Digital Factory System
Stell is a manufacturer of quality high-performance cardboard tubes and cores
Overview
Stell appointed Rich Material to help prepare a detailed brief for a digital transformation project focused on the factory.
The original requirement was to replace paper job requests with a digital system, but after reviewing the initial brief it was clear that the business needed a more detailed understanding of its processes, systems and data before selecting the right solution.
After going through a grant process to fund the first phase, we worked with Stell's team to document how the business operated, define the real requirements and support the selection, design and delivery of a new bespoke cloud-based system.
API Integrations
Bespoke cloud-based Digital Factory system connected to SAP and Access.
Data capture
Shop-floor Production module designed to replace paper job cards.
Bespoke Design
Custom designed interface to mimic paper based process to speed up adoption.Grant Support
The system was grant supported, by several successful submissions over the years.
The company used SAP B1 for sales, admin, accounts and purchasing, with a custom Access platform used for planning. Once a sale became an order, information moved from SAP into Access, where the job was planned before being printed and physically placed into the correct area of the factory.
The challenge was not simply to digitise a piece of paper. Stell needed to understand how data moved through the business, where SAP and Access fitted into the process, and how a new system could support shop-floor activity without disrupting production.
The focus was on the point where a sale became an order and moved from SAP into the Access planning system, then into the factory.
The work mapped the relevant processes, systems, people and data involved in moving work into production. Loading and delivery were outside the initial scope, but the future system needed to be designed in a way that could support these areas later.
This discovery work gave Stell a much clearer understanding of what the system needed to do and created the foundation for selecting the right approach.
Following supplier discussions and cost comparisons, the agreed strategy was to build a bespoke cloud-based solution that connected directly to SAP and the internal Access planning module.
Rich Material advised on the appointment of third-party suppliers and became the main project manager, working alongside Stell’s internal team and IT partners. We also designed the system prototype and created the UI kit for the new application.
The solution included a new database that synchronised data from SAP and the Access planning tool, alongside a new Production module for shop-floor data capture.
Ongoing improvement
The project also included upgrades to Stell’s internal Access planning tool, working closely with Stell’s internal developer.
Additional features were planned and developed around the needs of the factory, including reporting and a separate app for forklift truck drivers to receive material orders from factory work bays.
Rich Material also supported wider project requirements, including Cyber Essentials considerations and hardware recommendations for factory bays.
The outcome
Because Stell operates close to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, deployment had to be carefully planned. Rather than attempting a disruptive full rollout, the project started with a dedicated digital test bay that worked alongside the existing paper-based process.
This test bay allowed Stell to trial the software, hardware, infrastructure and user experience with both test jobs and live jobs before wider deployment.
What made the project successful
The success of the project came from understanding Stell’s real operational processes before selecting or building technology.
A bespoke approach allowed the new system to be designed around the existing paper process, using familiar data points, terminology and workflows. This made the software easier for factory operatives to understand and helped reduce the risk of adoption issues.
By connecting SAP, Access and the new cloud platform, the project created a more joined-up foundation for future digital development across the factory.
What’s next
The system is currently in the final stages of testing, with a wider rollout planned.
The long-term strategy is to continue expanding the Digital Factory system so it can support more operational areas, including future despatch and delivery functionality.