Top 5 in 365—Articles about manufacturing software

The last installment of “Top 5 in 365” showcased the five most-popular articles on thefabricator.com published within the last year about finishing. Previous installments have focused on bending and folding, laser cutting, arc welding, assembly and joining, automation and robotics, consumables, and cutting and welding prep. This post is about the manufacturing software category on the website.

Manufacturing software allows metal fabricators and manufacturers to stay in control of their operations. Enterprise resource planning and other shop management software give fabricators the ability to estimate the time and cost of jobs, schedule those jobs for production, and track them on the shop floor. Computer-aided design (CAD) software is used to generate part designs. Nesting software analyzes the parts to be produced and determines how to lay out these parts on sheet, plate, or a tube to be cut. Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software programs the CNC machine to cut the parts from the metal blanks. Manufacturing execution systems, quality control tools, and simulation are other products that are covered in this area.

Here are the top five most-read articles in the past year about manufacturing software.

5. A 3-D CAD modeling case study: The battle between DFM and supply chain
The prototype created a faulty supply chain

The previous edition of this column (“A 3-D CAD modeling case study: When DFM imperils industrial design,” Precision Matters, The FABRICATOR®, June 2018, p. 44) suggested that the reconciliation of industrial design (ID) with design for manufacturability (DFM) had a bumpy start. This article delves more into how DFM drifted away from ID and tells the tale of the impact that the prototype had on inventory and the supply chain.

4. What fabricators learned from their ERP installations
This article is adapted from a roundtable session—“Eliminate Shop Floor Safari! Go Paperless!”—at the 2018 Fabricators & Manufacturers Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., in March.

The best teachers of metal fabricating lessons are other metal fabricators. Sarah Richards, president and CEO, Jones Metal Inc., Mankato, Minn., and Todd Ludlow, Ludlow Manufacturing Inc., Waukegan, Ill., learned some lessons about enterprise resource planning (ERP) software implementation that other fabricators are sure to appreciate.

3. Evolution of ERP software Q&A
What’s soared, what’s sailed, and what’s bombed?

Ten years ago enterprise resource planning (ERP) software was considered something of a luxury, a status symbol, and a frivolity. Today it is a necessity for metal fabricators to consistently deliver quality parts on time, according to ERP software companies’ spokespersons.

2. Walking in the footsteps of a fabricator looking for a software fix
Most shops dread taking on a software changeover, but Hi-Tec Profiles Inc. proves it can be worth the effort

Metal fabricators are a fearless lot in many ways. They take on challenging jobs that may be of an incredible size or call for something that the shop hasn’t quite done before, and they typically do it in tight turnaround times. But ask them about undertaking a software migration, and those same folks might just shudder. No matter what type of fabricating or organizational skills a shop may have, working with new software never seems to be easy.

1. How integrating CAD and ERP drives improvement
Better data management leads to better productivity

CAD technology has revolutionized engineering and design, but delays still can occur in manufacturing because of the document change process, which in turn leads to cost overruns and missed due dates. That document change process inevitably involves making sure BOMs are current and correct. This can be a lengthy, tedious task, especially considering how large BOMs can get at certain companies.

Now, though, CAD software can work with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. With the two integrated, a fabricator can simplify the process of building BOMs and improve their accuracy, and the new data can transfer directly to the shop floor via the ERP system. Establishing procedures and adopting technology to ensure that smooth transition between CAD and the BOMs in the ERP system can prevent a lot of headaches.

Next up? Materials handling.