TMS Adding Value

The TMS can add value to your business in many areas, some of which are:

Integration of all product movement into a single database.

A single repository for all product quality and inventory control information immediately available to all persons with access to the TMS. A single view of vital information is available company wide whenever needed.

Collects the information you want.

The TMS is highly configurable so it only collects the information that is considered useful from your businesses perspective but can be changed as soon as the need arises, eg if, some time after your TMS installation, a government regulation mandates that all product receivals must record a Health Certificate number from your supplier. Such a requirement could be added to the TMS in minutes.

Automatic real-time inventory control.

As each item is processed it goes into inventory immediately. If the product is being regraded it is automatically removed from its original inventory record and added into its new one while maintaining traceability at the hide level.. Any TMS inventory report shows the inventory position at the instant the report was run.

Long term production and quality control history

The amount of data that can be held in the TMS’ database is huge. The TMS uses Microsoft’s SQL Server 2000 database technology and is capable of supporting 10’s of millions of records while providing excellent response time to both the shop floor and office user. Even years after the event, the processing history of any hide can be retrieved and associated with the quality control history of the batches from which it was processed.

Supply chain management.

Product can be associated with up to five levels of source information:

Tannery:	The tannery that processed the hide.
Operator:	Owner of the hide if a contract tanning operation.
Abattoir:	The establishment that slaughtered the beast and removed the skin/hide.
Supplier:	The company from whom the hide was purchased (could be a skin/hide trader or simply the Abattoir)
Grower:	The farmer that supplied the beast to the abattoir.

All processing data associated with the hide can also be related back to this source information. From this it is possible to identify what type of product is supplied from each source. This information is vital in determining who the good and poor suppliers are so that appropriate purchasing decisions can be made. Individual hide identification via the Gibson Bass Stamper is in excellent method to track hides from fleshing through to Wet Blue and beyond.

Flexible reporting.

All TMS reports have a wide range of data selection criteria so just the data you want appears on the report. All reports can go to the screen for review before printing (maybe printing will not even be needed). Also, all reports can be exported to a wide range of formats, including pdf, so they can be easily passed on or e-mailed.

Ease of use.

The TMS recognises that, especially on the shop floor, the user interface for any system has to be intuitive and easy to learn and remember. The TMS has been developed with this in mind and is particularly easy to use and requires no existing understanding of how to use a computer-based system.

Stronger supervision and control.

The TMS enables the front line supervisor to exercise processing control by configuring process batches to be graded and packed in a predetermined manner. Through various TMS monitoring facilities supervisors can keep track of production as it happens from their own PC, eg processing rates, grading outcomes etc.

Automatic allocation of product to orders and tanning batches.

Orders and Tanning Batches created in the TMS can optionally be classed for ‘automatic allocation’ with associated start dates and prioritisation controls. As product is processed at the Flesher the TMS will check if it is required for either a tanning batch or customer order. If it is, the product will be automatically allocated. At the sammyer or splitter the same process takes place but just for customer orders.

Flexibility to accommodate future needs.

The TMS is a highly configurable system that can change, over time, without the need to change its underlying software. This flexibility places the TMS in a strong position to meet unforseen needs rapidly and easily.

24 x 7 Operation.

The TMS is 24 x 7 system that supports whatever processing schedule you have at your plant, eg 1 shift per day, 5 days per week or maybe 3 shifts per day 7 days per week. It has no required shutdown times and is available whenever it is needed to record your production and provide management information to who ever needs it whenever it is needed. To provide protection against power fluctuations and transient power outages each TMS system is installed along with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The UPS will typically keep the TMS going for about 10 minutes after a power failure. Should the outage continue after that the system will automatically shutdown in a correct manner and wait for the power to return. Once power comes back on-line the TMS we automatically restart with no loss of data.

Remote access to information.

The TMS supports remote access to its database and programs via simple, low speed dial-up lines. This provides excellent ad-hoc access from anywhere in the world. This could be expanded to provide easy access via the Internet. Putting the TMS on the Internet increases availability of information but also exposes the system to hacking. However, appropriate networking hardware and software can reduces this exposure to an acceptable level.