Category: Articles

The metal industry benefits from more agility in the supply chain and value chain. This is only achieved by bringing supply and demand together as well as possible. Matchmaking based on artificial intelligence is key. By seamlessly connecting processes, the routings that products take are becoming smarter and smarter. The question arises: which matches do you have to make? And how? You can read it in this blog.

Where would we be without matchmaking? It brings people, organizations and companies together. Just look around you, there is plenty of matchmaking going on. We know the phenomenon of dating sites, to ultimately have a happy marriage as a result. Or a fun filled night of course, let’s not beat around the bush.

We see matchmaking returning to the sport of boxing, to host an important match between world stars. In video games, to bring the right players together. Matchmaking can even save lives when characteristics of organ donors match those of recipients.

Matchmaking is also a determining factor in the business world. In the sales process, it is a crucial factor to bring in the ideal customers. The same applies to business events, for which you want to find the right visitors. To stay on the subject of entrepreneurship, you can eventually apply matchmaking in every supply chain and value chain. The challenge here is: how do you ensure that you fill the existing need (demand) as well as possible with what you can offer (supply)?

How does automated matchmaking work within the metalworking industry?

So many factors influence matchmaking within the metalworking industry that artificial intelligence is the only way to automate it. The variables too diverse for an estimator or bid preparer to achieve a 100% match. This would simply take too much time. Especially when it comes to more complex inquiries. Below are the 4 primary variables to consider when it comes to matchmaking.

1. What features are requested?

If we translate this to the metals industry, you have to make various matches to achieve the optimal result. That starts with the design. As a metalworker, you have to derive features from that design in order to make the right match. The question is: which machines are capable of producing these features?

2. What tolerances are acceptable?

With the features come quality descriptions. This includes: which tolerances are acceptable? What crudities are still allowed in the product? Clients record such quality descriptions in Product Manufacturing Information (PMI).

It means that as a metalworker you must be able to read out PMI data and match it with machines that can meet the requested tolerances. Then, for example, you may find that you need to add operations to get to the right level of crudity in the product. Either way, your factory and your machines need to be set up to meet the demand.

3. What is the required capacity of the supplier?

This is a form of matchmaking that you can distill from drawings and specifications of the requesting party. But other data is also needed to fully and optimally apply matchmaking.

After all, you also need to know when the requesting party wants to see results and what the delivery date is that he has in mind. You have to match those requirements with how busy you already are as a supplying party. Can the assignment fit into the capacity you have?

4. What risks does a production or supplier entail?

If we look from the perspective of the outsourcing party, there are always risks. You can also largely overcome these thanks to matchmaking. The supplier can demonstrate that it can meet certain service levels. Or he can show that he has already successfully performed the requested operation several times, which makes him a reliable partner.

Which smart algorithms offer a solution when it comes to matchmaking

If we look at the world of matchmaking through this lens, we see in the metals industry that it is mainly the decision-makers who make the matches. However, the accuracy sometimes leaves something to be desired. That is inherent in people’s work when so much complexity is involved. Artificial intelligence offers a solution. Now that factories are increasingly automating, they can also apply matchmaking algorithms. There are many. That is why it is useful to categorize them all. Let’s run them down.

Can you deliver what is requested?

Starting with the basic category that you need to have in order as a manufacturing factory: you need to know what you can deliver and what the customer wants to receive. The customer demand is reflected in the design. It is then important to check whether you can make matches based on your own possibilities with all those desired aspects within this design. Can you carry out the production steps required? In other words: can you deliver what is requested?

Do you have the right machines and operators?

The next question is, are your machines capable of performing the operation? Is the product to be processed not too large or too thick? Does your machine have the right tools for it? If you can answer those questions with yes, then you can look at the operation. This requires operators in most cases. Do you have operators in your workforce who can get this job done?

Once we know that – machines check, operators check – what is the occupancy rate of your machines and operators? In other words, are they available? Suppose that is only in a few months and the customer asks to deliver the day after tomorrow, then unfortunately there is no match.

What precision can you meet?

This category forces you to ask yourself the question: do you have the machines and people for it to perform the operation in the requested state of precision? And can you demonstrate to the customer that you can do this with a high degree of reliability and within the desired time?

Just an interim assessment: the harder you are to make the matches on all the factors mentioned so far, the harder you will be able to demonstrate as a factory that you can make it and deliver it. There is a good chance that the risk for the requesting party is then too high.

What is the production routing?

Then there is a completely different category of matchmaking that covers the entire production process and all the steps that go with it. Namely the question: what is the best production routing? You can also apply smart matchmaking to this by examining various steps and qualities within your factory. They determine which routing a product takes in your factory. We call this the “ilities”. Because in English they end with “ility“. We list them below.

1. Loadability

How well can a product be loaded on the machine? Sometimes a robot can do that, sometimes a human is needed. Both of these affect the routing through your factory.

2. Retrievability

How easy is it to pick up the processed product by a human or machine?

3. Stackability

To what extent can the processed product be stacked? And does that have to be done by a human or machine?

4. Manageability

How manageable is the workpiece? If it is very large or heavy, you may need a robot or several people for it.

5. Storability

How easily can you store the processec product in the warehouse? Does it take up a lot of volume? Is it flat? All affect the final match.

6. Measurability

To what extent are the features in the processed product accessible for measuring instruments? The same applies to your pressing equipment and screw device: the product must have a shape that you can reach with it.

7. Packability

Once the operation has been completed, the product must be sent to the customer. Then you have to pack it first: how easy is that to do?

8. Transportability

Then the product has to hit the road. How big or fragile is it? In other words, how transportable is it?

These are all factors that you can express on a scale: from very easy to very difficult. Thanks to all these matchmaking algorithms, you can determine whether or not you should accept an assignment as a metalworker. And if you don’t want to or can’t do it yourself, you can easily use these algorithms to see which supplier would match.

Are all purchased parts and raw materials available?

This was all about matchmaking between what is desired and what you can do as a metalworker – and looking at it from all kinds of stages in the production process. The next category is matchmaking with the suppliers and you as a metalworker. Can they supply the purchased parts and raw materials that you need to perform an operation? You will have to match: which supplier is the best in terms of the materials (and the quantity and speed) you need?

In times of changing prices and a stagnant supply chain because it is not certain who can supply what, the complexity of this form of matchmaking increases, and with it the importance of optimizing it.

Which operations can or should be outsourced?

