, technical coordinator at Desart Industries.

Simple arithmetic clearly exposed the problem as a loss-making one, forcing a solution. Therefore, renewal was chosen in full, and in early 2022 Hoffmann Group was asked by Desart Industries to provide a series of ten mobile tool carts for the important turning department. 

Olivier Van Hecke, area sales manager at Hoffmann Group: "As a main supplier of tools, we work with a tried and tested 500-brand strategy, including the hand tools of a whole range of world-renowned brand names. Simultaneously, however, we also offer two strong in-house brands of our own: the GARANT, our premium house brand, and the Holex, the high-quality but at the same time price-conscious choice."

The choice finally fell on a tool cart from Holex, which was divided into tool compartments using foams designed by the company itself. In this way, nothing was left loose in the cart, and a very clear organization of the tools became possible. The basis was a tool inventory that the people at Desart Industries were able to create based on a thorough 5S study and summarized which tools were used the most depending on the location or machine. 

The foam structures, called e-forms, were configured online by Desart Industries through Hoffmann Group's e-shop itself based on the size of a Holex tool cart. Van Hecke: "It is always convenient to work within the known dimensions of a standard cart, because then the software automatically gives the correct foam dimensions and you are sure that it will fit in the cart. That way, dimensionally there can never be a conflict."

Even if drawers have different heights, for example, the software takes that into account. Next, you can position each of your tools nicely in that foam. Simply type in the part number of a tool, and then drag it into the foam. In addition, the software provides the ability to read in your own tool shapes, not a luxury for workshops that develop their own specific tools for their own applications and use. 

Van Hecke: "The basis is a photo plate that is able to measure and read in the outer contours of the tool with razor-sharp precision. It can even be done based on a photo taken with a smartphone."

Additional options can then be added for each tool. One very useful one is the "grab function," a recess that makes it easier to grab tools from the foam. You can also choose the color of the drawer base, which in turn is useful for assigning tools to a particular area in production or machine.