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Customer story: “Digital Oldie” helps Georg Sahm GmbH & Co. KG achieve greater efficiency
With Connected Manufacturing, Volker Schmiedel is ushering in a new era at Georg Sahm
If it were up to Georg Sahm GmbH & Co. KG, a company for innovative winding solutions based in Eschwege, they would step into the digital future sooner rather than later. Especially when it comes to optimally managing tools and machines or generally achieving more speed and perfection in the workplace. A significant contribution to this is made by Connected Manufacturing from the Hoffmann Group on the one hand, and a man who is anything but a “digital native”, on the other. His name: Volker Schmiedel. His age: 60 plus, in other words, shortly before retirement. He has been employed by Sahm since August 15, 1978 – as a programmer and production manager he has shaped the company’s success story like no other for more than four decades. For him – then and now – this also means keeping up with the latest developments and trying out and installing modern technologies. “Taking steps towards digitalisation,” says Schmiedel, “appealed to me right from the very beginning, because it’s just fun to work on things that drive the company forward. In order to keep up with the younger employees, I have also regularly undergone further training. It may have taken a little longer for me to grasp certain things because of my advanced age, but thanks to my curiosity about everything new and the fun of learning, I have always managed to stay up to date.”
Curiosity about everything new
In this context, Volker Schmiedel is also very pleased with the successful cooperation with the Hoffmann Group, which started a few years ago with the purchase of GARANT tools – such as taps, inserts, boring bars – and continued with the installation and use of the innovative GARANT Tool24 industrial vending system.
Then, in 2021, when the Hoffmann Group approached Sahm with the intelligent tool management software Connected Manufacturing, they were hooked immediately and began to serialise their tools with chips straight away. Schmiedel benefited from the fact that he encounters few restrictions when trying to modernise the company and optimise processes.
Open, honest & relaxed
If you strike out in new directions you have to accept the fact that the changing of processes might lead to complications and that things might not immediately work the way they should. To prevent this from happening, the introduction took place in close cooperation with the experts of the Hoffmann Group, says Schmiedel: “We felt that we were in good hands and well looked after right from the very beginning. Regular weekly meetings also ensured that everything ran smoothly. These enabled both sides to check the respective status quo.” And Maximilian Lange, Schmiedel’s designated successor as production manager, adds: “We maintain a kind of friendly relationship with the employees of the Hoffmann Group, in which both parties can address everything openly and honestly. However, should problems arise – which is rarely the case – they are resolved immediately.”
Well chipped is half the battle
This excellent cooperation has already produced results. Connected Manufacturing had a particularly positive impact in the areas of process reliability, speed and effectiveness. At the moment, the focus is on integrating the tool setting into Connected Manufacturing. This means creating the tools, chipping the devices and connecting them to the new ERP system, which was only purchased last summer. But that’s just the beginning. Sahm’s medium-term goal is for production is to be virtually paperless. Lange comments: “It will probably not be possible to map everything digitally. But the goal is to save around 80 percent on paper, which I consider to be a very good figure.” In addition, we’re planning to integrate the GARANT Tool24 to allow automatic opening of the tool cabinets. Furthermore, the job tickets for each article are to be mapped via Connected Manufacturing. The latest plans to also include the measuring equipment in the tool management are already well under way.
Discover endless possibilities!
As far as digital development is concerned, Sahm stands out from the competition - in this respect, it even leads the way. And like Maximilian Lange, Volker Schmiedel is certain: “For me, Connected Manufacturing is only just the beginning and it’s the road to the future for us, because there are still infinite opportunities for further development with Connected Manufacturing. So far, we have only just exploited a fraction of it.” On the home straight of his professional career, the Sahm veteran, who is celebrating his 45th anniversary in August 2023 and still enjoys the implementation of digital technologies, is looking forward to the next few years with the Hoffmann Group: “I’m really curious about what else will be possible in terms of Connected Manufacturing.”
SAHM – the specialist for winding technology
Georg Sahm GmbH & Co. KG, a member of the Austrian Starlinger Group, is an international company specialising in the development and manufacture of winding machinery for a variety of applications. Among other things, security tapes for the banknote industry are wound and unwound using their technology. At the Eschwege site in northern Hesse, every day around 200 specialists work with passion to reaffirm Sahm’s excellent reputation as a specialist for winding technology and technology leader for high-performance fibres, carbon fibres and film tapes for the converting sector, and to set global standards. SAHM always thinks one step ahead and provides comprehensive solutions for upstream and downstream processes.