On to the next category: outsourcing operations. In fact, you do the same as when you apply matchmaking within the walls of your own factory, looking at the quality, capacity and availability of your machines and personnel. But now you want to take a look inside the other person’s factory.

You also want to use matchmaking on this, so that you can outsource an operation to a party that can do it well, is sufficiently reliable and can deliver within the required time — because your own delivery time is related to this.

Can you anticipate setbacks such as machine failure?

Not only metalworkers, OEMs also benefit from knowing which factories can do what. They also want to be able to apply matchmaking, so that they can choose the best combination of suppliers. This has traditionally been done by the procurement department, which enters into contracts with suppliers and makes agreements.

In modern times, you want to be able to anticipate immediately when things go wrong, for example if a supplier has to deal with machine failure, by finding a replacement solution in the market. Preferably on an intercontinental level: matchmaking across borders.

A dynamic supply chain requires artificial intelligence

If metal plants can do that, the supply chain becomes much more dynamic. After all, they switch between suppliers much more often and can therefore respond much more quickly to negative events. When the supply chain gets that agility, you as a supplier have to make sure that you have your organization in order to be able to participate in that game. And so you will have to digitize.

Those who optimize matchmaking and automate on the basis of artificial intelligence can choose their production routing more intelligently. Smarter means: optimum quality at the highest possible efficiency and reliability.

To do this, first start by optimizing the routing within your own factory, then do this with the routing of your suppliers of raw materials and purchasing parts and then with the routing of the parties to which you can outsource processing. Finally, if OEMs also make use of this, both the supply chain and the value chain will become more optimal and agile with every stroke.

The way forward is clear – automated matchmaking using AI is key.

What used to be guesswork for metalworkers is today a labor-intensive job, that of estimating production times within the metalworking industry. But artificial intelligence and machine learning are going to change that. Really; we’re reverting back to predicting thanks to these developments. More accurate and therefore more reliable than ever. Too good to be true? Read this blog and discover the future of quoting and planning within the metalworking industry.

First, back in history for a moment. Decades ago, metalworkers specialized in a small number of operations such as laser cutting, welding or the sawing of beams. As specialists, they could estimate the production time of that work on the back of a beer coaster. So with guesswork

There is still a generation of metalworkers from that era. They have an admirable sense of how to determine the production time associated with processing a certain amount of kilograms of metal. However, due to the increasing diversity of operations, this is almost impossible to do in practice. Take laser cutting: making many complex shapes is different than cutting out a large square. The kilos are the same, but the production times involved are really different.

The importance of reliably estimating prices and lead times

It has become increasingly important within the supply chain for metalworkers to be able to estimate reliably. This is primarily due to small margins, which are under pressure due to competition. The key is to offer increasingly competitive prices. Then it’s not helpful if you start overestimating.

Accuracy is also required because the production times you estimate have implications for the subsequent production process. The time estimate determines which metalworking machine you reserve when. And if it reduces capacity on the factory floor, it has a detrimental effect on every single request that comes in. Hence, avoid.

Third, there is a growing emphasis on shorter time-to-market in the supply chain. As a result, there are fewer on-site stocks and just-in-time delivery is more or less a requirement. This means that the estimates you make as a metalworker will affect your delivery time. Misjudge? Then your delivery time may easily become too long. And that negatively impacts the supply chain. Due to incorrect estimation, the products may also be sitting on your production floor waiting for you. All of which are inconvenient.

Estimating does not need to be labor intensive

That’s why it’s so important to be able to estimate with accuracy. The time for guesswork is over. Instead, other techniques have taken over. In part, CAM systems help to estimate because they have knowledge of the technical specifications of machines and know what tasks machines need to perform. From there, they can then associate times with that. That way you can get very accurate estimates from CAM systems.

The disadvantage of this: it is very labor intensive. For people are still in charge. In this process, the estimator has become a kind of disc jockey. He browses through all those CAD files to get production times out of them. He then crams those into Excel and/or the ERP system so that he can eventually produce quotations. A time-consuming process, especially as the diversity of operations has increased. This causes the estimator to take longer to produce a quotation – and customers to wait longer for their prices.

We are still talking about estimating rather than predicting. While guessing and gut feeling were still the most useful ways to make predictions based on kilograms, estimators now have to use complicated formulas to estimate the times of the various production steps.

Faster metalworking machines make time estimation more difficult

There is another development that complicates this process. Machines have become faster and faster. No matter how much knowledge and experience estimators have, this makes it increasingly difficult for them to estimate production times. Especially since the bottleneck, where the production process is slowest, keeps shifting. For example, what is occurring now; cutting machines can cut so fast, that loading a plate, or getting the cut products out, takes much longer than the cutting itself.

You can use technology for that, but once you’ve done that, getting the plate to the machine is the slowest factor in the process. So that changes nothing for a estimator. Sometimes he is estimating at a detailed level how much time cutting takes, while losing sight of the fact that transporting the products to the next workstation can take up to five to ten minutes.

Big data drives efficiency improvements within the metalworking industry

Fortunately, change is happening at a rapid pace. Let’s start with the metalworking machines themselves. In the past, these worked “alone” and provided little feedback on the production process. Now they are sharing more and more information about what they are doing; we call those events. This is partly because machines today are connected to the factory computer network. So they can not only receive input, but also send out events that tell exactly what the machine is doing.

This means that the behavior of the machine has become observable. If you capture events, you can very well use them to learn more and more about the working speed and loading time of machines. But also how often a machine has downtime. Once we capture those events as important information, big data is created. And the more you have at your disposal as a metalworker, the more valuable. Because you can then use all that information for a new generation of algorithms.

Digital twin provides process optimization on the work floor

This fuels another accelerated development. As the machine is connected to the network and transmits a lot of information, a new form of software has emerged: digital twin. This digital twin, a virtual representation of reality, runs on the server and mimics the behavior of the machine on the work floor. All events that the machine ‘spits out’, information about the current status of the machining process for example, can be extracted in this virtual environment.

And so gradually the entire metalworking plant is getting a reproduction in the virtual world – in the form of digital twins. Those twins can be about anything: the current status of machines, the location of autonomous driving carts and even the operators on the factory floor can get a digital twin thanks to cameras. You can then apply algorithms to that, which, for example, continuously monitor the safety of operators and automatically trigger an alarm if necessary. Even entire business processes or affairs regarding the factory as a whole, including transport and energy consumption, can be embodied in a digital twin.

