Production / ERP System Integration for Magners

Magners were introducing JD Edwards ERP software throughout the organisation and wished to integrate this with the shop floor manufacturing systems at their Shepton Mallet Cider Mill. A recipe system was already implemented at shop floor level and this was to be replaced with recipe management at ERP level.

Our engineers worked closely with the JD Edwards consultants to analyse the requirement and to recommend a solution for integrating the two levels of software.

The two systems are now closely integrated, with available Work Orders for production generated by the ERP software and displayed on SCADA screens. When selected for production, recipe parameters for the required product are automatically downloaded to SCADA and hence to the PLC. On completion of batch processing actual quantities of finished product produced and raw materials consumed are passed back to ERP for updating of inventory levels.

The resultant system eliminates the need for duplicating data entry and has transferred control of product recipes to the enterprise level which is essential for product quality assurance.

The integration was entirely achieved using the original software. No special purpose software was required thus minimising the implementation costs and ensuring the system can be easily maintained in the future.