Case study: Aster GmbH.
3 facts about Aster GmbH
- 90 years of experience
- 90 motivated experts
- Maximum precision in execution
HR & Production
Bildquelle: Aster Gmbh - Fotograf: Alex Filz
Thanks to production optimisation in mERP, there is seamless traceability from goods receipt to installation.
Aster GmbH is an innovative South Tyrolean company that specialises in timber construction and doors. The company has high standards of transparency, sustainability, efficiency and detailed, on-time project management. In line with this commitment to quality, the company reviewed its processes in 2022/23, identifying areas for improvement, particularly in personnel and capacity planning, construction site management, and traceability.
A comprehensive, personalised HR module was developed for Aster GmbH based on the timesheets, shift management, holiday lists and absence management features of the open source solution. This module not only manages employee master data in accordance with data protection regulations, but also creates individualised shift schedules and processes attendance records in accordance with payroll regulations. Together with the integration of construction sites, the system enables efficient capacity planning.
"The integrated management of planned hours, holidays and absence requests significantly facilitates capacity planning and contributes greatly to the timely completion of projects, and thus to customer satisfaction."
- Ulrike Egger, Head of Finance & Human Resources at Aster GmbH
Time recording, control and monthly closing
The HR department plans employees' working hours, which employees can then modify as required before they are checked and approved by the department manager. Absence requests are automatically incorporated into the planning process. The HR department checks and approves hours worked in mERP for payroll accounting. The approved times can then be exported as an XML file and transferred to the payroll office. Thanks to integrated absence management, capacity can be viewed at any time in the capacity report.
Capacity planning
Based on daily, weekly and monthly work schedules, holiday lists and integrated absence management, the capacity report can be used to optimally manage existing capacities at any time. This makes it easier to compensate for absences and ensures that ongoing and planned construction sites can be serviced.
Onboarding process
mERP is also used to manage the onboarding process, from job advertisements to the automatic creation of onboarding tasks by the HR department. A notification system supplements the task list, reminding both employees and the HR department when the due dates for the corresponding tasks and steps in the onboarding process are reached.
Document management
Confidentiality is a particularly important issue when managing employee data and documents, both legally and in terms of employee retention. For this reason, the file management system is equipped with a dedicated rights management system offering various authorisation levels.
“We used to record and maintain our beams manually in Excel lists. This was patchy and extremely time-consuming. Today, however, the process is completely digital, and scanning at the joinery machine takes only a fraction of the time – around 80% less effort.”
– Ulrich Gamper, Production Manager, Aster GmbH
The personalised production optimisation module is based on article management using barcode scanners, batch logic, and parts list creation. It also covers order management and order picking, as well as providing interfaces to the joinery system. As a 'bridge' between work preparation and production, production planning is essential for achieving objectives. In addition to ensuring data integrity through detailed documentation, it provides the necessary traceability down to component level and supports the company's quality standards by managing errors.
Goods receipt and warehouse management
Assigning parts with the same attributes to a batch number significantly reduces labelling effort during goods receipt, while also guaranteeing clear traceability from delivery to installation. In addition, requests from construction sites are recorded via mobile devices, processed in the system as material requests, handled in the warehouse and made available for dispatch. All manufactured components can be tracked precisely, enabling the material used and its LOT number or production date to be traced using its serial number. This involves grouping by construction elements, such as exterior walls or roof components.
Operating orders and workstations
Operating orders with matching items and defined work processes are processed at various workstations where the necessary information is available. This ensures efficient processes and complete documentation of the production process across all workstations.
Joinery machine integration
Automatic allocation of materials to nestings created by the joinery machine ensures detailed data capture in mERP. Together with test criteria for each work process, this guarantees 100% traceability and improved quality.
Order picking and warehouse management.
During the production and preparation of materials for delivery to construction sites, they are pre-packaged. These packages are labelled with QR codes that can be scanned to view the package contents, including the tracking of individual components, in mERP. The result is 100% traceability, and grouping by construction site shortens the delivery process.
Quality control and error management
To ensure construction sites are properly managed, test criteria are selected from a catalogue, implemented and documented. Errors in the system are recorded, categorised and documented for continuous improvement. Quality measures are then decided upon and implemented based on this data as part of a regular evaluation via an error dashboard.
Interfaces
Orders are imported from the accounting software to enable goods receipt in mERP. These are then transferred back to the accounting software to close the orders. Delivery notes are also created in mERP and transferred to the accounting software for billing purposes. All jobs can be clearly controlled via a corresponding interface to migrate data from adjacent systems in a targeted manner. For example, construction site data, customer and supplier details, and product information are continuously synchronised.
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