As an industry challenge owner for the Made Smarter Technology Accelerator (MSTA), Safran Landing Systems wanted to partner with the right technology innovators to develop a dynamic rules-based scheduling system that could reduce complexity and increase efficiency. The solution needed to be rules-based, yet adaptable and scalable.
Total Control Pro, Safran’s chosen innovation partner, worked with them to deliver an MVP that used large real-time datasets to make complex scheduling decisions. This meant that Safran could move away from expediting, and adopt an agile planning and scheduling process.
From the data and evidence collated, the project will be a significant contributor to improve industrial productivity by more than 30% by 2030. Evidence points to recouping more than 30 minutes of lost production capacity per shop floor operator each day (over 10,000 of lost production hours per year for a typical small-to-medium business); a 10% improvement in productivity; and a 15% reduction in downtime.
For Total Control Pro, gaining access to seasoned players and industry experts who would provide feedback and guidance was crucial. The structured and intensive nature of the accelerator would accelerate their growth and ensure rapid progress in overcoming challenges.
The team recognised that the MSTA would be a key step in validating their product and building credibility, making it more appealing to investors and customers. This validation would provide critical assessments of its strengths, weaknesses, and market suitability, feeding into product development and helping the team to gauge a sustainable business trajectory.
The MSTA also gave Total Control Pro the opportunity to fully understand the challenges that big businesses face, and the power of real time data, data analytics and machine learning. The team gained insight into issues involved with legacy systems, and what it takes to bring about change in large manufacturers that are using complex manufacturing processes, machinery and tooling across multiple departments.
Overall, the programme exceeded expectations, largely thanks to the support and skills that Digital Catapult brought to the project. It has helped Total Control Pro to raise awareness, and they look forward to more collaboration and support in the future, as well as further opportunities to work with large enterprises.
Digital Catapult provided Total Control Pro with the opportunity to fully understand the challenges faced by large businesses, encompassing real-time data, data analytics, machine learning, legacy systems, and the complexities of the manufacturing process. Additionally, Digital Catapult’s support in understanding challenges, delivering impactful outcomes, providing collaborative frameworks, and exceeding expectations showcased its significant role in contributing to Total Control Pro’s success throughout the programme.
Par Eliason, Industrial Project Leader, Safran Landing Systems, said:
"It’s astounding how a small company was able to achieve so much in such a short period of time. It’s something we can definitely learn from."
Dorian Smellie, CEO, Total Control Pro, said:
"Essentially the Technology Accelerator worked to do exactly that: accelerate our development path for Smart Planning. It enabled the foundation of our AI-ready platform, and engaged a broader spectrum of manufacturing and planning experts, into the design of our product."
Dolores Sanders, CMO/Strategic Director, Total Control Pro, said:
"Developing our Smart Planning application with the Digital Catapult opened up a broader benefit to our product. From UI expertise to data analysis, we had the confidence of a whole team of support behind us."
Talk us through an average day in the life of a Total Control Pro employee?
There is no average day in the life of any startup, but we focus on tasks that put the customer first, and call upon our values: we keep it agile and keep it simple, bring integrity, enrich the process, and stay focused on the vision.
What’s the best thing about startup life for you?
Seeing your vision come to life, and having others share the impact this makes on them and then bringing product to the market that have and add value.
What’s it been like working with Safran Landing Systems?
As a company-focused on small medium enterprises, it’s been a great opportunity to work with a very large organisation.
The team at Safran have been truly committed to what’s needed. We make them agile; they hold us to account when it comes to diligence and process. It has the foundations of a very successful partnership!
How do you think digital technologies are going to impact the (Manufacturing Industry) industry?
Overall, from the data and evidence collated, the Adaptive Planning project will be a significant contributor to the drive to improve industrial productivity by more than 30% by 2030.
Evidence points to recouping more than 30 minutes of lost production capacity per shop floor operator per day – representing the recovery of over 10,000 of lost production hours per year for a typical SME, as well as a a 10% improvement in productivity and a 15% reduction in downtime.
What are your hopes for the future of your solution?
A fully affordable commercialised offering that’s been enabled for all manufacturers large or small, so the learning of many can help raise the productivity of all.
What are your biggest learnings from the programme to date?
The many challenges faced inside a regulated environment using fully embedded legacy systems, and the opportunity for agile solutions to solve immediate problems inside this. Basically, there’s lots of room for innovation in partnership with established systems.
What are you most excited about heading into the minimum viable product phase of the programme?
Seeing the Prototype in operation on the shop floor, and quantifying the impact. That’s what our work is all about!
Total Control Pro (TotalControlPro®) enables manufacturers to track people, product and performance in real time, through their intelligent cloud-based platform, DynamxMFG®. As experts in process and integration, they help businesses to improve productivity and efficiency: transforming manufacturing execution, production control, inventory management, dispatch and much more.
Website: www.totalcontrolpro.com
LinkedIn: Total Control Pro Ltd
X: @TotalControlPro
The Made Smarter Technology Accelerator (MSTA) was designed to create opportunities for collaborative change that would deliver impact for industry. The programme enabled four innovative startups to produce a minimal viable product to address a specific industry challenge. As well as support from Digital Catapult, tech sponsors and the industry challenge owners, the programme provided funding of £100,000 per project.
Part of the national Made Smarter movement, the MSTA was delivered by Digital Catapult and funded by UKRI through the Industrial Strategy Challenge fund.
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