Panels & Furniture Asia January/February 2024

FURNITURE MANUFACTURING
Advanced manufacturing
with HOMAG’s factory
management system and
full solution for automation
the production process helps companies
track and locate responsibilities and achieve
standardisation.
Most companies are aware of the importance
of digitalisation in advanced furniture
manufacturing, yet many generally give
priority to the setting up of enterprise
resource planning (ERP) systems to meet their
needs.
It is undeniable that ERP integrates much
of the information within corporations and
provides the management a platform for
decision making, planning, control and the
evaluation of business performance. However,
at the shopfloor ERP alone cannot meet the
needs of information processing, collection
and exchange in the production process.
Some common problems at the factory
include: The planning department formulates
a good production plan but is not timely or
effectively transferred to the shopfloor;
the production crew at the shopfloor does
not receive a feasible production plan and
Cutting: As the production process changes,
order optimisation must also keep up.
Through a combination of CutRite, another
of HOMAG’s software for cutting panelthe
designated production process is
unclear; the processing of orders is not
communicated to the planning management
department in real time, and when orders
are completed they cannot be tracked;
or the management or decision makers
are confused about the production at the
shopfloor and are unable to make a practical
plan.
The root of the problem lies in the
misalignment between the planning
management and the production at
the shopfloor. The introduction of the
manufacturing executive system (MES)
closes loopholes in the ERP system. This
fills in gaps in the process of production
organisation, production execution,
warehouse management, process
management, equipment monitoring, cost
accounting, quality management, among
others. The exchange of real-time data in
As a solution provider for smart
manufacturing in furniture production,
HOMAG developed a customisable MES
product: the factory management system
FMS, combining German advanced
technology, localised interface and deeprooted
experience to meet needs in
order management, production planning
management, production scheduling
management, inventory management
and production process control. Based on
modularity for key needs such as delivery
management, the FMS can help companies
achieve personalised digital transformation. It
reflects the companies’ real production status
through scientific data and resolve their
production ‘black box’.
HOW HOMAG’S FMS OPTIMISES PRODUCTION
The FMS is easy to operate and user-friendly.
It offers several benefits to furniture
production:
Scheduling: According to HOMAG, their
FMS can make precise scheduling plans
based on data. The system automatically
collects data in real time through smart
terminals at the production line, analyses
the processing method and processing time
of each workpiece in combination with the
actual situation of the order and machines,
calculates the optimal process route, and
automatically schedules production.
42 PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA | JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2024