WEDA – Cutting costs and improving control in supplier collaboration using ShareAspace

Situation

Weda AB is a compact company that manufactures robots for pool cleaning, ranging from semi- and fully-automated submersible cleaning robots for public and commercial swimming pools to custom solutions for industrial water reservoirs such as nuclear power plants and water treatment plants. With a team of less than ten staff members, they manage to produce approximately 100 pool robots and about 20 industrial units annually. Most of the manufacturing involves the assembly of complex parts from 60 to 70 subcontractors, encompassing mechanics, electronics/sensors, cameras, software, and programmable PLCs.

Problem

Weda faced challenges in managing its extensive supply chain, which was traditionally handled with manual entries, emails, and other non-standardized methods. This resulted in a supply chain that was difficult to oversee and control, increasing the complexity of the manufacturing and assembly processes.

Solution

Weda adopted ShareAspace Design to Manufacturing, a cloud-based service, to manage all aspects of their robotic products. The system handles everything from the individual whole to the detailed level of each item, including all relevant information such as drawings, suppliers, costs, and Estimated Delivery Time (ETA). It serves as a centralized point of contact with subcontractors, standardizing their communication process.

Benefits

1. Improved Collaboration Process: The digital handshake system confirms received packages, ensuring each supplier knows their responsibilities and agreements.
2. Supports Just-In-Time: By adopting a Just-In-Time system, Weda managed to lower inventory levels, leading suppliers to shift to a one-package concept.
3. Cost Reduction: By lowering the stock of unnecessary parts and letting suppliers know which spare parts need to be held in stock for fast delivery, costs have been significantly reduced.
4. Better Control: Assigning serial numbers to all parts improves the management of what is included in each robot and allows for easy tracking of product history, warranties, and more.

In summary, Weda AB is a small manufacturing company that greatly improved its supply chain management, collaboration, inventory control, and cost-efficiency by implementing the ShareAspace Design to Manufacturing cloud-based service.