Automated business processes within the metalworking industry thanks to data in the cloud

While digital twins are abstract representations and thus usually not visible on a screen, they are very valuable in communication between different machines – even if they belong to other companies in the chain. Normally these machines converse in their own dialect, but digital twins produce standardized events, creating “event streams”. The great thing is that you can subscribe to those streams with other parts of your production process. By capturing all events, you can stream the entire plant through time. Exactly as if you were playing recorded music.

Plant behavior in playback form is the future. And to make it even more inventive, business processes can subscribe to those streams as subscribers. So when an event occurs, you can thereby automatically start a new process or make a decision at a certain point in time. These streams thus grow into an important basis for developing automated business processes and decisions.

At the moment, such technologies, like digital twins or event subscriptions, operate mainly on computer systems within a factory. However, the exact same services are now available in the cloud. This allows you to send events to the cloud, include big data there and automate business processes. Another advantage; you can connect factories together in the cloud much more easily than you can connect to the infrastructure within the very walls of a factory.

From data driven to event driven metalworking plants

The farewell to conventional thinking, in terms ERP systems, is imminent. Centralizing data is still in the lead today, making that data reusable in factories. That certainly has its value, but it mainly creates data-driven processes. That paradigm will rapidly depart the industry.

Instead of being data-driven, metalworkers are going to set up their factories event-driven. The big advantage? By subscribing multiple business processes to events, a plant can respond to incidents in much more real time, and in doing so they are less dependent on the central database. After all, the event already contains the data that is needed.

Where previously the ERP system had an important role, another technology is taking over: Enterprise Service Bus. This architectural software construct allows you to capture events, observe them, and allow processes to subscribe to those events. It allows you to set up business processes much more robustly and in real time. Everything that happens in your factory becomes observable within the digital world.

From estimating to predicting thanks to cobots and AI

This is what today’s technology makes possible. This is the foundation that allows you to go from estimating to predicting as a metalworker. Even as machines are becoming more capable, faster, and the bottleneck is shifting as a result. Even as cobots are increasingly taking on some of the work of operators, so the speed of the process changes and realistic estimation of production times becomes even more difficult. But in the new digital world, cobots are also connected to the network, and they too have a digital twin, which means that their work too can be observed and estimated more accurately in time.

It is the power of artificial intelligence. As humans, we cannot beat the computer. And that’s because we can make the computer learn like humans learn, but faster. For that, we do need to train him. Preferably continuously. That requires a lot of data. So how do we teach a computer to play chess? By digitizing all the chess games played and feeding them to the computer. That’s how it learns chess step by step. This is even faster if you let two computers play chess against each other; then incredibly reliable algorithms are created in a relatively short time. That’s the big advantage: the computer learns much faster than humans. You can train those 24/7 without getting tired.

This creates a neural network – an imitation of how the human brain works – synchronized in software. Training that process is called machine learning. By using big data, it is possible today to properly train those neural networks. And as it is better trained, it produces better and better predictions. We no longer call these estimates because we no longer use formulas. Instead, we predict the future based on the past. Because the data you train the model with is always about the past. So now we are applying this strong piece of modern technology to the metalworking industry.

Continuous self-learning system instead of excel sheets

There are three different technologies that will enable metalworkers to move from estimating to predicting: big data, event-driven factory design (observable factory) and artificial intelligence. When it comes to quotations and work preparation, these three developments mean that we as humans no longer have to work with excel sheets to estimate production times.

We can instead set up a continuous self-learning system, which allows the estimator to predict production times much more reliably. No longer are metalworkers dependent on the availability of people’s knowledge and skills. The complete past and present of their factory are contained in big data, which they can always use in the future to improve algorithms and even make new discoveries.

This completes the story. Because the way the digital world works remains similar to how specialists used to determine the production times of their operations. It’s still a prediction, only the guesswork has been replaced by a computer that uses much more data. The difference? Very high accuracy – and that’s what the metalworker wants.

Pressure on the capacity of metalworkers is increasing. Customers demand that they perform more and more different operations and thus handle more production stages. Luckily, digital transformation offers a solution. Feature recognition and automated manufacturability analysis provide additional leeway. In this blog you will read how and why Upstream Feature Management is a necessity and is becoming the new standard within the metalworking industry.

Perform each production stage in-house or outsource?

The increasing demand for various machining operations presents metalworkers with two choices: perform the increasingly diverse production stages in-house or partner with suppliers. Take the placement of inserts, painting or powder coating. Should you do it yourself or would you rather outsource? That’s entirely up to the metalworker, but the metalworker wants to be able to offer it to the customer because to sell them no is fatal.

A growing diversity of production stages also means: a more complex route to the final product. Especially if you as a metal worker also outsource parts, meaning you also have to think about transportation and related operations. The coordination on the production floor, the estimation of production times, of delivery deadlines and consequently of quotations: it all becomes more complicated.

The demand for (sub)assemblies is increasing

That’s not all. A development that is also contributing to the pressure on metalworkers is that the demand for (sub)assemblies is increasing. They increasingly have to account for semi-finished products. As a result, metalworkers must perform operations at a higher level of abstraction, such as welding and assembly. This also makes the quotation process and the production routing more complex, because these now also involve (sub)assemblies and their subsequent assembly.

These developments will ensure that 2D drawings will disappear at a rapid pace. These are in fact no longer sufficient to carry out the increasing diversity of operations. Cutting a sheet of metal is fine in 2D, but producing (sub)assemblies is a different story; you really need to draw those in 3D. This obviously has implications for factories that largely turn over sales based on 2D drawings. These are going to find it increasingly difficult in the years to come.

Artificial intelligence has become a necessity

Because of the diversity of operations that metalworkers have on their shoulders, more and more artificial intelligence is needed at the beginning of the process. The trusty CAM systems specialize in only one specific operation, for example sheet bending, and always work from that one perspective. If you put the geometry of a tube or a rotating part into this, the system doesn’t know what to do with it.

Currently, for this reason, metalworkers have to choose the right CAM system for each drawing of an operation. This is a process that is still done by hand at many plants. But if you want to do this smartly and efficiently as a metal worker, you need intelligence at the beginning of the process (upstream) that knows how to recognize the diversity of parts, (sub)assemblies and operations.

New generation of software within the metalworking industry

For a long time there was no digital solution for this. But a new generation of software is now beginning to emerge that can accurately recognize a wide variety of shapes and operations. Metalworking software that can distinguish sheets from tubes, categorize different profiles and recognize basic shapes to provide insight into what materials (sheets, profiles, tubes, bar and stock material for machining) you need to purchase in what quantity. Even purchasing parts are now recognizable.

