We do not replace your Logo, Mikro or Netsis accounting backbone. We bring your cutting plans and trim losses, die and printing-plate inventory, real data from the corrugator and converting lines, quality tests and customer-specific box specifications together in a single operational layer. Not an off-the-shelf package — built for your plant. The source code stays with you.
In corrugated board, profitability is usually hidden in the cutting plan and the waste rate, not in the selling price. When these two items are not kept in a written system, two shifts produce the same job at two different efficiencies and nobody sees the difference.
The software landscape in the industry has three layers: the machine makers' own control systems, a horizontal accounting ERP, and the production management layer caught between the two. In large plants that third layer runs on imported systems; in mid-sized ones it runs on Excel.
| Layer | Software in use today | The gap it leaves |
|---|---|---|
| General ERP / accounting (horizontal backbone) | Logo Tiger, Logo Netsis, Mikro, SAP, DIA | Solid for customer and supplier accounts, stock, purchasing, finance and e-documents, and it stays in place for legal reasons. Its limit is that it does not carry the concepts where this industry makes its money: cutting plans, side-trim loss, die life and flute composition are not standard in these systems. Cost appears here by account, not by order; which jobs actually make money therefore remains unknown. |
| Industry-specific production management (imported) | Kiwiplan and similar planning and management systems built for the corrugated industry | Mature systems with deep knowledge of the industry's needs, especially in cutting planning and order combination; they are established in large plants. Licensing, adaptation and maintenance costs are usually high for mid-sized companies, and implementation is a project in its own right. Where most of the scope would go unused, the investment does not pay off. |
| Machine control systems | The manufacturers' control software on corrugator and converting machines (systems from makers such as BHS, Fosber and Bobst) | Strong for the machine's own efficiency; they produce speed, downtime and output data per machine. But this data does not build the commercial picture: linking it to orders, customers and costs requires a separate layer. A manager looking at the machine panel sees production, not profitability. |
| Design and tooling | ArtiosCAD and similar packaging design tools, FEFCO standard box codes | Established tools for box design, unfolding and die drawings, and the standard box codes give everyone a common language. Connecting the specifications they produce to the production plan, the die inventory and the cost calculation is outside their scope. The result is that the same box can appear with different dimensions in the design file, the quotation file and the work order. |
| Quality and laboratory | The test instruments' own software, paper forms and Excel sheets | Tests such as burst strength, edge crush resistance and moisture are run regularly, but in most plants the results are stored without being linked to the batch. When a complaint arrives, finding the record takes time and sometimes fails altogether. Yet these tests are the manufacturer's only objective evidence in disputes with a buyer. |
| Planning and cutting | Excel sheets, the foreman's experience, calculators on the machines | The decision that most determines the industry's profitability is made here, and in most companies it is not recorded in any system. It is normal for the same job to be produced with different plans on different shifts; because the difference is never measured, it never improves. The foreman's experience is a real asset, but until it is recorded it can be neither transferred nor improved. |
Our solution does not compete with your existing software; it builds the place where the order connects to the cutting plan, the plan to the machine and the machine to the cost. Your machine control systems and your accounting backbone stay in place.
Dimensions, flute type and profile, paper composition, print and pallet layout are kept on a single card, with versioning. When a revision arrives, the old version is preserved; which order was produced against which specification version stays on record.
A cutting plan is generated per order and side-trim loss is calculated. Alternative plans can be compared; the actual waste of the chosen plan is measured afterwards and fed back into planning.
Every die becomes a record: which customer, which box, where it is stored, how many impressions it has run, when it was last maintained. Die search time and unexpected die failures fall.
Speed, downtime and production data is collected from the corrugator and the converting machines; downtime causes are classified and recurring ones are surfaced. A live view replaces the end-of-shift paperwork.
Burst, edge crush, moisture and dimensional checks are tied to the batch and order record. When a complaint arrives, the batch's test record and production conditions come up instantly.
Reel stock is tracked by grammage and width; cutting plans are built against this stock. Quotation costs are calculated from current paper prices and measured waste.
Not every company needs all of them. After discovery we start where it hurts most and grow module by module.
Customer box cards, dimensions and paper composition, flute type, print and pallet layout are kept in one place, with versioning. Which order was produced against which specification version stays on record; when a revision arrives the old version is preserved and the confusion disappears.
Detailed page → MESSpeed, downtime and output counts are collected from the machines; downtime causes are classified and recurring ones are surfaced. Actual production and waste become visible per order, and a live view replaces the end-of-shift paper report.
Detailed page → ERPCutting plans are generated from order combinations, side-trim loss is calculated and alternatives are compared side by side. The plan takes current reel stock into account; as actual waste is measured and fed back, the suggestions get sharper.
