The construction element industry is currently talking about the topic Industry 4.0, about its opportunities and risks. A+W is approaching this topic from the practical side, showing once again at this year’s Fensterbau Frontale how goal-oriented digitalization can make companies more successful.
Scan smarter: now there is an A+W Smart Companion for the construction elements industry
The barcode scanner has long since established itself as an indispensable tool in the window, door, and roller shutter industry. From goods receipt to status registration in production to delivery to the customer, data is recorded via barcode scanning and transmitted to ERP and production systems.
However, there is now an exciting alternative to the industrial scanner as we know it. Mobile end user devices such as the smartphone and other smart devices, equipped with the A+W Smart Companion app, great computing power, and outstanding algorithms for handling graphics, are doing it in.
After the successful roll-out in the glass industry with more than eighty licenses sold, many people are eagerly awaiting this clever app, which will be presented to the construction elements industry at this year’s Fensterbau Frontale.
Smart companion for every case
The A+W Smart Companion assists users along the entire value-creation chain and contributes to its digitalization, which saves time and money. Scanning via smartphone app is easier than with customary scanners and it is cheaper too. The A+W Smart Companion can fulfil all the requirements of the window construction industry without the disadvantages of traditional scanner hardware.
The user replaces very specialized, expensive hardware with a familiar mobile device that we use all the time. Therefore much less training is required.
The user interface is kept very simple. You can select everything right away: the camera mode, the read mode. This simplicity of operation is very important for the employees.
Mobile info terminal
The A+W Smart Companion can also be used as a mobile info terminal. Employees can use it to display the locations of order components and the content of racks since communication becomes bidirectional.
Invalid bookings due to incorrect read sequence of the barcodes are now impossible since A+W Smart Companion guides the user. The read quality is also much higher.
Another benefit: A+W Smart Companion can scan several barcodes at once, e.g. edge compound labels on a rack. This saves a lot of time. Work is more productive and there are fewer errors.
A+W Cantor DMS: Free yourself from paper – automate routine tasks!
The use of a digital document management system (DMS) results in noticeably better efficiency for daily workflows in companies of all sizes and simplifies employees’ management of digital documents.
Revision-proof archiving
With A+W Cantor DMS, companies archive their data in legally compliant fashion according to GAAP and the GDPR. All documents generated in A+W Cantor (quotations, order confirmations, invoices, delivery notes, etc.) are written automatically to the A+W Cantor DMS system. In addition, e-mails, construction drawings, and all correspondence can also be archived.
Don’t waste time searching
Finding a document is as easy as doing a Google search. Employees can search by customer number or quotation/order number, regardless of whether they are searching for an e-mail, delivery note or a quotation.
Work paperlessly
The paperless company is becoming a reality in that companies working with A+W Cantor DMS can save all documents in their digital archive. Thanks to complete integration into the A+W Cantor system, documents can be located and called up company-wide from A+W Cantor. This way, customer and project folders become completely digital.
Documents can be viewed at any time
Users have access to all of their documents around the clock and from anywhere thanks to mobile direct access via smartphone app or web, even without A+W Cantor.
Many more add-ons
With A+W Cantor DMS, you have access to many more DocuWare modules that can make your daily work more efficient, e.g. digital signatures on delivery notes.
Future-proof A+W Cantor systems for smart factories
A+W Smart Companion and A+W Cantor DMS are examples of digitalization with the greatest possible practical value – small Industry 4.0 building blocks for the construction element industry: such intelligent applications expand the possibilities of the A+W Cantor software step by step. They will make your processes faster, more secure, and cheaper – and in the end, that’s what counts in a smart factory.
The A+W Cantor team will present these new smart modules and, of course, all of the A+W Cantor software at Fensterbau Frontale in Hall 1, Booth 329.