Heckel’s story began in 1960 as a father and son team: Soon, the company was producing bespoke turned parts for customers. Today, the versatile machine park in Heitersheim includes state-of-the-art machines for turning, milling, turn-milling, and Swiss turning. High-quality precision parts are thus manufactured in the shortest possible time.
For Heckel, the main focus was on the ease of use of the mobile software solution. L-mobile was ultimately chosen due to its user-oriented and clear solution as well as the possibility of adapting it to individual requirements. Additional functions were implemented on request, such as initiating order picking in the warehouse directly from the production data collection solution or printing out goods receipt/issue slips following quantity reporting.
“L-mobile has succeeded in mapping our individual processes very well with the software solution, enabling us to achieve end-to-end data transparency in manufacturing and warehousing. We have been able to significantly reduce our operating costs as a result,” reports Mr. Marino, Authorized Representative for AV/IT at Heckel Präzisionsteile GmbH. Regarding the introduction of the new solution, he says: “Normally, employees are initially critical when new software is introduced. This was not the case with L-mobile—the new solution was very well received due to its high level of usability.”
| ERP system | Products | Devices |
|---|---|---|
| Proalpha | L-mobile production L-mobile warehouse | Mobile handheld devices Point Mobile PM451 |
Heckel is an owner-managed, medium-sized company based in Heitersheim, Germany, with around 90 employees, and is synonymous with high-quality precision parts. Manufacturing includes a versatile machine park with state-of-the-art CNC lathes, milling centers, and Swiss lathes, where custom precision parts are manufactured in the shortest possible time.
In order to optimize its manufacturing and warehouse processes, Heckel was looking for a user-friendly software solution for production data collection and mobile warehouse management. Previously, the company used its own production data collection solution, but this was not available on mobile devices and only covered the most essential functions. Proalpha was introduced at the same time as L-mobile. The goal: For up-to-date data to be available in the ERP system.
In warehouse management, the main aim was to improve the processes in goods receipt, stock transfer, and order picking for production. The main challenges here include working with material bars and their remaining stock, as well as batch numbers. The mobile solution was intended to replace paper-based processes in the warehouse and reduce the time-consuming search and checking of stock.
With the L-mobile warehouse and production software solution, the entire process from goods receipt through to manufacturing and shipping can now be mapped digitally and on a mobile basis. Production data in manufacturing is recorded promptly and seamlessly on mobile terminals directly at the machines, without long process routes.
The orders released in Proalpha are selected on the simple interface and the various status and quantity reports are reported back in real time. This allows the current status of each order to be viewed and on-time manufacturing to be ensured. The exact allocation of run times to the order also ensures precise cost calculation. Heckel also uses the productivity cockpit to obtain an overview of ongoing manufacturing processes at any time.
The warehouse management processes have also been significantly accelerated and simplified. Posting in goods receipt is done on the go and the unit of measure for the order can be automatically converted using the BOM factor maintained in Proalpha. The barcode scanner solution enables easy data collection, even for batches, and replaces the previously necessary paper-based work steps.
