Case History


Via Risorgimento, 9,
23826 - Mandello del Lario - LC

Tel: +39 0341 706111

www.cemb.com

Cemb Spa

Mechanical industry


CEMB designs, manufactures and exports horizontal and vertical balancing machines worldwide, and also manufactures fully automatic high-performance machines for the automotive sector.

In 1946, Eng. Luigi Buzzi designed the first balancing machine: an avant-garde solution, covered by patent.

In 1977, on the threshold of that information technology revolution destined to profoundly change production and management processes, Eng. Carlo Buzzi gives impetus to new projects based on the latest digital technologies.

Microprocessor applications for the automated management of balancing machines were born.

Products:

WMS

StockSystem

WAREHOUSE LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT

Software for the management of logistics processes.

Integrated technologies:

Pick2LightAir

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A historical manufacturing reality founded in 1946, Cemb has about 300 employees distributed in its 3 factories in Mandello del Lario: from engineering to production, everything is done in-house.

It is a company that exports to every country in the world; in fact, 80 percent of its turnover is produced by exports.

Cemb Spa

Cemb numbers

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Since 1946 CEMB has been designing, manufacturing and exporting horizontal and vertical balancing machines all over the world; it also manufactures dedicated fully automatic high-performance machines for the automotive sector, to be inserted directly into production lines; the latter sector is growing steadily, thanks also to the contribution of the Hofmann company subsidiary based in Germany.

PRODUCTION DIVISIONS: INDUSTRY, GARAGE, INSTRUMENTATION

INCREASE % EXPORT TURNOVER

AND MORE EMPLOYEES IN 3 PLANTS

There are 3 divisions:

  • Industry: designs, manufactures and exports worldwide horizontal and vertical balancing machines, suitable for any type of rotary, with manual or automatic unbalance correction on customer's ad hoc request.
  • Garage: boasts the most complete and innovative range of wheel balancers available on the market, as well as wheel aligners and tire changers for automotive, truck, bus and motorcycle wheels.
  • Instrumentation: designs and manufactures a full range of sensors and instruments for vibration measurement and analysis, rotating machinery monitoring, and imbalance correction.


Extremely attentive to technological innovation, until a few years ago all of CEMB's investments were devoted exclusively to the product: this is evidenced by the 10 years of research and development that led to the creation of the Argos product, the first and only machine in the world capable of measuring, in just 5 seconds, wheel camber and toe-in of the wheels of any vehicle.

What we found absolutely positive in Replica Sistemi, which more than a supplier should be considered a partner, is the absolute willingness to listen to both the sales figure and the technicians, who were able to fully understand our needs and to identify and implement the most suitable innovative solutions for our company.

Alessandro Zucchi

Plant manager CEMB

NEEDS

Logistics, not being core business, had never been given special attention, but in 2009, as sales volumes increased,  a first WMS was introduced.

Since the results in terms of productivity and cost recovery had been positive, it was then decided to change the management system and choose a new, higher-performance WMS that could fulfill the new goals set by management:

  • Integration with Modula vertical warehouses
  • Increased picking efficiency through massive picks and subsequent sorting with put-to-light
  • Groupage of production picks
  • Reduction of picking errors in the spare parts division.

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS

Being a manufacturing context, the WMS manages both the components warehouse, intended for replenishment of assembly lines or pre-assembly departments, and the finished goods and spare parts warehouse.

The references are high, and most importantly, they range from small parts such as screws and bolts to bulky, sometimes fragile, and valuable material.

The replenishment of assembly lines is organized differently according to the type of production:

  • By continuous flow - Make to stock - managed through Kanban, lists and KITs
  • By standard order - Assembled to order - managed through Kanban, lists and KITs
  • By design - Engeneering to order - managed through lists

  • WMS: StockSystem
  • Add-on: SMA.I.L:) Pick2lightAIR

  • Hardware:
    7 TERMINALS MX7 HONEYWELL
    3 TERMINALS MOTOROLA MC9190
    1 PRINTER HONEYWELL
    30 DISPLAYS SPEEDYPICKAIR

Long focused only on product innovation, in 2009 management became aware that it was possible to recover efficiency by improving logistics, so it decided to implement an initial Warehouse Management System.

A number of elements lead to change and to automated warehouse management: the numbers of codes managed increase, the number of picks and warehouse loads increase, the difficulty in finding material to order increases, and location management becomes complicated and burdensome. In addition, CEMB becomes aware of how manual management of warehouse activities slows down operations, increasing the possibility of error too.

With the first mechanization, the warehouse changes from a pure cost to a cog in the production line.

In 2015, the scenario changes again: the company's management system changes - Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP is chosen- and the WMS is now " fully digested" by employees and management, so much so that they want something more.

And so, outlining specific goals - including increasing efficiency in picking and sorting and reducing errors - CEMB decided to introduce Replica Sistemi's new WMS, StockSystem.

"Since the results in terms of productivity and cost recovery had been positive, it was decided to change the management system and choose a higher-performance WMS that could fulfill the new objectives management had set for itself: first and foremost, integration with Modula vertical warehouses," Zucchi pointed out.

And so it was: StockSystem now handles integration with the Modula vertical warehouse by optimizing picks and with greater flexibility in two different ways.

  • In the garage division, where lists are repetitive, Modula is the Master: in this case Replica SMA.I.L.) StockSytem transmits requests and leaves the optimization of picking routes to Modula.
  • In the industry division, on the other hand, much more flexibility is needed, so Replica is used as a total director and Modula becomes a Slave.

CEMB's new WMS, being applied to a manufacturing context, manages both the components warehouse, intended for replenishing assembly lines or pre-assembly departments, and the finished goods and spare parts warehouse. For this reason, it is easy to imagine how numerous and diverse the references are: ranging from screws and bolts to bulky, sometimes fragile and sometimes valuable material.

For sales order processing, CEMB has chosen to have a put-to-light system. The system adopted in CEMB involves massive picking and sorting of sales orders. This way of working has resulted in a massive reduction in picking times and errors. In practice, the system, according to optimization logic, generates a unique picking list for a given order holder. The picked material is taken to the "Pick2LightAIR" sorting area, which in CEMB is familiarly referred to as the "little lights" area.

Once the product code is read, the system indicates on light displays where to place the product and quantities, simplifying sorting and subsequent packing. "With the help of the 'lights,' the probability of making a mistake is very low," noted the warehouse worker in charge of operations.

Results achieved:

  • Significant increase in efficiency 
  • Increased accuracy
  • Improved customer service

  • Reduction of errors
  • Reduction in returns
  • Reduction of charges due to returns
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