So instead of using a multitude of specialized CAM software, you deploy this new technology as early as possible in the process. All incoming customer inquiries can thus be categorized and features recognized fully automatically. It makes quotations a lot easier and that gives leeway to the metalworker! And it makes work preparation a lot easier, so there’ s also breathing space for the work planner.

Here are the 6 biggest advantages of this new generation software:

1. Feature recognition

These types of intelligent software are called form recognition and feature recognition, which recognizes features in geometry and can therefore determine the production stages needed to realize them. What can be recognized today is very extensive and is much more accurate than what any estimator is able to recognize.

2. Feature management

The beauty of feature recognition: If you can do that in 3D, you can also take the next step. And that is that you can de-feature.

It’s like this. The design you receive from the customer is always the end result. So drawings only describe what leaves a metalworking plant. But what it looks like on the production floor at any given moment in the production process, there is no drawing of that. With very powerful feature management you are able to strip a drawing of certain features. That is, you can automatically generate a drawing of the product so you know what the product will look like before a production stage and after a production stage. And that throughout the entire course of operations!

3. Suitable for robots

Why is this so important? Metalworkers must automate extensively to survive. Using a robot instead of an operator seems simple. But if products are difficult to stack, they still require human labor. Because a robot is not able to do that. For each production stage, you need to know what the product looks like to determine if it is suitable for a robot to handle. The suction cups must fit adequately on the product.

So the shape must be suitable for a robot. Therefore, it is crucial that you have very powerful feature management so that you have a drawing of what the product looks like before and after each production stage. Pickability, stackability are just a few of the dozens of types of decisions that you need to be able to make automatically if you want to automate your facility to a great extent.

4. Automated decisions in the workplace

Another example. Imagine you have a product, let’s take sheet metal, and you need to add inserts (press-in parts) into it. There may be settings (folds) in there, that’s very common. Now what if those inserts need to be in a place that you can’t reach because of the setting? Then, for that product, you have to redesign the routing of your production process. Laser cut first, press in and then edge. Now people are deciding that. But if we want to move – and we must – toward a manufacturing plant where the lights can go out and where robots work for the most part, then you need very powerful shape recognition and feature management at the beginning of the process. Those types of artificial intelligence will soon be the basis of all of your automated decisions in the workplace.

5. Manufacturability analyses

Feature management also provides a boost to the manufacturability of a product. Now there are limitations to what a specialized CAM system can determine. By setting up features at the front end of the process, the initial question is no longer: is it manufacturable? But: how can we create this best? And thus: which features can we best make with which machines/suppliers? Almost everything is manufacturable, but in a different way than your standard routings would work in your facility. Even the choice of whether to outsource, and with which partners, can be automated using artificial intelligence.

A new foundation for the production process is emerging thanks to these developments. Recognizing shapes and features, being able to strip features, and being able to do manufacturability analysis: these are the basics of the infrastructure that a metalworking plant needs if it is ever to become an automated plant at all.

6. Product and Manufacturing Information (PMI)

It should be obvious: artificial intelligence is going to make the work process of metalworkers smarter and more efficient. As a result, the work drawings with all the tolerances are also going to disappear. Those Word and PDF files are currently created by humans from CAD systems. This is far from ideal. Because it is difficult to interpret by computer exactly what is in those unstructured documents.

Fortunately, a solution to do this accurately has existed for decades: Product and Manufacturing Information (PMI), which allows the designer to add additional information to the CAD drawing. If you use this instead of work drawings, then as a metalworker you have all the information combined to automate the decisions you need to make. You know at a glance: certain tolerances are required here, so I have to use that machine.

Conclusion:

Arriving at the conclusion of this story. With digital transformation, of which we talk so much nowadays, being a metal worker you should start at the very beginning of the manufacturing plant. Upstream is what we call it. And all with very powerful form recognition, feature recognition, automated manufacturability analysis and PMI. To ensure that at any point in the production process you have all the information you need to make any decision automatically.

The result: less pressure, less dependence on people and an automated production process that is smart and therefore able to function autonomously. The good news is that the technology for this already exists today. We have named it Upstream Feature Management.

Estimating material consumption and determining purchase costs, go figure as an estimator within the metalworking industry. It is an increasingly complex and time-consuming challenge. But it can also be different. Smart digital solutions make it possible to simplify and speed up the quotation and estimation process. How? We outline the latest developments in this blog.

Why has estimating within the metalworking industry become complex?

Estimating in the old-fashioned way? Today is a big deal. Just consider estimating material consumption at the beginning of the process. The steps you have to go through have only become more complex.

This is primarily due to the fact that metalworking OEMs are increasingly demanding more from their suppliers. Manufacturers are responding to this, increasing the amount of different operations and types of materials. And that means more thinking and calculation for the estimator, because he has to take into account more details.

To prepare a quote, the estimator must take into account at least 3 factors:

Fluctuating material prices have a major influence on the quotation

The processor of the request is continuously confronted with fluctuating material prices. And not just a little. Prices have risen sharply in recent years. So hard, in fact, that the calculations in a quotation that has been open for two weeks may already be outdated by the time the requesting party agrees.

The days when an estimator knew a kilogram price by heart are over. It has everything to do with what is happening in the world right now. Scarcity, the pandemic, supply chain congestion and rising transport costs are just a few of the causes.

A lot of buying parts means a lot of searching

Another development that ensures that an estimator has its hands full is the changing demand. Because factories can handle more and more operations, it is becoming more interesting for the OEM to leave the entire assemblies or sub-assemblies with the manufacturer.

This can involve many purchase parts, from bolts to nuts and from hinges to wheels. Bring on the price, reads the question. This also takes extra time away from the estimator, because they have to do more and more research: who can deliver what at what price?

Order via a user-friendly customer portal

Once that’s all done, it’s time to order. That has also become a more intensive process. Suppliers of raw materials and purchased parts have been allowing their customers to order through customer portals for several years now. Self-service sounds convenient, but in practice it means a lot more work for the metalworker’s estimator. After all, he now has to find his complete order himself, working his way through the forest of article numbers and prices.

APIs provide a big part of the solution

Fortunately, further digitization offers a solution. Suppliers deploy an Application Program Interface (API). This means that as a manufacturer you do not have to go through all those customer portals, because by ‘talking’ to APIs you are connected to the systems of various suppliers. That is a big advantage: it offers a total view of the various suppliers and their prices and delivery times.

