annual review

There are 51 new weeks ahead of us, packed with ideas, developments and surprises. In view of these new challenges, we would like to look back once again on the successful year 2017. The year began excitingly with the bundling of the forces of the newly merged traditional companies GRP and FLS. The two companies have been working together as partners for 38 years – since January 2017 we have been growing into a team under one roof. The resulting momentum resulted in several launches and innovations at both companies. Although – or because – we are traditional companies, GRP and FLS continued to focus on pioneering work in 2017. And as befits pioneers, the development teams work tirelessly on safe and convenient ways to optimize your manufacturing

Industry Focus 4.0

Industry 4.0 has become a term that should be familiar to everyone. But as well known as it is, as different are its definitions. Many companies therefore do not even know what added value this abstract term should have for them. At our Ins-Schwarze-Treffen event in Boppard in September, we were able to answer this question in more detail and again demonstrate the added value for the manufacturing industry using concrete examples from industry and research. In addition, of course, we also took part in sporting activities and lived up to the name of the event and hit the bull’s eye. We are already looking forward to the next round in spring 2018.

Focus on users

We have developed and released many updates, enhancements and new features over the last year. We are especially proud of the hard work of our developers, who laid the first important building blocks for our web applications. For example, we are working on a conversion from the previous Windows-based masks to web masks. This will be the pace for the coming months and years and will put us and our customers in a good position for the future.

FLS worldwide

Last year, too, we convinced our customers with our close cooperation, because this is how we provide our customers with tailor-made solutions. We develop the applications and extensions that suit your company. This sometimes results in solutions from which others can also benefit. This close customer relationship also often leads us to visit the respective plants. This year we were able to visit customers all over Germany and Austria, Hungary, Italy, France, Portugal and Switzerland and convince ourselves of the success of the system. For the year 2018 we would like to continue to position ourselves internationally and are particularly pleased to be able to welcome a new customer in the USA right at the start of the new year.

While we are now stowing away the last Christmas tree baubles well and leaving the old year far behind, we are eagerly rushing into the year 2018 and working hard on new software solutions!

Christmas greetings

We would like to thank our customers for their trust in our services and software solutions.
It is they who make this success possible for us and who confirm us in our daily actions – thank you for that.

In 2017, we came a step closer to our goals again and have set ourselves new goals for the coming year.

We now wish you a Merry Christmas with your friends and family, relaxing holidays and a Happy New Year 2018. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

Target. Shot and victory.

Last Thursday, around 25 decision-makers from the manufacturing industry met in Boppard with the aim of hitting the bull’s eye with the motto of the same name. High above the Rhine Valley, after a short period of getting to know each other, arrows and bows were drawn and shot in. Divided into three teams, all of them made it their business to shoot the most points against each other full of energy and with a lot of play instinct. After this successful entry into the event, the participants had left the everyday life behind and could concentrate fully on the following lectures.

The topic of the evening was Industry 4.0 and Wolfgang Nitschke, from nit networks, provided the introduction with a socio-economic perspective on the topic, followed by an insight into the research work and projects of the IKV of the RWTH Aachen by Pascal Bibow. Stefan Merkle, from Merkle und Partner, concluded as last speaker with a lecture on the practice of simulation, which gave many participants for the first time a concrete insight into this complex topic. The lectures provided some food for thought which invited the participants to discuss during and after the lecture. All participants agreed on the lively conversations until late into the night: it was another successful event that hit the bull’s eye!

New FLS location in Koblenz

FLS consistently implements its growth targets. For this reason, we opened a new location for production optimization & production planning in Koblenz on March 1, 2017.

The Rhineland and the Middle Rhine region is not only a fantastic holiday region with many castles and palaces, it is also home to many well-known medium-sized manufacturing companies and large corporations from the automotive supplier industry, the food and beverage sector, glass production and mechanical engineering. It runs from Cologne/Bonn via Koblenz to Mainz and Ludwigshafen.

The location in the centre of Koblenz is conveniently located and serves as the local presence of our sales department in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Of course, our main location will remain in Aachen, where all projects will continue to be carried out. Nevertheless, it makes sense to be closer to our customers when it comes to support.

We take this opportunity to introduce you to our managing director for the new location and to welcome him once again.

Your contact person in Koblenz is Mr. Ralph Brubach. With his background as engineer and at the same time MBA and his many years of experience in the IT and especially the software industry, his knowledge of sales and the sales region as well as his good know-how in process optimization, he supports us in getting to know your manufacturing processes and optimizing them according to the latest state of the art. We take the time to understand your specific needs and to tailor our solutions to your specific needs.

We remain true to the motto “WE wins”. This is confirmed by real-time planning and adherence to deadlines for your orders. Please call us if you have any further questions. We look forward to further successful cooperation.

FLS Aachen:
Tel.: +49 241 88 93 0 – 70
info@fls.de

FLS Koblenz:
Tel.: +49 261 39 42 02 4 – 1
ralph.brubach@fls.de

 

The WE wins

2016 was an exciting year with a lot of change for us. With a close connection to GRP and the resulting opportunities, FLS starts the new year motivated. We are very satisfied with the transition to the new premises and the gain of the new colleagues. Our customers also welcome the new top management with open arms. We will do our best to advise and support you with the usual reliability and professionalism. We look forward to further cooperation and new projects in 2017.

