Besides qualified personnel and efficient production machines, successful textile companies these days also need a perfect spare parts management system if rational and continuous production is to be ensured.
Minimum and justified requirements in this respect are first of all the ability to identify the required spare part unequivocally and then the ability to order it quickly and without error. In the case of complex machines, these requirements can only be fulfilled by an electronic system.
With the aim of perfecting the spare parts service offered by Knotex in Augsburg for its warp tying machine all over the world, Knotex joined forces with a renowned software company to develop a particularly user-friendly solution on CD-ROM: DISPOS® (Digital Inquiry and Spare Parts Order System).
The development bases on the knowledge that in modern weaving mills, one single warp tying machine must often ensure the uninterrupted operation of up to 30 looms. And quite a few textile companies do this without any form of back-up whatsoever. In other words, if the one and only tying machine fails, an entire outfit of plant and machinery valued at several million euros gradually grinds to a halt. And even though Knotex warp tying machines are known for their reliability, even they need spare parts sometimes. We are usually talking here about thread carriers and guides, because these parts are subject to a certain degree of wear in daily operation. With DISPOS®, determination of the data required for the spare parts order is extremely simple. The machine-specific CD-ROMs only display those parts which are actually installed in the machine in question. Parts with which the machine can be retrofitted (e.g. to suit other yarn qualities) are offered separately as options. Once the program is started, both tying machine and tying frame are represented in the form of several exploded view drawings. The individual drawings can be magnified with the zoom function, thus allowing exact representation on every size of monitor. As soon as the required spare part is found, the software program displays the part designation in 5 languages along with the order number. The customer simply enters the required quantity and places the part in his shopping basket. If alternatives are available, DISPOS® gives the customer a brief description of the part along with a graphic and asks whether this part should be placed in the shopping basket instead. The user is thus guided through the program step by step, and it is almost impossible to order the wrong part. Once the customer completes his selection, a simple mouse click suffices to either print out the contents of the shopping basket in the form of an inquiry or an order, or to send it direct to Knotex as an e-mail. All pre-requisites needed to ensure that the spare part can be delivered post-haste to the customer and that the machine can be made operable again in the shortest possible time are thus fulfilled. The program runs under all common Windows versions (98, ME, XP). It can be copied onto hard disk or run direct from the CD-ROM if memory space is at a premium.