Depro Profiles: custom profiles and panels
Depro Profiles is a Belgian manufacturer of custom profiles and panels that, thanks to flexible and advanced production processes, meets the diverse customer needs of the interior and construction sectors.
The challenge
Within the production environment, multiple machines from different suppliers are used. Each machine has its own settings, stored locally in the PLC.
In practice, operators develop their own parameter settings based on experience. That process knowledge often resides in people's heads, personal notes, or local variants.
As a result, settings differ from operator to operator, best practices are not recorded centrally, and valuable know-how is lost during shift changes.
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This leads to:
- Suboptimal operation due to incorrect parameter settings
- Increased risk of errors due to manual input
- No controlled version management of recipes
- Lack of traceability of parameter changes
- Unnecessary time loss during changeovers and product switches
When work orders arrive from the ERP system, an operator often has to manually check which settings need to be loaded. This causes delays and a risk of production errors.
Our solution
Our MES software forms a central layer between the ERP system and the production environment, automatically routing work orders to the correct machines. Operators no longer need to manually adjust settings; all parameters are centrally managed, validated, and automatically written to the correct machine.
On the platform this runs as the Work orders module, with Traceability for the history behind every setting.
The result:
- Consistent product quality
- Fewer errors
- Full traceability
- Faster changeovers
How does it work?
Parameter lists
Within the MES, parameter lists are created. These consist of:
- Setpoint values (temperature, pressure, speed, times, etc.)
- Linked machine variables via OPC UA or S7
- Version management and validation
Parameter lists can easily be linked to article groups and machines, so that the correct settings are sent to the machines.
Parameter definition
Parameters are defined once and linked to a PLC variable. For each parameter, you set limits (min/max), manage access rights per user, and add translations via localization variables.
ERP integration
Work orders are received automatically from the ERP system.
For example:
- WO1234 → Product A → Recipe 1 → Machine1
- WO4321 → Product B → Recipe 2 → Machine2
The MES software automatically recognizes which parameter settings belong to a work order and forwards them to the correct machine.
Automatic activation
Upon release of the work order:
- The correct recipe is selected
- All linked variables are automatically written to the machine
- The activation is logged (time, version, user)
The machine starts immediately with the correct parameters, without manual intervention.
Results
- Reduced changeover time. Automatic parameter settings significantly shorten changeovers.
- Error reduction. No manual input = less chance of incorrect settings.
- Full traceability. Every parameter change is logged and can be consulted historically.
- Central control. Recipes are managed centrally instead of being spread across machines.
- ERP-shopfloor integration. Planning and production share one set of parameters.
- Settings stored locally in each PLC
- Process knowledge in heads and notes
- Manual input at every product switch
- No version management of recipes
- No history of parameter changes
- One central, validated recipe library
- Best practices recorded and reusable
- Parameters written to the machine automatically
- Version management and permissions per role
- Every activation logged with time, version and user