Detailed page → WMSPaper reels are tracked by grammage, width and lot; finished boxes by customer and batch. How much reel stock is left at each width is visible in real time, so cutting from a wider reel while the right width exists is prevented.
Detailed page → QMSTest results are linked to the batch; results outside specification limits raise an immediate alert. Customer complaints are attached to the same record, so in a dispute the production conditions and test values can be shown together.
Detailed page → QRTraceability is set up per pallet and batch with barcodes or QR codes. A dispatched pallet is traced back to the batch, reel and shift it came from; when a problem surfaces, the other affected pallets are found with the same query.
Detailed page → APIStock, order and invoice matching is set up with Logo, Mikro, Netsis and SAP. Where electronic data interchange with large buyers is required, a separate layer carrying order, dispatch notice and invoice messages can be added.
Detailed page → BIWaste, speed loss and profitability are reported per order, customer and machine. What each customer's box actually earns becomes visible; price negotiations are held with this picture on the table.
Detailed page → CMMSEvery die becomes a record: which customer, which box, where it is stored, how many impressions it has run, when it was last maintained. Dies nearing the end of their life appear on a list in advance; die failures mid-run decrease.
Detailed page →Your accounting and finance backbone stays in place; so do your machine control systems. The layer we build connects the chain from order to cutting plan and from machine to cost.
Our integration approach →We talk through your machine park, your order structure, your current ERP and the point that hurts most. We clarify expectations and scope and draw a realistic frame; at this stage understanding comes before selling. No obligation.
We walk the flow on site, from the corrugator to the converting machines, from the die store to the laboratory and dispatch. We listen to how the foreman builds the cutting plan; that knowledge is the heart of the system.
We decide which module to build first; box specifications with cutting plans, or machine data collection, usually deliver the highest return. Scope, timeline and deliverables are put in writing.
The system is developed and run in parallel with the current routine on a single line or a single customer group. Diverging records are examined one by one; the flow is simplified with feedback from the floor.
The remaining modules are added in turn and the integrations are switched on. Users are trained, and documentation and source code are handed over. Maintenance and support run as a separate agreement.
In this industry, profitability hides in the cutting plan and the waste. We build the system around that fact; a dashboard that looks good but does not measure waste is useless.
Your control systems stay in place. We connect the data those systems produce to orders and costs; we do not interfere with the machine's own job.
Everything we build, source code included, belongs to you. We do not leave behind a structure designed to keep you dependent on a supplier.
We quote after seeing the line, not after seeing screenshots. Writing a scope without seeing the die store and the cutting table would not be realistic.
We do not change everything at once. We start where it hurts most and expand as the gains show; progressing without stopping production is essential.
Documentation and a handover package are part of the job. If another team takes over tomorrow, we deliver in a state they can take over.
It might, and we are not afraid to weigh that option. If an industry-specific packaged system covers your needs and fits your budget, it is the right choice, and we will tell you so openly. Custom software makes sense when those systems' cost or adaptation time is too heavy for your business, or when your way of working does not fit the standard. We make the decision together after discovery.
The system generates alternative plans and calculates the side-trim loss of each; your planner makes the choice. We do not aim to switch off the foreman's experience — we make its outcome measurable. As actual waste data feeds back into planning over time, the suggestions get sharper too.
Most modern lines provide data; the interface offered by the control system is examined during discovery. On machines that provide no data or restrict access, structured shop-floor entry is set up on a terminal at the line. What can be read from which machine is put in writing at the start of the project; there are no surprises later.
Running a test and having the result tied to the batch are different things. Today, in most plants, the result stays on paper and is hunted for when a complaint arrives. In the system, the result is tied to the batch and order record; a value outside the limits raises an immediate alert and is stored together with the production conditions.
Paper prices are held as data and one person is made responsible for updating them; the system shows on the quotation screen when the price was last updated. So if a quote is issued on an old price, it is visible. We do not forecast prices; we only make freshness visible.
This demand is spreading in the industry and is handled as a separate layer. Order, dispatch notice and invoice messages can flow in the standard your buyer requires. Because the work depends on the buyer's technical documentation and test schedule, it is planned as a separate item.
The timeline depends on the scope and is given in writing after discovery. Our approach is not to deliver one big system in one go, but to get the first module onto the floor quickly and grow from there. That way feedback comes early, and the return on the investment shows early too.
A working system, its source code, the database and handover documentation. User training and initial support are part of the scope. Maintenance and further development then run under a separate agreement; you are not obliged to sign it — you can also maintain the system with your own team.
Let us examine your production on site, from the corrugator to the die store and from the laboratory to the dispatch area, and decide together where to start.
