Fangtian Software is an earlier ERP software company established on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, with independent intellectual property rights and innovation capabilities. Established in Taiwan in 1996, and began to provide ERP professional services in China in 2000, especially in the field of mold information technology. It is the first software company in China to develop mold ERP management system, and it has been focusing on mold enterprise information for 20 years in China. Service provider.

Fangtian Software has more than 1,500 customers in the Asia-Pacific region, including Fortune 500 companies, providing professional enterprise management software products and services including ERP. The most outstanding performance in the field of mold manufacturing, took the lead in developing a mold management system dedicated to the mold industry on the basis of ERP theory, and marketed it throughout Asia under the brand MOLDERP, which promoted the management progress of mold companies and enhanced global competitiveness.

Fangtian Software emphasizes providing comprehensive e-solutions and services for mold companies, not simply providing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), MES (Workshop Execution System), APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling), PLM (Product Life Cycle), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), OA (Collaborative Office Software) and other products, but integrate these products comprehensively and consistently, so that they can be closely integrated with the mold company’s operating procedures and information to generate the greatest system application value.

The above is an interview with Fangtian Software Co., Ltd. Xu Zefu.

1. The host asked: Fangtian Software has 20 years of experience in enterprise informatization counseling. Can you describe the current situation of China’s mold enterprise informatization?

Xu Zefu’s answer: The current informatization construction of mold enterprises mainly includes the informatization of technical systems and the informatization of management systems. The informatization of the technical system is mainly the application of mold CAD/CAE/CAM technology to realize the informatization and digitization of the mold design and manufacturing process. Many mold companies have consciously improved their own level in the informatization of the technical system, but in the management system informatization However, the application of the above is far from enough. It is mainly manifested in the insufficient attention to information management, low system integration, and insufficient application depth. Many of them are stuck on manual planning and scheduling with workshop whiteboards, production schedule management with Excel, and fundamental production capacity. The inability to judge and the promised delivery time to the customer is not guaranteed at the initial stage. Many large and medium-sized mold companies have not attracted enough attention here. Most companies focus on the application of CAX unit technology and unit management technology. Few companies adopt integrated information management systems (PDM systems and ERP/MES systems). There are even fewer companies that effectively integrate existing CAD/CAM/CAE systems and information management systems such as ERP/MES/CRM.

2. The host asks: The informatization of the technical system is well understood. What does the informatization of the management system include?

Xu Zefu Answer: The informatization of the management system mainly refers to the systematic management of progress, quality, supply, finance, drawings and documentation in the mold production process, including (ERP, MES, PDM, PLM, PM, etc.). ERP is holistic and mainly involves document management and control in the workflow. MES refers to the control of parts in the mold making process, and can also be classified as part of the ERP function. Both PDM and PLM include product data management, PDM bias graph document management, PLM belongs to product life cycle management, and PM talks about mold project process management.

3. The host asks: The mold company is a typical order-oriented one-piece production company. Due to the randomness of orders, the diversity of products, the experience dependence of design and manufacturing, the frequency of changes, the uncertainty of trial repairs, etc., the production situation of molds is complex and changeable, and the entire production process is difficult to effectively manage and control . Mr. Xu, do you think mold companies can use the system well?

Xu Zefu Answer: Since mold is a typical discrete processing enterprise, in mold industry management, it is considered to be an industry that is governed by man, master-oriented, management is not easy to institutionalize, and computerized management is not easy. Some ERP systems on the market, and even some internationally renowned ERP system suppliers do not have excellent solutions, and it is difficult to meet the requirements of mold enterprise management.

Because of this, the degree of information integration of many molds is very low. Although there are some domestic mold management software manufacturers, they can only solve the problem of on-site barcode reporting, which is used to collect labor hours, and the product line is very simple. Once the enterprise adopts it, it will face many The set of management systems cannot be effectively integrated, forming an “informatization island”, which actually hurts the enterprise, and the efficiency does not increase but decreases.