Thanks to this development, the concept of preferred supplier is also changing, because you can easily do business with a wide range of suppliers. And that is great in times of scarcity and changing prices. Because who can supply at all and what is the best price?

Automatically manage item files from different suppliers

Thanks to artificial intelligence, it is even possible to automate the ‘matching’ of article numbers. The computer does the work for you; it understands which articles belong together and can also take the management of article files off your hands. It makes it even easier for you to do business with a multitude of suppliers. This creates a more dynamic supply chain.

Exchanging data via SCSN

The developments continue. Increasing digitization of this process is taking place at a rapid pace. A facilitator of that progress is the Smart Connect Supplier Network (SCSN), a data standard that makes the exchange of information in the supply chain more efficient. This allows companies to share data more easily, faster and more reliably, without the intervention of an API. You simply communicate via your own ERP system.

This fastest growing data network for data exchange is a Dutch initiative; it is expected that by 2030 there will be a European standard for digital communication for the manufacturing industry. Anyone who does not go along with the increasingly digitizing supply chain has been seen. It’s digitize or die.

The real solution is fast estimating with smart quotation software

If you, as a metal worker, have all this done, your purchasing process will be extensively digitized. You have a range of options for smart ordering. In real-time you can see who can deliver what, who has what in stock and what the prices and delivery times are.

There is one but: supplying the input for a search, and prior to that estimating your material consumption, is still human work. You still have to manually enter the characteristics into the ERP system, based on the digital drawing, which you must therefore carefully ‘read’.

Forget this intensive and time-consuming task. Because also in this case there is a smart digital solution. There is now software that enables the estimator to automatically derive all geometric features from digital drawings. Simply upload 3D and 2D CAD drawings of parts and assemblies, specify material and quantities and the rest will be recognized and organized automatically by this tool. This way you know exactly which materials and parts you need, complete with all the detailed features.

Estimating has never been so quick and easy.

Unfortunately, sometimes you only see what you need when there is a need. But often it is already too late. If it suddenly becomes a crisis, you think I should have continued that innovation. But at that point there was no need. That requires accelerated innovation. Something that you often see in times of crisis or war.

Everything was already on edge because of Covid, but the war in Ukraine suddenly exposes very well where the bottlenecks lie within the metal industry. The entire supply chain is disrupted by raw material shortages and transport costs are skyrocketing. By the time you have a quote ready and it has been returned for approval, the purchase prices can suddenly have doubled.

This requires the necessary adjustments and flexibility within the metalworking sector, which is already subject to major changes and innovations.

Multi-supplier purchase is a big challenge

Where the biggest pain point now lies, is that before you could arrange your purchases with 1 or maybe 2 parties. But if everything is no longer in stock, you are forced to look further. This new supplier works with different item numbers and prices, which makes the purchasing process very cumbersome. A mistake is easily made and that requires care. But due care takes time and whoever submits a quote first will certainly receive the order in these special times.

Automate the entire quotation process before it’s too late

The solution is simple and very lucrative. Especially in these times of crisis and scarcity. Automate the quotation process and link the quotation software with the portals of different suppliers. With the Quotation Factory, CAD files can be read and the price of materials and purchased parts is automatically estimated based on market availability. In addition, the lead time becomes transparent, so that promises can be kept.

What used to take days can now be done in minutes. Simply through a simple automation step. Because remember what Winston Churchill once said: “Never waste a good crisis!”

The metalworking industry has undergone a number of innovations in recent decades. Many companies knew how to take advantage of this but a few missed the boat and had to close their doors. Its a shame, but there is nothing to do about it. This is typical of an industry that used to consist mainly of pure crafts and has now been under pressure for so long.

Unfortunately for some, the innovation will continue. Others can benefit from this on a large scale. What awaits the metalworking industry in the near future, how can you anticipate this, how do you stay ahead of the competition and how important will the original metalworking craft remain?

From low mix and high volume to high mix and low volume

Long before the advent of the digital age, people often went to the local entrepreneur for metalworking. One entrepreneur was good with sheet metal and the other with welding or pipes. You knew that and if you needed multiple operations, you went to different companies.

The estimation process was simple and fast. The metalworker estimated the required kilograms of metal and calculated the number of man hours, which together gave an estimate of the costs. Often with the announcement that more or less work could be charged.

Price pressure due to competition was often not an issue. Not a fast delivery time either. The work had to be done and the local reputation secured the customer’s favor. It was a time when the metalworking industry delivered a low mix and high volume of operations, but then about 30 years ago that changed quickly.

The combination of digitization and better and more affordable machines resulted in a shift towards a high mix of operations and a low volume. Metalworking companies bought more different machines to offer the customer a total package, which had major consequences for supply and demand in the market.

The diversity in offer results in much more complex quotations

Suddenly it was no longer the local reputation, but the diversity in offer that caused the contract’s awarding factor. Because why would you visit 5 companies, if you could also go to 1 metalworking company? The trend was set and soon the entire market had to follow suit.

Digitization within the metalworking industry caused the next revolution in supply and demand. Although 2D drawings are still used today, a 3D CAD model has become the norm. Metalworking machines are digitally controlled on the basis of these files and knowledge of the operation of these machines is often more important than knowledge of materials and operations.

An additional advantage for the customer is that he can now request a quotation from various parties. Based on price and lead time, the order is awarded to 1 party and the other parties have done a lot of estimations and preparation work for nothing.

The expansion of the metalworking supply was also driven by growing demand. This is usually a positive development, but if on average only 1 in 5 requests leads to an order, this is accompanied by a high workload in the department where quotations are made. If you are unlucky, enough quotations are sent in a week, but there are too few orders, which means that the production line comes to a standstill.

Another disadvantage of the expansion of the metalworking range is that it is quite a challenge to keep all metalworking machines in continuous production. Complex and sometimes expensive ERP implementations help to optimize the production process, but do little to prevent funneling. The bottleneck is and remains the processing of complex requests for quotations and the necessary work preparation.

For most metalworking companies, the difference between making a profit or a loss is how quickly the company is able to prepare a competitive quotation. Then it is about the production efficiency and reliability of delivery. If one of these three is not optimal, red numbers are lurking and the competitor takes off with the profit.

