PSL Datatrack Production Control Software At Killala Has Played Key Role In Company’s Success

In the short time since the leading sub-contract engineering company Killala Precision Components of County Mayo in Ireland was acquired by a brother and sister partnership, the company has taken major strides forward. The new owners are well on the way to realising the great potential for the company's precision engineering services having made significant capital and other investments to help achieve their goal.

One of the initial decisions was to invest in the PSL Datatrack production control software. This decision was made based on the system’s ability to interrogate the information recorded from the shopfloor and use it to inform other areas of the system including order entry, purchase orders, stock control and deliveries. This seamless use of data enables Killala to provide a highly efficient service to their customers.

Killala Precision produces high quality turned components for customers in many different markets including the automotive, medical, refrigeration, oil & gas, brewing, hydraulic and pneumatic industries. As part of the other investments made several Tornos machine tools have been acquired, all designed to ensure that their customers get the best possible service and quality at the best possible price.

The early investment, after the takeover, in a Tornos Sigma 32/6 was made because the company was turning away work due to limited capacity on existing machines. So successful has this investment proven that the company has just taken delivery of a third Tornos machine, a second Sigma 32/6, and may well make further similar investments.

The PSL Datatrack system has made significant improvements within the overall context of production machines at Killala. For example, two of the PSL Datatrack modules in use are Tool Definitions and Bill of Tools. 70% of the company's work is repeat business and with these modules, once the job is defined and the process layout set, the tooling required is automatically selected thereby ensuring significant time savings on machine tool set up. Saving set up time is a vital part of maximising the return on investment in high-tech.

The PSL Datatrack software was brought in to replace an existing system and the significant improvements that it has made to Killala's business administration are recognised by the company.

“PSL Datatrack is not a standard off the shelf system because it is very adaptable and has been adapted to our needs,” says Director/Owner Brian Irwin. “This flexibility has been vital to us on a day to day basis.”

The company is ISO9001: 2008 accredited and therefore traceability of materials and tracking of orders is critical. Both these requirements are being met in full by PSL Datatrack, as well as producing more informative management and production activity reports to enable more informed business decision making.

For Killala, being able to meet precisely the needs of their customers is central to the company's philosophy for success. This includes effective communication with them on deliveries, whether they are ship to stock or on a JIT basis. Within PSL Datatrack, emails can be automatically generated to inform customers when their order has been despatched. Killala uses PSL Datatrack with a base currency in Euros rather than Sterling, treating sterling as a foreign currency – a first for PSL Datatrack.

Killala Precision's service may seem like that of many other sub-contract engineering companies, however, the company has its own particular routines and requirements when it comes to production management – and that is where PSL Datatrack has been particularly important. “We wanted really high levels of visibility regarding our shopfloor activities,” says Declan Loughney. “Many shopfloor data collection systems similar to PSL Datatrack are more geared up for reporting on smaller production runs. The PSL Datatrack modules have, however, been configured especially for us to provide information collection on longer runs too.”

Equally, the technical back up provided by PSL Datatrack and the on-going customisation of the system have also been major positives for Killala Precision. “The combination of system flexibility and the day to day support we receive from PSL is excellent, helping us to maximise our investments – not just in PSL Datatrack, but also in the performance of our machine tools and production systems,” continues Declan.

PSL Datatrack sales and purchase order processing, sequential scheduling, shop floor data collection, bill of tools and tool definitions are all now being successfully implemented by Killala. They are providing the company with the ability to retrieve and review all the key performance indicators (KPI) relating to their production programmes and make the required improvements to continue the success achieved to date.