Carl Aug. Picard GmbH

Customized High-Performance Components for Mechanical Engineering

C.A.PICARD is a long-established company that manufactures and distributes heavy-duty metal precision parts worldwide. The parts produced in the plate technology and extruder technology divisions are used in various industries and fields. C.A.PICARD uses proALPHA at its two sites in Germany to ensure reliable, efficient processes and control the entire value-added chain. Especially WorkflowManagement is of great benefit to the company.

C.A.PICARD's two production sites in Germany focus on two lines of business: plate technology includes the manufacture of press plates and carriers, die cutting plates and mold tooling, multilayer registration systems, spare parts for foundry molding lines, and parts for calcium silicate brick presses. Extruder technology includes the manufacture of wear and spare parts for twin screw systems, such as shafts and barrels. 

Conveniently Managing Diverse Lot Sizes

"In plate technology, few orders with large lot sizes of up to 100 are processed. In extruder technology, a large number of orders with small lot sizes have to be handled," explains Arnd Pflugrad, Head of IT. "This is why we work with two MRP areas but with only one planning system."

Although C.A.PICARD uses non-standard workflows to generate and process its orders, they could all be mapped in proALPHA. Three sales departments, two routing departments and one engineering department work closely together and even complete untypical tasks. proALPHA offers the flexibility and tools required for this. Integrated WorkflowManagement is key here.

An order typically starts with a drawing provided by a customer or the engineering department. Purchased parts are created by the purchasing department, simple parts by sales, and complex parts by engineering. The workflows configured in proALPHA ensure that the respective specialists complete all order-related tasks promptly.

Engineers work with the 3D CAD system Solid Edge, but the master data are managed in proALPHA. CAD and ERP can be seamlessly integrated thanks to the proALPHA module CA-Link. Drawings and release processes are managed in the proALPHA Document Management System (DMS). It increases transparency and allows departments to access drawings and documents at any time.

The sales department generates work orders for parts that are not in stock. The orders are forwarded to the routing department, which schedules them using proALPHA. Via a workflow, the order-specific dates are transferred back to the sales department, which communicates them to the customers.

The credit limits of customers and suppliers are checked automatically, too. As a result, the respective specialists are automatically notified of critical situations early on. This also increases planning reliability for C.A.PICARD. "The proALPHA Workflow is a truly dynamic component that automates and connects a large number of functions," says Arnd Pflugrad.