3D models are simultaneously a blessing and a curse

With the advent of 3D CAD models, manufacturers of metalworking machines were forced to control them with CAM systems. This is ideal, because this means that a very large part of the processing takes place fully automatically. But there is also a negative side to this. Each supplier has its own CAM system and if you have a wide variety of products, you are also forced to work with different CAM systems. That should not be a problem, provided the supplied 3D files could be read in full. Unfortunately, this is exactly where the shoe pinches, but there is more to it.

The designer of a 3D file gives all kinds of characteristics to the design. Such as type of material, color, thickness, finish, etc. But once ready, the file is converted to a universal Step format so that any 3D package can read this file. The problem is that with the conversion of this rich file, all the characteristics are lost. A major problem for which the industry still has no solution after decades.

As an estimator and work planner you have to manually enter the characteristics to know what the intention is. This is, of course, very time-consuming and sometimes complex. Sales, which is responsible for processing quotations, sometimes need very specific and often technical knowledge that should actually be used on the production floor.

How do you maintain a competitive advantage within the metal industry

Most of the metalworking companies that still exist have managed to adapt well to the rapid developments of recent decades. But that doesn’t mean they have or can maintain a competitive advantage. Because you cannot simply win the battle for the customer in the future by expanding the machine park.

More machines mean even more complexity in the quotation process and work preparation. In the near future, metalworking companies can only survive if they respond smartly to three crucial aspects.

1. Speed of processing quotation requests
2. Speed and efficiency of production and delivery
3. Investing in platform technology

Speed of processing quotation requests

In the ideal world, as a metalworking company, you would like to be able to read in any 3D file, after which a specified estimation will automatically roll out. If necessary, you as sales make a few manual adjustments and after a final check, you send the quotation, including delivery times, to the customer.

In this way, it is no longer the art to process all quotation requests, but to get enough quotation requests. Because with this you keep the production line running at full speed and you can shift the focus to expanding the range.

This ideal world already exists in the form of the Quotation Factory. This smart metalworking estimation software has exactly the right intelligence under the hood to almost completely automate the quotation process. Including delivery times and prices from suppliers.

Speed and efficiency of production and delivery

The speed and reliability of delivery and the efficiency of production and logistics will be crucial in the near future. Expensive metalworking machines must run at a minimum of 90% capacity, but must also not be overloaded, which jeopardizes the delivery time. In addition, smarter logistics can make the difference between a competitive quote or a quote that you price out of the market yourself.

This is a logistical challenge to which many metalworking companies are not yet responding sufficiently. Not in the last record because they are still playing around with the preliminary phase. What is needed here is smarter and automated work preparation and planning tools. The complexity due to the number of machines and operations will only increase and that means that work preparation and planning can no longer be done by people.

Although smart ERP systems sometimes take advantage of this, they unfortunately still fall short. That’s because they are essentially not designed to work with 3D files, specific CAM systems and suppliers. Something that is crucial to estimate processing time, capacity and total lead time.

The Quotation Factory software can also offer a solution here. The link with the ERP system and the various CAM systems gives the metalworking company insight and control over the entire process. Including the required processing time, capacity and the total lead time of the entire production.

Investing in platform technology

Digitization has resulted in sleepless nights for many metalworking companies and has not only yielded benefits. But this may be the case in the near future.

Within the metalworking industry there has been talk for some time about the factory where the lights are out. The work floor is automated in such a way that almost no human hands are involved anymore. But the next step is that the lights can also be switched off in the sales department by using platform technology. This paints the following picture of the future:

Customers request their quote online and receive their quotation, including lead times and delivery date, without human intervention. All metalworking machines are connected to the Internet and have become IOT (Internet Of Things) devices. With all the associated benefits.

As a result, metalworking can be accommodated with machines that still have capacity somewhere in the country. The entire chain is connected, making delivery problems a thing of the past. Even if one machine is defective, another machine effortlessly takes over, so that just-in-time delivery can be 100% guaranteed.

The front door of the metalworking company is no longer a physical door, but the platform on which the customer makes his request. The employees will focus on supporting the customer and can use their specific expertise for innovations instead of routine work. This shifts the distinguishing power and competitive advantage from having the largest supply, to offering craftsmanship and artisanal skills. The rest is due to the platform technology and perhaps that is exactly what the metal industry needs.

The Quotation Factory believes that it is not a question of whether these developments will take place, but when they will take place. For that reason, it has developed a platform that is already taking the first steps in this direction. Namely a customer portal where customers can already request their own quotations, which are prepared for most standard operations without human intervention.

This is just the beginning and intelligence of this portal is getting smarter every day. Ultimately, this will lead to a new revolution within the metal industry. But until then, it is up to the current players in the market to anticipate this.

The metalworking industry, like any other industry, is subject to change. In no smal part because of the digitalization of systems and processes. But also because of the increasing complexity of applications and processing methodologies.

The transition from 2D to 3D inquiries, and from single parts production to full assemblies, demands more of our people, systems and processes than the predominantly data driven ERP systems can sometimes handle.

To meet the demand for just-in-time production and delivery and to remain competitive against 3D hubs, Laser Hubs and, for example, Fractory, the metalworking industry must keep up with the times.

For it is “Digitize or Die”. The digital revolution within the metalworking industry is booming.

Internal workflow automation starts with the quotation process

More and more companies within the metalworking industry are realizing that processing quotation inquiries is a too labour-intensive process. Estimating and re-estimating for days does not yet guarantee the order.

Some have integrated service as a business model for this reason. In other words, you have the client pay for the expertise needed and thus the quotation. Want een offerte omvat veel meer dan alleen de prijs en leverdatum.

Because a quotation includes much more than just the price and delivery date. Something few existing data-driven ERP systems can handle.

Because of the complexity of some metal operations and assemblies, there is a lot of manual work by skilled employees involved in preparing a quotation. This persons dependence on a few highly skilled employees, makes this a costly and time-consuming process.

The complexity of metalworking is increasing due to chain integrations

Within the digital revolution in the metalworking landscape, the complexity of chain integrations also plays an important role. This means on the one hand, the integration of processes and processing techniques of suppliers and on the other hand, the integration of customer needs through, for example, a customer portal.

What this era calls for is the integration of internal and external workflows and business-critical information that can be leveraged to create custom quotations. Something that has been technically possible for a long time already, but rarely used.

Companies must simplify the complexity of the quotation process through the use of automation for reasons of time savings, efficiency, consistency and competitiveness.

