Factory digitization and automation helped Kanfit to improve material utilization by up to 3%
Petach Tikva, Israel, September 7, 2022 – Kanfit, a leading manufacturer of parts and assemblies for aerospace, medical devices, and other industries—that deliver ready-to-fly assemblies and products made of composites and advanced metals—reveals how it benefits from Plataine’s AI and IIoT based optimization solution by automating and streamlining its raw material tracking, management and planning, to significantly reducing waste and production delays.
Kanfit persistently strives to adopt the latest manufacturing technologies and remains at the forefront of innovation. As part of its program to maximize its manufacturing capabilities, Kanfit set out to reduce its buy-to-fly ratio and material waste, while reducing overhead and errors driven by manual management of time sensitive materials. Kanfit managed to address these challenges with Plataine’s optimization solution, due to its strong experience in implementing Industry 4.0 solutions in the aerospace industry.
Plataine’s Time sensitive Material Management (TSMM) solution prevents usage of expired material or material likely to expire by the time the work order is completed. With Plataine’s TSMM solution, material information is automatically collected from factory sensors and logged throughout the entire manufacturing process, eliminating manual reporting and paperwork. The operators are pleased to be working with Plataine’s solution since it helps them to manage the receiving process automatically, easily track the location and the condition of materials as well as their remaining shelf-life across various production areas. The digitized and automated solution contributes to factory-wide benefits, improving overall efficiency, minimizing rework and waste, increasing material yield and ensuring compliance with audits.
Plataine’s AI software solutions optimize and automate Kanfit’s composite production processes. The solution for cutting and kitting is seamlessly integrated with Kanfit’s existing ERP system, enabling it to automatically create holistic and optimal production plans. It considers the complexity of kitting to find the optimal balance between material utilization and easy kitting, allowing Kanfit to maximize material utilization up to 3% and reduce costs. Dynamic and smart cut plans combine work orders, save material and reduce the overall number of cut plans, easing demand on CNC machinery, which increases capacity.
Shachar Fine, EVP Business Development at Kanfit: “Plataine saves valuable time and reduces quality risks by automating routine procedures. With the Plataine’s solution at hand, we have managed to significantly increase our buy-to-fly ratio and improve our overall equipment efficiency.”
Avner Ben Bassat, President and CEO of Plataine, adds “We are proud to be Kanfit’s innovation partner for making their factory a Smart Factory. With Plataine’s solutions, Kanfit automated their production processes and witnessed increased staff efficiency with paperless production and process automation, which are imperative as the whole industry deals with supply-chain challenges. We are excited about the future joint initiatives, which are already in process.”
About Kanfit
Kanfit is a leading manufacturer of detailed and primary parts, ready-to-mount assemblies, and subassemblies, for the aerospace and medical device industries. It has over 35 years of experience working with composite materials, and its ready-to-fly assemblies provide customers with a full-service solution ranging from product specification to 3D modelling to serial production. The company prides itself on its short response time and is an authorized supplier to a range of leading companies, including Bell Textron, Boeing Gulfstream, Israel Aerospace Industries and Lockheed Martin.
About Plataine
Plataine is the leading provider of Industrial IoT and AI-based optimization solutions for advanced manufacturing. Plataine’s solutions provide intelligent, connected Digital Assistants for production floor management and staff, empowering manufacturers to make optimized decisions in real-time, every time. Plataine’s patent-protected technologies are used by leading manufacturers worldwide, including Airbus, GE, MRAS (an ST Engineering Company), IAI, Triumph, Alestis, Kineco-Kaman, IFS, Light & Strong and Ethan Allen. Plataine partners with SAP, Siemens PLM, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, and CTC GmbH (an Airbus Company), and is also a part of the UK National Composites Centre (NCC) membership network, to advance the ‘Factory of the Future’ worldwide. For this work, Plataine has received Frost & Sullivan’s 2021 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award for its AI-Based Digital Assistants for Manufacturing and Innovation Awards from JEC. Plataine also received the SME 2021 Excellence in Composites Manufacturing Award and awards from the CompositesUK organization. Plataine is ISO 27001 certified for compliance with information security management requirements. For more information, visit: http://www.plataine.com.