Digitalisation in manufacturing and engineering is important to help to improve efficiency, make processes easier and make work less repetitive. Thomas Gittler, Digital Technology Manager for maxon says “It is not an option to not embrace Digitalisation, the real question is how much do we have to embrace it to not be left behind?” He made it clear that digitalisation is a must to stay competitive within the market. Dan Mota, Logistics Operative for Parvalux who also worked on the development of the application agrees with Thomas and said, “I think it’s important, especially as we are moving into a new site with this app, it’s a great start.”

Why Did We Need to Develop This App?

Digitalisation can improve efficiency, but there are so many more reasons why Parvalux chose to develop our own.

Thomas said “The reason to build the app was to try and streamline logistics operations in the warehouse. This was so factory migration could be done easier as there is a lot of stock to transfer from the old factories to the new one.” The app can do multiple functions that help our workforce around the factory.

First of all, the app allows our staff to perform warehouse transfers, this means if we have materials or stock in another location, we can easily log the transfer. This has been very helpful for the team with our factory move and will continue to help the team with general warehouse optimisation and management. Another feature that the app has is Inventory Count, this will help in case of discrepancies if something breaks or there is something generally off with the inventory levels. You can do everything from the app to avoid running back and forth to a terminal. The app also has a work order kitting feature which makes picking and gathering materials as easy as ticking off a shopping list. It shows you where to pick up the items from and how many are needed. Behind the scenes, the feature also completes the necessary transactions, so it’s not only an assistance, but also smoothens and streamlines the workflow for our workers.

When Dan Mota was asked about why the app was developed, he answered “The app was created to make a number of things a lot easier for us. For example, we can transfer materials very easily by just scanning a barcode. We no longer have to run back and forth to a computer, instead, we can access it all on a phone and this will save us a lot of time.”

How Was the Application Developed?

The app was developed with Thomas’ team alongside the Parvalux Logistics and IT teams.

Thomas said “First and foremost researching the process and engaging with the users that would be co-developing the app is the most important research” This was so Thomas knew exactly who he was going to be working with throughout the process of the development and so he knew exactly what the Parvalux workers needed from the app. Thomas then said that he had never worked with the ERP system that Parvalux uses and had to research how to get data in and out of the system, he then went on to say “Researching never really stops”.

Thomas also commended the Parvalux staff that he worked with saying “People like Dan Mota at the factory would tell us what they needed inside of the app, the team and me here would do our best to create those features within the app. James Sayers (Head of IT) has also been super supportive throughout the process and James Arnold (IT Support Technician) who is now driving the development, is actively engaging with the users of the app and collecting feedback which is really helpful.”

What Does Parvalux Benefit from By Using This Application?

The app has been designed to benefit our workers in areas where time and effort are vital.

When Dan Mota was asked about this he said, “The main benefit of the app is that it saves us a lot of time, having a phone or tablet with us makes our job a lot easier especially because you don’t have to constantly be going back to a computer and then back out to where you were in the factory, its brilliant.”

Thomas Gittler also said, “The benefits for people using this app are that it makes a very big job smaller as we had a lot of people running back and forth to a workstation when they could just take the workstation with them. There is also the benefit of having better data quality & accuracy in the system that can help further drive process based on the platform.”

This application will ultimately help to save Parvalux money through efficiency gains and not having to spend on things like licencing for the software itself. Thomas also said that the app will hopefully help to make work more fun and enjoyable for people working on the shopfloor which in return would keep people with vital experience working at Parvalux for longer because losing someone with so much experience can be painful and costly for the business.

The future of the app will hopefully have more features on it so it can be a handy tool for all our shop floor colleagues.

This is truly a success story, everyone involved should be proud of what they have achieved, and we will look to do more things like this where we can embrace digital technology to enhance the way we work at Parvalux. To find out more about how digitalisation can benefit a manufacturing process please read our page all about it here! If you are interested in a career at Parvalux please keep an eye on the positions we have available.