The bottleneck in quotation making is the erp system

For years, employees and the production and assembly staff have been able to benefit from the implemented ERP system. By having the desired data at one’s disposal more easily and by controlling the production or assembly process in an automated way, an enormous gain in time and efficiency could be achieved.

Sadly, progress is always outgunned by new insights and new advancements. ERP systems were designed in the 1990s for company-wide process optimization, but they are now bumping up against their own limitations. This is due to the focus on static processes.

ERP systems are ideally suited for streamlining standard processes. What they have much more trouble with are exceptions and metadata. They are allergic to variables, so to speak, because they were never intended for this.

This makes ERP systems bump up against their own limitations due to the increasing complexity of metalworking. Something the average metalworking employee can often attest to.

The cloud offers solutions for the digital metalworking revolution

Thanks to the cloud, we don’t need to make existing (ERP) systems more intelligent than what they are intended for. This can be done, but often creates additional problems. After all, you can’t just transform a shipping container into a speedboat.

The cloud allows us to add intelligence to existing (ERP) systems, without affecting existing processes and workflows.

This can be done by working with so-called “digital twins”. Business-critical information is hereby stored in the cloud as well as within the (ERP) system, after which both additional information and new intelligence can be added and exploited.

As a result, the software in the cloud has access to information about machines, estimators, nesters, users, calculators and much more, from both its own company and other companies within the chain. This is the NEXT STEP when it comes to the digital revolution within the metalworking industry, because unprecedented opportunities are suddenly within reach.

The future of the metalworking industry

The future of the metalworking industry, and the very existence of today’s players, will be determined in part by the applications enabled by software in the cloud.

Imagine if you could upload everything you could draw in any CAD package with 1 press of a button and it would automatically produce detailed components and complicated assemblies workflows.

Not only that, as price estimations and material suggestions are automatically provided based on data from own systems and affiliated partners. Right away there is insight into the BoM and BoL, and after a few adjustments, such as the desired margin or delivery time, a customized quotation is generated.

It can even go a step further, where through Blockchain technology certain certified materials or processing techniques are guaranteed and with neural networks, price estimates are tested against demand, supply and possible competition.

Thanks to this type of software in the cloud, the lead time of a metalworking quotation can be reduced from several days to minutes or a couple of hours. In addition, quotations are more consistent, contain fewer errors, and are no longer dependent on the person making the quotation.

The internal production and processing department and those of affiliated partners will also benefit enormously from this type of software in the cloud. Processes are controlled more accurately and the risk of errors is greatly reduced.

The contribution of the Quotation Factory to the digitization of the metal industry.

This ideal world seems a long way off, but it already exists today. The vision of the Quotation Factory is that skilled metal workers only need to use their talents when it comes to very complex metal productions or assemblies. Meaning, the exceptions.

Our mission is to contribute to the digitalization of the metal industry by simplifying the complexity of metalworking quotations and the flow of production thanks to software in the cloud.

Affordable for everyone, this is why we have built the Quotation Factory. Quotation software in the cloud.

Let’s simplify quoting.

Quotations and estimations consume time for many metalworking companies. A lot of time, and valuable time, at the expense of commercial agility. But also time that you would like to save and have spent differently. Recognizable? A fast, smart and easily accessible estimating and quotation tool can help. Although this solution must meet several characteristics.

You know the success stories of the large enterprises within the metalworking industry. Digitalization transforms them into smart factories; implementation of new, digital technologies brings and keeps them ahead of the curve. And while hearing and reading about it, you wonder: what benefits can we gain from it? Obviously, you don’t want to miss the boat. Certainly not now, in a time when also in the metal industry the customer increasingly expects faster lead times from its suppliers.

Your ideal quotation tool

So imagine getting started with a well thought out online sales tool. With a solution that makes your entire estimating and quotation process faster and smarter. What should such a tool do?

1. You get to do what you’re really good at

The quotation process almost always starts with complex, digital 3D drawings. In addition, new, “richer” files are being added, such as JT Open and STEP 242. Sales representatives or work planners quickly spend hours reviewing, figuring out and estimating inquiries. All the while, those same valuable employees, usually with backgrounds as engineers, can pick up other important work within the organization. A good sales tool saves time and lets people do what they are really good at. Advising and assisting clients, for example! It thus contributes substantially to the success of an organization.

2. Self-learning and growing smarter

The metal industry today has a number of successful online sales portals. A lot is also happening in the area of managing local CAM systems via IoT technology. If an (independent) quotation tool can analyze exactly what operations are required, then it is also clear what the workflow will look like. Combined with IoT technology, a factory then has a high accuracy of manufacturability and estimations when requests are made. Combine these insights and precision, and a factory has at its disposal a smart closed-loop system that keeps making itself smarter thanks to the constant feedback of data.

3. Ease of use across any screen

Regardless of the advanced, underlying technology, a sales tool must also work flawlessly for the user on screen. The importance of a clear “user interface” cannot be underestimated. A user should see only what they really need and be able to zoom in on details when they want more depth. In an era where everyone is used to the user-friendly functionality of apps on smartphones and tablets, the user interface of a quotation tool must match accordingly. This calls for a single interactive entity, where the user receives constant feedback. It is a condition for successful use and therefore a must for your solution.

4. Alternative to expensive customization

Digitalization of processes can help metal companies offer a smooth and fast quotation process, that much is certain. So several well-known parties are already making it work. Although, for now, it seems only big players can afford it. After all, customized solutions require high investments that are out of reach for smaller metal companies. Yet this does not have to imply that they cannot be at the forefront of the market. A standard estimation tool in the cloud makes state-of-the-art technology readily available to a large group of metal processing companies. This tool can also be implemented very quickly and, in any case, works just as well with as without an ERP system.

5. No worries on IT management and security

Choosing new technology consequently often requires a high, initial investment. And yet, it is not necessarily required when you can use a solution in the cloud on a subscription basis. As a result, you only pay for usage and no longer have to worry about things like your own servers, security, IT management and updates. Simple and easy to use: with such characteristics, there is little stopping you from discovering what a subscription-based quotation tool can bring you. Especially if you can try it out on a trial basis beforehand!

Quotation Factory: The sales tool for every metal company

With the online quoting tool the Quotation Factory, estimating becomes a breeze. The tool with customer portal will be available to any metalworking company starting this spring and includes all the features described above. Thanks to smart recognition of used raw materials and required processing, the solution estimates directly based on supplied geometries. And all based on the facility’s own factory capabilities and variables.

