Cencorp Improves Product Development and Product Information Management with Sovelia Core PLM

Electronics manufacturing requires increasingly flexible and efficient automation. Cencorp Automation develops solutions to meet these needs and collaborates with several leading companies across different industrial sectors. The company’s solutions support, for example, the production of PCB milling machines, marking lasers, and test equipment handlers. Automation can be implemented as individual production cells or expanded into complete, scalable production lines, depending on the need.

Cencorp Automation is part of the Cencorp Industrial Group. Its production facilities are located in Finland and China, with regional sales and service units in Europe, North America, and Asia. Cencorp’s international operating environment and technically demanding product portfolio require efficient tools for product information management.

Sovelia supports Cencorp’s daily operations

Cencorp uses Sovelia extensively, particularly for item data management. Sovelia Core serves as the master system for item data, consolidating all product-related information and transferring it to the ERP for use in the company’s other processes. It also acts as a central platform for product management, change management, and customer documentation, as well as a reliable storage location.

Sovelia Core’s integrations have been built closely around the SolidWorks CAD environment and the ERP system. Cencorp is currently developing project-specific information management in Sovelia: the goal is to collect item data related to customer projects — such as purchases, machine configurations, serial numbers, and delivered product structures — in a controlled way under each project. Although the information already exists in Sovelia, the focus of the development work is on compiling it in a structured way to support the project as a whole.

An outdated system slowed down product development

Electronics manufacturing is evolving rapidly, and the efficiency of product development is a key competitive factor. Cencorp realized that the PDM/PLM system previously in use could no longer meet the growing requirements. The system had already reached the end of its lifecycle, and its limitations were becoming increasingly visible in day-to-day product development work.

Poor performance, insufficient support, and technical issues made it more difficult to update the SolidWorks CAD software in use and, as a result, to collaborate with customers and partners.

The biggest challenges were related to handling large assemblies. Updating complex structures could take as long as a day and a half, which significantly slowed down design work.

“I remember well how the systems kept crashing and how difficult everyday work became,” says Petri Vainio, Product Manager at Cencorp.

The instability of the system made everyday tasks slow and uncertain, highlighting the need for a new, more reliable solution.

Sovelia Core PLM brought stability and speed

Cencorp chose the Sovelia Core PLM solution primarily because of its reliable SolidWorks integration, but the decision was also supported by an employee who had used Sovelia Core at a previous workplace and found it to work well.

The impact of the new system was quickly evident. Handling large assemblies became significantly faster. 

“That similar kind of structure which could take a day and a half before — now the same can be done in about two and a half hours with Sovelia Core,” says Vainio.

Today, Sovelia Core PLM is used as a shared product information management platform for several different functions at Cencorp. Sovelia is used by mechanical and electrical design, product management, production and purchasing, as well as the international service organization. The solution supports the operations of the company’s China unit and facilitates information sharing within the global organization.

The flexibility of Sovelia Core has made it possible to develop working practices gradually according to the company’s needs. Sovelia Core has been expanded and modified without interrupting product development work or requiring processes to be rebuilt.

“Sovelia is flexible and adapts well to different needs – unlike many other systems.”

Valuable lessons from the implementation

Petri Vainio has identified several important factors for the success of a PLM project. In his view, it is especially important that the person responsible for the system is involved in the project already at the solution selection stage. 

“It would be good for the person who will be responsible for the PLM system in the future to be involved already at the system selection stage – then they will have a better understanding of what can be implemented and how, right from the beginning.”

According to Vainio, careful planning of the data model and item types helps build a solid foundation for product information management. It is also worth defining the relationships between different data objects, such as spare part links, as early as possible.

Support for global growth

According to Petri Vainio, the implementation of the Sovelia Core PLM has improved Cencorp’s ability to manage a broad and technically complex product portfolio.

“Sovelia enables us to manage products systematically and efficiently – it speeds up everything from product development to production,” Vainio sums up.

A unified, stable Sovelia Core PLM environment supports product information management across the organization and provides a solid foundation for Cencorp’s future international growth.

“Sovelia supports our way of working and global growth well.”

Images courtesy of Cencorp