PTA develops customized software solution for Saazor’s PVD coating process
Since January 2017, SAAZORWÄLZTECHNIK ZORN GmbH & Co. KG, a roll milling cutter manufacturer and contract coater from Pforzheim, has been controlling its previously paper-based PVD coating process with a customized software solution developed by PTA Programmier-Technische Arbeiten GmbH from Mannheim. “The process, which is now digitally controlled thanks to the software, has considerable advantages for our customers and ourselves. It allows us to react faster and more flexibly than our competitors who rely on standard software. It also reduces our customers’ tool circulation and the associated capital commitment,” explains SAAZOR Managing Director Dr. Markus Weiler.
Retain individual strengths
According to Weiler, these advantages are primarily the result of two components: a specialist concept that maps the strengths of the original process very precisely in the new digitized process and the individually developed software. “Only custom development made it possible to retain the strengths of our existing process without compromising. With standard software, we would have had to build on a standard logistics process that would not have been able to represent the peculiarities of our own process. The result would have been significantly worse and we would have ended up with a digital process that no longer differentiates us from the competition,” emphasizes Weiler.
“Standard software would not have been able to adequately map the special features of our PVD coating process.”
Dr. Markus Weiler, Managing Director SAAZOR-WÄLZTECHNIK ZORN
PTA has developed the individual solution on the basis of the .net development platform. The underlying database is Microsoft’s SQL Server. “The technology we used guarantees SAAZOR the future viability and simple expandability of the developed solution,” explains Dr. Tim Walleyo, member of the PTA management team. According to Walleyo, the hob manufacturer’s coating process could not be mapped in standard software. “That’s why we developed the solution individually. We always look for the most suitable solution for the customer. This time it was an individual development, but we also implement many projects with mixtures of standard software, other components and individually developed modules. This is sometimes even cheaper than pure standard software. The rule of thumb here is: the more individual and value-adding the respective process, the less easily it can be mapped in standard software,” emphasizes Walleyo.
“The technology we use guarantees SAAZOR the future viability and simple expandability of the developed solution.”
Dr. Tim Walleyo, Member of the PTA Management Board
PTA attaches great importance to close cooperation with its customers. The various branches in Germany, which allow on-site development at the customer’s premises, support this claim.
SAAZOR Managing Director Weiler is determined to press ahead with the digitalization of the PVD coating process and other service processes: “We are planning to introduce smart cards, access to the system via an app and a connection to our ERP system,” says Weiler, looking to the future.
