STOFF2 and iFAKT are working on building a lean, digital manufacturing process

Lars Schubert heads the software and consulting company iFAKT. The Industry 4.0 software controls logistics, production and business processes and can make predictions using artificial intelligence. Uwe Winter is responsible for operations at STOFF2 and, thus, for ramping up production capacities for Zink-Zwischenschritt electrolysis. We met the two of them with their team colleagues after a two-day workshop in our office in Berlin-Tegel and asked them:

What is STOFF2’s goal when planning production?

Uwe Winter: Our strategy is to use the value stream method to plan our manufacturing process to create a digital twin of our production. In this digital twin, we can virtually optimise our production to be “lean” from the outset. Changes to the design or the make-or-buy strategy can be checked directly in the digital twin for their impact on production, thus making decision-making and subsequent implementation easier.

How does the iFAKT STOFF2 offering help in the planning phase?

Uwe Winter: The Polaris software supports us by recording and visualising data and enabling us to evaluate the production simulation in different scenarios in the planning phase. The digital twin created in Polaris becomes the basis for the detailed operational planning of our production capacity and resource planning and adjustment based on honest feedback from production. This feedback in operations enables us to identify and resolve weak points. In this way, we ensure that we optimally use our resources in the long term and supply our customers with high delivery reliability and quality.

Why should start-ups deal with processes at an early stage?

Lars Schubert: The company and production process are decisive in achieving margins and reliability. If the process is poorly designed, you pay a high price with every product sold—and often over the entire product life. The more that is sold, the worse it gets! Therefore, the initial effort to introduce our software has paid off many times.

What have you taken away from your collaboration with STOFF2 so far?

Lars Schubert: We really appreciate the collaboration because we have a similar approach: pragmatic, open, and innovative. However, working with start-ups is atypical, as our “usual” customers tend to be corporations or large, medium-sized companies with established structures. In short, it’s very refreshing!

Thank you very much for the interview!