We are going to explore the Produce product and understand what it can provide, who needs it, and so on.
You can also listen to the podcast here.
How many apps have Boyum IT developed so far?
So far, we have 3 different products on our technology platform. As you may remember, we used to call it Cloud, but that’s the technical platform where we build our future and current apps.
We have 3 different apps: Build (podcast), Produce, and Inspect. Each product supports a different persona, a different role, or a different department in the company.
So what is Produce, can you explain what problems does it solve?
Produce is aimed for light manufacturing customers from discrete or process manufacturing who want to maximize their shop floor performance for an effortless prioritization of production orders and direct communication to the operator without the manual printouts.
You do not want to print out production orders, bring them to the production floor, then bring them back to the office to post the data in the system.
With Produce, you can automate all those steps.
Which people will use Produce cloud-based app?
It is aimed at shop floor managers and operators who perform the production operations. So the manager has complete visibility of what is going on, which is its beauty.
They can see who is working on what production order, what resource they’re using.
And the operator has a tablet, for example, and they start an operation, log in and then start working on it. And then they can do a partial stop on an operator or a full stop.
They can issue material, or if the material was issued ahead of time, they do not issue the material.
So it is very flexible, and the customers can quickly set it up according to their needs.
It has an excellent configuration, and it is very flexible for each company.
I’m sure there are different light manufacturing products on the market. What makes Produce the better solution?
It gives you an additional application for your ERP system. You have complete visibility of what’s going on on the shop floor and complete control. It’s very straightforward to configure and does not take a lot of time. And the learning curve is very, very quick.
Basically, you plug it into your ERP system to your SAP Busines one.
How complex is the integration of Produce to SAP Business One?
You plug it in and connect it to SAP Business One through the service layer, and that´s it.
The name produce gives it away that this will help with the production process in SAP Business One. Can you tell me in which processes does Produce help?
So, first of all, as I mentioned, the shop floor manager has full control over when to release a production order for the operators to work on.
The manager can set priorities as low, medium, or high priority. They can come in in the morning and say, okay, let me do a filter and only check the high-priority production orders.
They can check before they release a production order if the material is available for this production order, which is huge. And our customers love that because they see right away if a material is not in stock or is on order, but they haven’t it received yet.
It’s a shop floor management app with no more paperwork. You have everything right here in front of you on the screen and have complete control.
Can I only see operations I work on if I’m an operator?
Imagine you have a production order with three different operations. In SAP Business One, they call it route stages. And the first one needs to be done before the second one can get started and so on.
For example, shop floor employees can be certified for a particular resource, right? The manager only wants them to see what they’re certified for. That’s just an example.
Managers can set a filter for each operator to see only operations with specific resources, which filters the production list the operator can see.
They can also filter to see only operations ready to be started.
So it gives the users a nicer, cleaner look. They have everything right at their fingertips, which provides operators complete visibility for what needs to be done.
Is it possible to add instructions for the operators to see?
That’s available too. If you put instructions on the production order, the operator sees those. So once they choose an operation and click on it, they have a little popup and says instructions. They can read the instructions before they start that operation.
How does the material posting work? I mean, I’ve seen companies that issue particular material ahead of time. Will that work in Produce?
Yes. So to post materials is very flexible. As you know, you can set the material posting to backflush to post material automatically. You can also let the operator post the material.
So I’m logging onto an operation. I’ll issue the material once I’m done with the operation if it’s set to manual in SAP Business One.
However, many people want to issue specific material ahead of time. And then, they want specific material for the operator to post. You can do that in Produce.
And that way, it fits pretty much every company because you can set it the way you need it on your shop floor.
Does Produce support batch numbers, serial numbers, and bin locations?
Absolutely, all those features are also supported.
Let’s say I’m the manager. Am I able to see which operator is working on what production orders?
Yes. Full visibility and that is what I love because there is nothing worse when you have paperwork, and you do not know what is going on. You have to run out to the shop floor and scream around what you are working on.
The manager has a friendly dashboard. They come to work, log onto a production order and see who is working on it and what resource is being used.
Can they record scrap?
When the operator issues material, they can also record scrap.
Some companies today are reluctant to change, and, you know, they have a client with a software that they use, and they’re used to it. But what is the benefit of having this functionality on the cloud?
It’s the future. It is a big change. When people are used to having their own hardware, add-ons, it is hard to change, like with anything new.
With a cloud-based application, you reduce both the company’s hardware and software maintenance. Updates are done automatically, and you do not have to install new versions.
So your IT cost will reduce tremendously. Since there is less to maintain, it also supports environmental productivity. Cut down on paperwork.
Before you said it’s a plug and play, I’m sure some people are questioning if there is any implementation to set the system up and running other than connecting through the service layer to SAP Business One?
Yes, but it’s very little. So you connect the database through the service layer. Then the first time you log on, you have to synchronize the database because once you’re connected, it’s real-time.
Suppose you release a production order on produce. In that case, it will also be released in SAP Business One and vice versa. If you release a production order in SAP, you will also see it on the shop floor.
After you plug it in, you synchronize it for the first time. Then there’s some configuration like providing operators with a login and so on.
It’s not like those huge add-ons where you have weeks and weeks of implementation. No, it’s not. You plug it in, do some configuration, and you’re ready to go.
What are the license requirements? What do I need to get it?
The cloud applications are designed to not have to log on to SAP business one. So all you need is an SAP user-based indirect license with a license to Produce manager or Produce operator.
What if a partner or customer would like to have a one-on-one chat about our cloud-based apps or see a demo? What’s the best way to get a quick answer?
Whether you are a customer or partner, we will be more than happy to set up a demo with you. You can email us at sales@boyum-it.com or click here, and you will get an answer right away.
We also have a demonstration on YouTube and we also have webinars coming up. So always sign up for our newsletter because you will see if there’s a new webinar coming up.
Are there any e-learning available for this product? I know that Boyum has an excellent e-learning hub, and the feedback from the partners and customers has been outstanding.
Yes, there are. If you log onto our e-learning, you will have the Boyum cloud based apps section with e-learning for Build, Produce and Inspect. So, check that out!
