Measuresoft Case Study: IJM Timber Engineering

IJM Timber Engineering, Ireland

Company Profile IJM are Ireland’s largest and one of Europe's leading timber frame manufacturers. They design, manufacture and deliver timber frame structures including residential homes, hotels, nursing homes, guesthouses and other commercial structures.             Situation IJM provide customers with a predefined set of designs or architecturally designed custom projects. These designs are developed using a CAD system. When the designs are finalised the job goes to the factory for production. Production was highly labour intensive with existing manual systems preventing traceability and visibility in the manufacturing process. The company's existing systems led to extensive duplication of paper and no longer met the needs of a rapidly growing company. IJM required a system that provided the real-time information critical to planning and customer satisfaction. Solution IJM tasked Measuresoft, a local Microsoft Certified Solution Provider with the job of providing an industrial automation solution for the company. After a process of consultation with IJM, Measuresoft developed a system that schedules all of its saw, wall and floor manufacturing lines directly from the drawing office. All components for a structure are manufactured using a controlled process that is unique to the industry. Measuresoft developed a set of CAD/CIM interfaces to link the CAD system to factory equipment. This system allows designers to direct building projects to production equipment. As IJM grade their timber in-house a set of business rules for equipment and timber grade selection were incorporated. The equipment and timber grade databases provided by the system allow IJM designers to introduce new equipment and grades of timber. The system provides a set of real-time instructions to each piece of equipment connected via a LAN to the drawing office. Some equipment already had computer interface whereas other pieces of equipment required varying levels of automation. In the case of a wall and floor panel machines Measuresoft provided a monitoring system based on its Orchestrator SCADA product to track the progress of construction both on the production floor and in the design office. Visual feedback is provided for operators using a mimic of the component being manufactured. The wall and floor panel production is highly automated using two assembly lines that can produce approximately two metres of wall each minute. Feedback mechanisms to monitor production efficiency have been built into the CAD/CIM interface. Benefits Dimensional accuracy and timber grading is maintained throughout the process and this in turn reduces the amount of correction/follow up work.  The system is optimised to minimise waste.   The system helps IJM manage and trace customer orders from conception right through to delivery.   All planning and production is controlled from a central location.  Data is shared in real-time across the enterprise. With easier access to more reliable data, IJM is able to more efficiently produce and ship timber frame structures.   More accurate costing of jobs is now possible.  Wall and Floor Mimics Saw Scheduling Interface