Also in 2016 we used FLS and GRP Christmas as an occasion to “give back a part”. Thus we supported the campaign MENSCH and would like to recommend this campaign to you as well. Your motto “We wins” reflects very well our experience in the past year.

 

FLS production planning under one roof with GRP

One system for the entire shop floor

FLS production planning under one roof with GRP

Company succession is an issue that concerns many founders. Because at some point there comes a day when you have to say goodbye and this is often a challenge. Dr. Hanns Jürgen Hüttner has also dealt with the situation for some time. In 1979 he founded the company FLS FertigungsLeitSysteme in Aachen. Since then, FLS has successfully established itself as an expert for production planning and control. Today, a good 37 years later, he can look forward to a successful future for the company – because the neighbouring and friendly company GRP GmbH & Co. KG has now taken over the FEKOR production planning system created by FLS. “I am glad that we can look to the future together,” says Hüttner.

GRP specializes in production data acquisition (PDA), MES and comprehensive process management in the manufacturing industry. The products of GRP and FLS complement each other perfectly. “My father, Manfred Keuters, took over GRP in 2010 – at that time GRP and FLS had been working together for more than 25 years, there were common interfaces and the cooperation produced a number of common customers,” Janina Keuters describes. She will act as Managing Director of FLS in the future, while Manfred Keuters will remain Managing Director of GRP. “Of course, we are leading both companies hand in hand and will continue to be accompanied by Dr. Hanns Jürgen Hüttner in the future – we are very pleased that he will remain loyal to us as senior management consultant for some time to come,” emphasize the two Keuters.

The merger of the two companies will strengthen the expertise of the entire group of companies. The FLS and GRP systems will increasingly represent a joint industrial platform in the future. The brands FLS FertigungsLeitSysteme and FEKOR will remain unchanged and will be sold in the separate company FLS GmbH & Co. KG will be continued. Contracts, contacts and employees will remain, “we will continue to be the reliable service provider for our customers”, is the motto of the trio.

Yeah, is it Christmas again?

How to relax the holidays after all

Every year comes the feast of love and contemplation faster than one would love. Santa Claus is knocking on the door just as you are on your summer holiday.

It is not only in private life that good planning is needed to get all the presents under the tree in time. Many industries are affected by the seasonal business and a high annual peak before Christmas. A timely planning of the production capacities is necessary, in order to equalize early bottlenecks.

With the automatic seasonal adjustment in FEKOR, production runs smoothly even at peak times and orders are placed in good time with your customers “under the tree”.

Are your products subject to durability? This is also no problem with FEKOR. Durability is taken into account when production is brought forward.

We, the FLS team, wish you and your loved ones happy holidays and satisfied customers, who are looking forward to coming back in the new year!

Read more about seasonal planning here!

Read more about durability in production planning here!

Company holidays – stress-free production before the break

Your company holiday is just around the corner and production is upside down as the promised delivery dates become tight?

Employees are often driven to the edge of their strength before a company holiday – just like at seasonal peaks. The accepted orders must be completed on time, otherwise they can only be delivered weeks later and the customers would be dissatisfied. Your employees need more time to “arrive on holiday” after such an extreme phase of tension and thus have a shorter recovery period. It is therefore important not to overburden them before and after the holiday in order to see committed employees after the company holiday, whose recovery does not diminish again on the first day.

To ensure that overtime, night shifts and tired employees do not determine the daily routine of your production, a forward-looking production planning is required. During company holidays, it is known in advance when the plant will be closed. This means that production can be planned in advance to avoid unnecessary overloads.

Read here how the MES system FEKOR helps you to equalize your holiday or seasonal production. With its automatic seasonal adjustment, the planning system ensures that pre-production takes place in good time. Production runs smoothly. Delivery dates are met. Your customers are satisfied.

And above all, you and your employees will come back from their holidays relaxed!

 

Production optimization increases return on investment

Dear Readers,

Do you intend to invest in software-supported production planning? Check beforehand whether an investment is worthwhile. How many savings are possible per year?

The ROI report shows calculations and examples to check, which results the use of a production planning software brings to your company.

Production optimization increases return on investment

For you as a company, one essential question arises when deciding on a planning system: Is the investment worthwhile? The Return on Investment, ROI for short, stands for the advantages that your company has from a certain investment. However, it is still difficult to represent the return on investment for an investment. In this report, we have summarized some of the benefits of using a production planning solution using calculation examples.

Read the full report:

 

We hope you enjoy reading the report.

Your FLS Team

Company Christmas donation – Doctors without Borders e. V.

2014 a lot has happened in the world, people are in need and need help and support. We have therefore decided to support “Doctors Without Borders” this year instead of giving Christmas presents.

DOCTORS WITHOUT FRONTIERS – unconditionally human.

Doctors WITHOUT FRONTIERS provides medical emergency aid worldwide in crisis and war zones and after natural disasters. The international organisation helps quickly, efficiently and unbureaucratically – without asking about the origin, religion or political convictions of the people affected.

The international and national staff of doctors without borders work in more than 60 countries – doctors and nurses, midwives and logisticians. They treat sick and wounded people, take care of malnourished children or provide clean drinking water and latrines.

No emergency aid without donations Humanitarian aid

Help is not in vain – and DOCTORS WITHOUT FRONTIERS work only to a small extent with state funds in order to be able to help people in need independent of political interests. Only private donations make the emergency assistance employments possible of DOCTORS WITHOUT FRONTIERS – of supporters, who think across borders of humans in emergency.

Further information under: www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de