Curious about the Quotation Factory? Contact us. We’d be happy to show you the opportunities and tell you more about a trial subscription.

More than 600 million euros a year are spent by metalworking companies in Europe on quotation-related software. Yet the more than 30,000 metalworking companies (small and large) struggle to respond to quotation requests quickly and consistently.

This is according to research, which has also uncovered that the quotation burden is greatest at workplaces with more than 20 FTEs. The main reason is that these companies usually employ at least 2 highly skilled and experienced FTEs, who are unable to convert the large quantity and wide variety of incoming CAD drawings into outgoing quotations.

Why is quoting so difficult within the metalworking industry?

Actually, quoting is a difficult job within many industries. Dealing with variables, price pressure from competitors, and dealing with manpower are just a small part of the challenge. But within the metalworking industry, it is especially difficult because many applications consist of assembled products made from different materials, some of which are also not all manufactured in-house. This requires craftsmanship in some cases and that is in short supply.

Here are the top three quotation challenges within the metalworking industry:

1. Quotations are time-consuming and labor-intensive
   It is time consuming to manually figure out which components, parts and labor are to be quoted. This results in a very long and costly lead time for each production, with no assurance that the order will be obtained.

• Simple quotations already require more than 1 hour of intensive work;
• Most of the time is spent on determining technical details, thereby losing focus on commercial changes;
• Manual data entry in ERP systems is labor intensive and error prone.

2. A lot of expertise is needed because of the complexity
   Estimating complex quotations requires salespeople with extensive technical experience and considerable knowledge of materials and production. They are hard to find and expensive to hire.

• The experience required to make quotations is not always present in the workplace.
• The necessary skills in CAD software, Excel formulas and ERP systems are now and in the future will be scarce.

3. Inefficient use of capacity
   Undercapacity of the quotation department can lead to overcapacity in the manufacturing floor. It can even lead to the complete production process grinding to a halt.

• Customers don’t receive a quotation for days or even weeks (or not at all);
• Conversion rate of much less than 50% is common;
• The sales process is the bottleneck to a better utilization of manufacturing equipment and capacity.

How can you make quoting easier and faster within the metalworking industry?

Most companies operating within the metalworking industry spend a lot of money on expensive software subscriptions each year. By doing so, they try to support the quotation process, but this is often not sufficient. Creating quotations is a profession and requires very specific software and knowledge.

“Companies that do invest in the revolution of digitizing their quotation process will have a huge competitive advantage.”

Within the metalworking industry it is necessary to have software that meets the following 3 criteria:

1. The quotation process must be fast and consistent
   You want instant insight into materials, machines, manufacturing stages and price estimates to shorten the lead time of a quotation. This also contributes to more accurate planning, consistency and efficiency throughout the entire production process.

2. Automatic recognition
   You also want (fully) automated recognition of parts, assemblies, and features from CAD files to save time of highly skilled and high-cost employees who create quotations. In addition, you want to store that data in the cloud to interact with various ERP and CAM systems.

3. A customer portal
   Allow quotation requests to be generated by customers themselves in a customer portal. This also generates sales leads and again saves time for those employees creating quotes.

The best solution to simplify quoting and make it more efficient.

The Quotation Factory only does 1 thing and it does it well. Even better than anyone else. Namely: quotations within the metalworking industry simplify and make it more efficient by offering a cloud-based native software solution. A quotation solution developed in-house and improved every day.

Imagine:

• Less than 5 minutes work to list 40 entries;
• ZERO time spent determining geometric cost drivers;
• ZERO time spent on data entry in ERP system;
• The quotation process almost 100% automated, manual intervention still possible;
• A system that learns from production floor data and improves itself along the way;
• No one needs to learn additional systems (such as CAD software, Excel, ERP system);
• Customers always receive instant quotes, within minutes;
• A sales conversion rate that rises to more than 70%.

This and much more is possible. Meanwhile, your competitor is already ahead of you. The only question is when are you going to catch up with that competitor. Even if you are not afraid of any competition, you at least want your – potential – customers to benefit from this technological revolution.

The Quotation Factory (then operating under the name Metal Heaven) was the winner of the Technishow Smart Potential Award. We received this incentive award on Wednesday, March 4 during the third edition of the Evening of the Manufacturing Industry in the Jaarbeurs Utrecht (NL). The jury of the TechniShow Innovation Awards found the Rhodium24 platform of the Quotation Factory so promising that it had specially initiated an additional award.

The TechniShow Innovation Awards are an initiative of industry association FPT-VIMAG, Koninklijke Metaalunie and Rabobank in cooperation with the Jaarbeurs Utrecht. Traditionally, the awards ceremony takes place during the Evening of the Manufacturing Industry, where everything revolves around smart, technological innovations within manufacturing technology. This year, fourteen nominations had a chance to win an award, divided between the categories Dutch Tech and New Tech.

Efficient estimations and quotations for metal processing

With Rhodium24, The Quotation Factory offers online estimation software with a web-based portal functionality that allows companies in the metal processing industry to efficiently make estimates and quotations. With the Rhodium24 platform as its entry, The Quotation Factory was nominated for the New Tech Award. While the company did not win this prize, it did receive the Smart Potential Award at the Jaarbeurs Utrecht in the presence of some 200 guests.

‘Applicable to all manufacturing companies’

“The innovation of the Quotation Factory is not yet fully market-ready and still under development,” the jury report stated. “But because everyone on the jury found the entry so promising, we created a Smart Potential Award. Think of it as a kind of incentive award. The beauty of Rhodium24 is that it is applicable to all manufacturing companies. Even small companies can keep their competitive edge. It is an interesting tool to enable the step towards chain integration because the (commercial) first part of the total order process is strongly digitized.”

Smart Industry for everyone within the metalworking industry

Ed Klijsen, commercial manager of The Quotation Factory, is naturally proud of the incentive prize he has won. “We want to cater to the market in the best possible way and make Smart Industry accessible to the sales component of every metal processing company. This award underlines that we are on the right track with this. The award is meant to be an encouragement and that’s how it feels; as a widely supported endorsement by the entire industry.”

In September at TechniShow
The Quotation Factory will showcase Rhodium24, along with partner and software specialist AESC, at the upcoming edition of TechniShow. Because of the coronavirus, the exhibition for the manufacturing industry has been moved from March to September 1 till 4 in the Jaarbeurs Utrecht, the Netherlands.

For more information, see also the FPT-VIMAG and MetaalNieuws (in Dutch only).