“Over the last few decades, the epicentre for textiles and carpets has moved from the south of West Flanders to Turkey. We at Mc Three aim to react to this shift and establish our hold on the market by regularly launching new products and by our superb customer service. One of the ways we’re doing this is by accepting very small orders. Furthermore, as a private-label producer, our work is completely tailored to the customer when it comes to packaging, labelling, etc. But to be able to offer this level of service while keeping our prices in line with market rates, we need a comprehensive ERP system, combined with automatic mechanisms such as robotisation and high-bay warehousing.”

“We produce our carpets by quality, since a weaving machine can weave a single type of quality. Our small minimum order quantities mean that a single production run might cover dozens of customer orders. It’s only when the products get to the packing lines that we start dividing them up into standard containers per customer order. This used to be done manually, but we’ve now got the distribution fully automatic with the Fraxinus system.”

“First and foremost, the system has meant our teams can change their way of working and has made things more ergonomic for them. Instead of having to lift and stack thousands of carpets themselves, they now take more of a controlling role and we can get through more orders with the same team. Secondly, the new system reduces the risks of human error and thus helps ensure production reliability. Finally, it creates a better separation between the operator and the logistics, which means improved safety for our workers.”

“The new robot has more options for stacking the carpets in the standard containers. While previously the robot would always pick up one carpet at a time and place it in the container along its length, now we can also stack the container from the front and back. Since the robot claw automatically adjusts to the product being presented to it, we can now stack different sizes, from 60 to 280 centimetres. This again means that we can automatically pack a wider range of products. And last but not least, the new system can be controlled directly via a PLC, so the extra buffer stage of the ERP system is no longer needed. We are currently busy testing this out!”

“The interfacing between our ERP system and the robot control system was the biggest challenge, for sure. Another challenge for the new system comes from the fact that it can stack much smaller carpets, some weighing as little as 660 grams. These lightweight carpets tend to flap about when they’re being laid down. Our solution to this is the six-axis robot, which can handle them perfectly. As a result, we’re now able to position the carpets better and lay them down more stably. The centre of the robot arm has a scanner which detects how the container is filling up and makes adjustments if necessary. Finally, thanks to the new system we can automatically stack large carpets for the first time, so we will use larger standard racks.”

“We really appreciated the fact that right from the very first meeting, we were sitting around the table with people well versed in technology. That meant that we could get off the ground straight away. Another big plus was the thorough testing phase of the whole system at your facility. A project of this scale always has an impact on internal flows. That means it’s extremely important to rule out as many obstacles as possible beforehand and to keep the transition period on the shop floor as short as possible. You need to grab the momentum to make changes at this scale. That way, you keep internal resistance to a minimum.”

“One handy feature is our app that enables us to track what the system is doing in real time and trace any faults that occur. We have built in all kinds of systems for tracking our carpets. If a carpet is stacked in the wrong place, it’s almost certain we’ll end up shipping it to the wrong customer, so it’s important that we can trace what’s happened after the fact. That’s how we maintain our high service standards, which are our number one reason for existence."