A+W Cantor at TMP

Photo source

Order entry with A+W Cantor | Photo: A+W Software

Date: 18 January 2023

More than twenty years’ software partnership

“TMP needed more than just storage capacity for the elements produced at its main plant,” explains Managing Director Tobias Kern. “Retail goods, accessories, and windows and doors from the plant in Hildburghausen are also stored in the new logistics center and prepared for dispatch.” Currently, TMP is working with A+W Cantor to optimize the logistics center. TMP is relying increasingly on digital technologies to help improve its products and services, and it pays constant attention to sustainability. For many years, the company has used A+W Cantor as the heart of digitalization to control its commercial processes and production in Bad Langensalza and the other locations of the TMP corporate group.

Success requires courage

Known far and wide in the industry, TMP was founded on the premises of a former LPG in 1990 – and what a success story began with this courageous step! Today, TMP produces more than 100,000 elements per year with 383 employees in seven German and one Lithuanian location. A focal point of its production is the complete supply of single-family houses under construction with construction materials. Approximately 10 % of sales is generated by project business.

TMP relies on top technology, maximum quality, and the best customer service. 130 installation partners across Germany admire this success and TMP’s quick reaction to current trends in windows, doors, and all the “adjacent” products such as window blinds, windowsills, sun and insect protection, and winter gardens. TMP windows and doors, including installation, have been certified since 1993. People can admire TMP products and receive expert advice about them in the lovingly designed showroom in the main plant in Bad Langensalza. The showroom provides inspiration for many individual design possibilities. It also provides insight into TMP’s fascinating product lines and allows people to see and feel properties such as the quality of surfaces and hardware and the high-quality security equipment of the company’s windows and doors.

More than twenty years’ software partnership – from left: Tobias Kern, Managing Director TMP; Felix Frank, IT / Digitale Transformation Manager at TMP; Uwe Rogge, EDP Manager at TMP, and Nicole Dießel, Director Commercial Services DACH A+W Cantor

Nothing works without software...

From quotation creation to machine control and on to dispatch, software controls all workflows at TMP so that they are very efficient and secure. The A+W Cantor software has been the heart of this complex system for more than twenty years.

After an order is entered, all data for this order is available everywhere in the company so that it is always clear precisely where and what the status of an order is. Business processes are always transparent, and order handling is nearly paperless. The solution also includes tools that can be used to improve process throughput company-wide, which also makes companies much more efficient. The just-in-time planning helps TMP work on schedule and according to demand at all times and to maintain an overview of all processes.

Thanks to intelligent buffers, transport lines, and sorting systems, each element and each insulated glass unit is available in the right place at the right time. This completely networked system is controlled reliably by A+W Cantor CIM software.

Comprehensively networked production

State-of-the-art construction materials can only be produced in perfectly organized, networked production environments using the best machine technologies controlled by state-of-theart industry software. Paper at TMP? That’s so yesterday. Today, A+W Cantor CIM monitors and barcode scanners reliably provide the right information at the right time, they enable real-time status messages and they help automatically initiate production processes. The barcode label includes all information required for the quick and reliable handling of all production processes.

TMP has networked all production with the A+W Cantor CIM planning and control system, a powerful database-based production solution that smooths out production thanks to its comprehensive approach – from delivery and storage of the profiles and hardware to shipping control. In addition to networked control of all machines, this includes continuous information management at each automatic and manual workstation. Integrated materials management ensures that even during entry of an order, it is clear whether all parts required for production are in stock or whether a re-order will be necessary. This results in a smooth production flow and the greatest precision when determining the delivery date.

At TMP, there are almost no production workstations that are not incorporated into the networked production with A+W Cantor CIM

Since the introduction of the A+W Cantor system, it is a matter of course for TMP’s employees in production that all parts are available precisely where they are needed.

As in earlier times, the EDP system does not look first and foremost at individual machines, but rather at the entire interaction between the machines, transport lines and buffers, and manual workstations. Most products are produced completely automatically and controlled intelligently through production. Frame and glass buffers channel the components to assembly and glazing in real time based on the barcode. Nobody has to look for anything, no employee carries stacks of paper or material through the production hall.

Even at manual processing stations, information is provided by A+W Cantor CIM monitors; true-to-scale graphics help the workers with manual steps. Production control is coupled seamlessly with the A+W Cantor ERP system, the commercial-administrative part of this comprehensive corporate solution. All order data is available shortly after entry and scheduling all across the company. Status reports are sent from production to the A+W Cantor ERP system and ensure maximum transparency. Control instructions for production are transferred from the ERP system in real time – the user in production sees only what he needs to see thanks to this high-end IT system: each workstation can be configured individually.

Working with A+W Cantor in the new logistics center

A+W Cantor Dealer Cloud: Online entry instead of local dealer software

Currently, TMP is installing the A+W Cantor Dealer Cloud, high-performance online software that dealers can use to generate quotations, order confirmations, POs, and invoices easily and with up-to-date data. Each order that is received by the A+W Cantor Dealer Cloud has already been checked to ensure it is feasible.

The software is the right tool for organizing operations quickly, easily, and securely. Essentially, it is the commercial part of the A+W Cantor system. The dealer is always working with current data. TMP’s sales partner’s calculation is transparent and traceable for the end customer.

TMP has truly embraced digitalization as a f ixed component of the company’s philosophy; this is one of the most important prerequisites for succeeding on the market in the future.