In addition, the mold industry lacks the demonstration effect of successful cases of informatization, so too many negative news has been generated, and they are negative or even resistant to the application of ERP. Some mold business owners with ideas even develop their own software and create their own systems. But let’s think about it carefully: ERP is a huge management system. It has been developed through MRP, MRPⅡ, and ERP for more than half a century. It is a world-recognized corporate management standard, and its influence cannot be surpassed so far. What Fangtian Software has done in the past 20 years is to develop special mold management software for the mold industry on the basis of ERP based on the characteristics of single-piece and small-batch production of molds, and summarize the development to form a complete mold ERP mold management system system. , Created a brand-new management system concept “MOLDERP”, that is, mold ERP transliteration, emphasizing the integrated management of mold enterprise personnel, processes, and data. From ERP to MOLDERP, it is a leap of an era, condensing the efforts of two generations of Fangtian engineers.

4. The host asked: Nowadays, the survival of many mold companies is a problem, even struggling with break-even. Everyone says that they don’t have the energy and time to use the ERP system. What do you think of this?

Xu Zefu’s answer: In today’s fierce market competition, it is really not easy for companies to survive and develop. There is not much difference in hardware equipment among mold companies, only in soft power such as planning, execution, management and control, and innovation. Open up competitive advantages and gaps in terms of strength and other aspects. ERP, big data, and cloud computing are the core of Industry 4.0. In the future, all enterprises will be software enterprises, and all enterprises’ operations will be managed by software. This is the general trend.

5. The host asks: Now is the Internet + era, are your software products integrated with the Internet?

Xu Zefu Answer: Since 2010, we have invested tens of millions to develop Fangtian’s third-generation cloud mold ERP system. Users can centrally deploy the system on the cloud server through PC clients, web pages, and mobile phones. At any time, Location, through the network to quickly and securely access the application software published on the server, to achieve cross-border (Cross Border), cross-domain (Cross Domain), and cross-platform (Cross Platform) operation.

6. The host asks: You have been engaged in the informatization of mold companies for a long time, and have been in charge of Fangtian Software Shuaiyin for more than 10 years. Do you have any suggestions or experience you can share?

Xu Zefu Answer: Foxconn Guo Taiming said: Enterprises should establish their own four major control systems, which are “industrial management system, quality control system, production management system, and economic management system.” The construction of mold system must be based on mold quotation, design, planning, The entire process management of procurement, manufacturing, mold trial, mold repair, and finance can be implemented step by step to reduce the risk of introduction, but it must be planned as a whole. It is not possible to wait for the systems of various departments to be installed before discovering that the data cannot be integrated. There are three sentences I keep saying: “The success or failure of the system launch comes from the success or failure of integration”, “improving departmental efficiency ≠ improving the overall efficiency of the enterprise”, and “partial optimization ≠ overall optimization”.

7. The host asked: Now many people know the WeChat official account of Mold Master, and even Mold Master has become the endorsement of Fangtian Software. This is Fangtian’s very successful marketing. Why did you want to establish Mold Master?

Xu Zefu Answer: The original intention of the establishment was that the mold industry generally has demonstration operations of successful cases of informatization. Many mold companies do not believe that the mold industry will have a dedicated management system. They question the effectiveness of the MOLDERP system. We thought, how to make Visible to mold factory management? Make the application effect of the mold management system visible? Therefore, it was established in the “Mold Master” exchange forum, and spread the “Mold Master Thousand Trips” event through the WeChat official account of the mold master, so that the elites of the mold companies could face-to-face and go to the mold workshop for on-site inspections. Through these public welfare exchange activities, we will work together to promote the management progress of Chinese mold companies.

8. The host asked: Thank you Xu Zefu for sharing. Today’s interview gave us a deeper understanding of enterprise informatization. Please Xu Zefu to talk about Fangtian Software’s development for such a long time. What is your positioning and business philosophy?

Xu Zefu answered: Adhere to the market segmentation strategy, provide comprehensive information solutions and enterprise cloud services for single-piece and small-batch industries such as molds, tooling, and non-standard industries, and help companies build operational advantages in the Internet and mobile era, and provide information for China’s mold industry Establish more models.