Hidden champion SCANLAB: ERP/PLM in a double pack
SCANLAB invited to its modern, rapidly growing headquarters in Puchheim near Munich to talk about the implementation of Bluestar PLM, which was a successful project, where the team together with Microsoft- and Bluestar PLM-partner Be-Terna needed less than two years from system selection to go-live. This was achieved while simultaneously implementing the two central IT systems for ERP and PLM. The experts provided an insight into the technology and processes behind the products and the wide range of applications for which leading companies around the world rely on SCANLAB products.
Dr. Uwe Megerle, head of the development department of Laser-Scan-Systems, gave a tour of the production facility, explained the breadth of the portfolio and introduced the company. Rubin Scheibe, PLM & CAD solution architect, described the path of engineering at SCANLAB from the initially – as in many young companies – manual management of development data to the introduction of comprehensive PLM with a challenging future perspective. And Stephan Veverka, responsible for IT Business Applications, outlined the leap that SCANLAB has made by switching to the cloud-native twin pack, particularly in production and order processing.
When the Munich-based manufacturer EOS became successful with its 3D printers, the spin-off of SCANLAB in 1990 proved to be a good idea. Additive Manufacturing is still one of the main applications for SCANLAB devices. But also welding, cutting, perforating, marking, medical and packaging technology – for dozens of industries laser scanning systems are key technology. Dr. Megerle is proud to say that SCANLAB is a world leader in almost all areas with its devices. Exceptions prove the rule.
He presented a whole range of products with very different sizes, applications and performance levels. At their core, the standard 2D scanning systems are made up of similar main components: The cuboid housings contain two specialized mirrors each mounted on a high-precision galvanometer motor, the associated electronics and embedded software for control. Together, these components enable extremely fast and precise positioning and guidance of laser beams in the X and Y directions over the workpiece to be processed. The portfolio also includes Z-axes, highly integrated multi-axis systems, real-time control cards, software and much more.
SCANLAB has grown to around 500 employees in just over three decades. Most of them are employed at the headquarters near Munich, however, they come from 36 different countries. With around 40,000 devices, the manufacturer achieved a turnover of 144 million euros in 2023. Its success is based on a highly qualified workforce, around half of which is made up of engineers and scientists across all areas of the company.
The special expertise lies in engineering, including embedded software, in the knowledge of the interaction of the required components and in production. The vertical range of manufacture is low. All Components developed in-house are also produced by companies that specialize in the relevant parts.
The mechanical design is based entirely on 3D modeling with Solid Edge. The electronics are based on Altium Designer. Various tools are used for software development. The data from engineering – the systems are integrated in Bluestar PLM – then provide the basis for placing orders with suppliers.
At SCANLAB, production means assembly, calibration and testing on mostly in-house devices and systems. Small series are predominant, mass production as in consumer goods is practically non-existent. The customer is the industry, not the end user.
Growth generates double demand
Success and growth led to the search for central IT support. First the question of a suitable tool for PLM was on the engineering agenda. Rubin Scheibe says: “The constantly growing number of engineers and designers who work with us every day on the development of so many devices needed PLM as a central, electronic management system for their large volumes of data.” Thousands of design models and drawings cannot be managed manually.
Then the initial situation changed because also production was no longer satisfied with the existing IT. Stephan Veverka describes the process at the time as follows: “We had a team for Article Data Management (ADM), which created the parts lists based on personal experience with the specifications and data from development and was also responsible for making changes to them. There was no digital link between engineering and production. The parts list was essentially a paper document. We wanted to eliminate this break in the process chain.”
The chosen combination of Microsoft Dynamics F&SCM and embedded Bluestar PLM now fulfills the needs of both engineering and production. It works like a single system that supports the entire company.
Clean data and classification form the basis
In June 2024, the solution has only been live for six months, the engineering department is unrecognizable in terms of the way it works. In addition to their development activities, the employees have taken on the task of transferring all data into Bluestar PLM part by part and at the same time ensuring that this data is fully maintained.
“Without PLM, we were previously unable to prevent partial models from being repeatedly recreated and saved under new names,” explains Rubin Scheibe. “Now 80 percent of all data is already adjusted and free of such ultimately superfluous double parts.”
However, the introduction of PLM was also used to introduce classification with the Bluestar PLM module ‘Product Classifications and Attributes’. Each of the four development departments has a person responsible for classification. The automatic name building via the class and the attributes is an enormous advantage. The naming of an enclosure should provide information at a single glance about its dimensions, surface color (for example S for silver) and material (for example Al for aluminum).
Around 60 percent of all CAD data is already classified and can therefore be found quickly and reliably. This puts a stop to unnecessary reinventions. The attributes are both unique and unambiguous. “Reliability and traceability are the most important advantages we already have,” says Rubin Scheibe. This also means that collaboration between engineering and production and other areas based on such data has become noticeably easier.
Automated manufacturing bill of materials
A good example of this is the functionality of the Bluestar PLM module ‘eBOM/mBOM’ now used at SCANLAB. It ensures that a manufacturing parts list is automatically generated from the engineering parts list (eBOM) created during development. This means that there are hardly any differences between the CAD model (eBOM) and the manufacturing BOM. Exceptions are small changes to the mBOM for items that do not physically exist, such as the firmware.
An „immense improvement“ says Rubin Scheibe: “With the eBOM/mBOM Builder, the engineering BOM can also map deviations from the manufacturing BOM. Production-specific adjustments are only necessary in the manufacturing BOM, not in CAD.”
He is also satisfied with the significant changes to processes around the BOM since the introduction of PLM: “Every engineer now has full control and responsibility for the BOM of the system to be built. This means they are fully responsible for what arrives in production and is installed, from design to prototype.”
Stephan Veverka confirms: “The data is always up to date. The mBOM automatically provides the latest released version. This leads to significantly fewer errors in production. The quality is significantly improved, and we can meet the high quality requirements of our customers even better.”
Change management and configurator
Another module has only been in use for a few weeks: ‘Engineering Change Management (ECM)’. Rubin Scheibe uses an example to illustrate its importance for SCANLAB: “When replacing an electronic board with a new one, it used to be more difficult to analyze which of our systems would be affected. Defining the correct changeover time was very time-consuming. After all, control boards are standard parts that are used in many different systems. With the ECM module, this is now easy. Not only can you immediately see which systems are affected, but also what equipment is needed. For example, any test device that we use for this board. Or the systems for which the board must not be replaced. By defining the validity date, changes to the parts list can now be controlled very precisely.”
Another Bluestar PLM module called ‘Product Configuration’ is still on the agenda. Both Dr. Uwe Megerle and Rubin Scheibe are very hopeful that the best use case for getting started will be found in the next year. After all, the greater the number of system variants, the more painful the difficulty becomes that all standard parts are currently still assembled manually with the components that make up the variant.
Rubin Scheibe gives an example of this from his time as an apprentice. If you don’t use exactly the right tool and the right fixture when fastening a mirror element, which is a standard part, the whole system can become unusable. The diversity of variants is also one of the reasons that make it difficult to automate production.
“They all work with Bluestar PLM”
Bluestar PLM and Microsoft Dynamics F&SCM have been productive at SCANLAB since the end of 2023. The amazing thing is not just the short time between decision and implementation. Even though there are still some issues to work on, it is almost astonishing how much the processes have already changed for the better in the first six months of use.
When asked how many employees are now working with Bluestar PLM, Rubin Scheibe replies with a smile: “All of them. Even if they don’t use it to create or change data themselves. Because all engineering data is now in Bluestar PLM. Whatever is done with it in Microsoft Dynamics F&SCM or with other tools – everyone uses Bluestar PLM.”
