The Simoldes Group is one of the leaders in the production and supply of plastic components for the automotive industry. They produce car door panels for several major international automotive brands. In order to efficiently respond to the demanding requirements of the sector for increased personalisation, they selected ZetesMedea using pick to light (PTL) technology to optimise their just-in-time (JIT) assembly line operations.
 
Strong local presence to ensure quick turnaround time
 
The Simoldes Group, plastics division headquarters are based in Portugal. They are present on the market since 1980 and have subsidiaries in Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Brazil, Czech Republic and Morocco. Their assembly lines are always located close to manufacturing plants to make sure they respond to the supply orders issued by their customers within the agreed SLA’s.
 
High stock levels required
 
Besides having to work within short timeframes, Simoldes must face with an increasing level of personalisation of the car doors, which puts a strain on stock levels to ensure product availability at all time. To save on costs and space, they started looking for a solution that would fully integrate with their ERP system and allow them to only have the necessary parts in stock required for the production sequence. They opted for ZetesMedea, powered by pick to light technology.
 
ZetesMedea with Pick to light technology
 
ZetesMedea is an advanced logistics execution solution which optimises critical warehouse and inventory processes. Receiving production schedules from the manufacturing plant with just a few hours’ notice, Simoldes’ ERP sends pick tasks to ZetesMedea. Operators are efficiently and accurately guided via pick to light technology to pick the exact parts for the assembly order. Operating in such a streamlined manner has helped Simoldes to significantly reduce inventory levels resulting in decreased buffer inventory and improved warehouse space utilisation.
 
Main benefits
 
“ZetesMedea has enabled us to better respond to our customers’ demands. It has enhanced our operations and it increased productivity by more than 40%. Application of this concept for the production of door panels also helps to eliminate the need for batch production and constant changes in production line references. In summary, ZetesMedea enables us to respond just-in-sequence [production according to the sequence required by the manufacturing plant] to the customer and reduce the production lead time of cars by more than 90% on the assembly line”, explains Manuel Silva, Continuous improvement Manager at Simoldes.
 
“Our long-term partner, Zetes, has managed to meet our requirements and provided us with an excellent service through appropriate understanding of our needs and by having the know-how in this sector to finalise and implement a complete solution. The degree of integration achieved with our ERP was a decisive factor for the success of the project”, explains Luís Faustino, IT Director at Simoldes.
 
Zetes Ireland
National Technology Park
Plassey
Limerick
Ireland
 
Phone Number : 061 333 188