Reinhold Koch GmbH is a small metal machining company in Balingen, Württemberg. The company was founded in 1938 and employs seven people. As a long-standing partner to the pipe industry, Koch manufactures pipe sections, profile material as well as long and shaped turned parts among other things. The extensive machine pool has been modernized and adapted to customer requirements time and again over the course of time.

Large-scale PPS and ERP solutions uneconomical

As a small, specialized company with many years of experience, Koch can respond quickly and flexibly to customer wishes. However, many processes were handled manually, and communication with customers and suppliers took a lot of time. In order to remain competitive, the digitalization of the business needed to be driven forward. Problem: The large-scale industry solutions for managing orders as well as planning and controlling production were simply too expensive and would have required considerable effort to implement and provide staff training. That's why managing director Ralf Hirsch kept looking – and found what he was looking for.

Two systems combined into a single solution

Hirsch opted for two cloud-based systems that were combined together to create a custom-fit solution for his business: a manufacturing execution system (MES), looks after planning and controlling the production, while all administrative procedures concerned with order processing are mapped with Ninox. This means that Ninox manages customers, orders and products, controls material stocks, creates production orders from them and transfers them to the MES, which is then used to plan, control and optimize the individual production steps. Conversely, the data from the MES also flows back to Ninox, so that the exact status of production can be retrieved at any time. Customers can also log into Ninox via their own access accounts and find out about the status of their orders.

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Key Features:

• Order processing
• Data exchange with MES
• Delivery notes, invoices

With the well-coordinated team comprising Ninox and MES, Reinhold Koch GmbH has a cost-effective, customized solution for digitalizing essential business and production processes. The entire process from the initial decision to implementation, including the individual customizations, took less than three months. The processes, ranging from incoming orders to production and billing, are now much more efficient; information on the stock levels, production progress and delivery dates no longer has to be determined on the shop floor but is effectively available at any time at the touch of a button. This transparency also benefits customers, who can access their own accounts to find out about the current status of their orders, which saves both sides an enormous amount of time.