Steel Master Adopts Delfoi Planner Lite Software for Production Planning

Steel Master Finland Ltd adopted the Delfoi Planner Lite software in January 2008 for the purposes of rough capacity and finite capacity management.  Within a periof of only a couple of months, the solution has brought clear advantages to the company. 

The objective of Steel Master Finland Ltd is to continuously develop its operations and its customer service. Steel Master chose Delfoi Planner Lite,  the new Delfoi software solution intended for product planning of small and medium-sized industrial companies.

Esa Tuominen, the CEO of Steel Master, says: ”We had been searching for a production planning tool suitable for small and medium-sized industrial companies for quite a while, but despite consulting experts, we did not manage to find a comprehensive solution to meet our needs. The solution offered by Delfoi was exactly what we had been looking for. With the help of Delfoi Planner Lite, any subcontractor company, which is dealing with the delivery of complex products and product lines, can effectively manage its delivery processes”.

Maria Lammila, the production planner of Steel Master, comments: ”Finally we got rid of  the troublesome updating of several different Excel workbooks. Now changes in schedule are displayed immediately throughout the production chain ranging from material needs to testing and packing. Simultaneously, communicating with other people involved in the production planning process has become easier, because the up-to-date GANTT chart provides a visual representation of the production capacity situation rapidly.”

Maria Lammila continues: ”Making changes is effortless. Even testing out different alternatives is possible, and productivity improves when employees have reliable to-do-lists and pick lists at their disposal. People working in production no longer need to ask what they should do next. Now we can extend our finite capacity to the individual performer level, which allows us to identify our personnel needs more accurately and to achieve a higher personnel utilization rate”.

Steel Master Finland Ltd is a machine shop specializing in the design and manufacture of modular machine units for the process industry. Steel Master manufactures for example pumping, heating and cooling units for the process industry and power plant engine manufacturers. Delivery sizes range from a simple pump on skid to a truck-sized turn-key delivery with fully automatic electric-control. Production stages include component production, pre-assembly, final assembly, painting and testing.

The Delfoi Planner Lite software is intended for small and medium-sized industrial companies for the purposes of production management. Delfoi’s experience in production planning software deliveries and process development consultation projects has been put to use in the development of the software. The browser-based software is based on J2EE technology that is intended for building highly complex data systems. The functions of the software include order, resource calendar, component, semi-finished product and production structure management. The advanced planning functions include long-term resource planning, short-term scheduling/finite capacity as well as reporting and monitoring realization processes.