If your company is a smaller manufacturer of furniture with a collection of machines from different suppliers, you probably take companies that present software solutions with a pinch of salt and look for the exit the moment they start talking about ERP, RFID and all the other abbreviations software boffins like to throw into the conversation.
There’s a pretty good chance you’ll have dismissed some software companies because their product, good though it might be, is tied to machines you don’t have, or can’t be adapted if you decide to change machine brands in the future. Others might be good for design but aren’t so hot when it comes to production.
CAD+T is a software company that has the answers small, bespoke manufacturers need as well as those who have switched to Industry 4.0 and every one of its solutions is individually tailored to suit what you want to do. CAD+T offers a complete solution that starts from design – and being modular it can be as simple or as all-encompassing as you need.
“Our new configurator is a web-based solution with a fully automated process on the back,” says Florian Wonisch, international sales manager for CAD+T. “That means you can generate drawings without making a physical drawing if you provide the system with the rules you want it to work with. It will then feed that information back to a CNC for optimising on your beam saw and all your other machines in what we call silent mode – in the background. That’s especially good for the bespoke kitchen furniture sector.”
What’s particularly interesting is that CAD+T isn’t related to any specific machinery suppliers. It works across the board, even if your machines are 10 or 12 years old and you have half a dozen different brands in your workshop. “We don’t know what our customers are buying,” Florian confirmed. “I have customers who have six or seven different machinery suppliers. We can implement the software on each machine with our interface.
“Some of our customers have machines that have no automatic adjustments for thicknesses or edges. In such cases, we provide all the information the operator needs on the label itself so adjustments can be made manually. We have some customers who use barcodes but no automatic adjustments, others who have fully automatic, latest generation machines and many who have upgraded their machines and taken CAD+T with them.
“When you decide to change a machine, we adjust everything in the CAM interface – the post processor. We switch the machine, the output files and change all the tool setups to accommodate your new machine’s tooling and capability. We can do this across the internet. In principle, Covid taught us we can do 98% of this online. It’s always best to be on-site to check but everything, even the initial installation can be done online.”
Another big benefit of CAD+T’s solution is its modular construction. “We are not selling one big product with a start price that gives you this, this and this,” explained Florian. “Our software is customised to each customer’s needs. Some customers may need only a small design element and a cutting list; others might need a complete solution with RFID parts control, tracking, invoice control and so on. What we supply depends on the modules you want to have and what you want to achieve.” As a CAD+T partner, you’ll get help to optimise your workflow and modules can be added as your business grows.
Whilst most companies will be working with PCs, Apple users can access CAD+T via its cloud solution: “You can have a cloud-based solution where everything is done in the cloud. Several of our customers have moved their whole IT environments into the cloud so they don’t have to maintain their own servers.”
