Manage your tools
and materials digitally

Anyone who has ever dealt with the subject of workshop organization in joinery, carpentry or a furniture production knows the problem fields:

1. Tool tangle:
   Which CNC tool or saw blade is currently in the sharpening service? Which circular saw blade has already run how many meters? And, where is the milling cutter that I do need for the customer project right now?
   


2. Material disorder
   Do we still have enough edge band for the upcoming project? Where exactly is this edge band located? And, what happens to the remaining meters?
   

We soon realize that this problem can hardly be solved without clever resource and tool management because the complexity in the workshop and customer projects is increasing rapidly. The variety of materials is growing due to individual customer requirements, and, additionally, the scope of the tools required is rising.

From practical experience, the tapio team addressed the topic of digital tool and material management to simplify and optimize workshop organization. This has resulted in twinio - the mobile, digital twin of tools and materials for material and tool management.

Digital tool and material management with twinio

With twinio, you can use the Internet browser on your PC, tablet, and smartphone to manage your tools, such as CNC tools, circular saw blades, milling cutters, but also to manage materials, such as edge bands, digitally and on the move with just a few clicks.

• Everything at a glance:
  twinio shows you all tools and materials from different manufacturers at a glance. With the help of individual parameters, that you can define and edit yourself, twinio allows you to list tools and materials, e.g. by project, by running meters, by storage location, etc.


• No more tiresome searches:
  In twinio, you create your own storage locations in the system. You decide whether the warehouse is on the ground floor, left-hand cupboard, 4th shelf compartment, or something completely different in the system. This allows you to organize the workshop in a highly individual way, tailored to your needs.


• Scanning instead of typing:
  Thanks to the QR codes (or barcodes or data matrix codes) generated in twinio, you can easily and quickly identify your tools and materials. The scans can be carried out with the smartphones in no time at all - a clever material and tool management with your existing hardware!


• Create tools & materials:
  twinio is part of tapio's ecosystem. This means that tools and materials of integrated partners, such as LEUCO and AKE, can be created even faster, as the tool data is already available. Besides, twinio offers the possibility of creating tools and materials from other manufacturers. You can also define and use parameters for this yourself.

Thus, clever tool management with twinio digitally maps your unique workshop, allowing you to manage your tools and materials quickly and efficiently, both mobile and digitally.

How to get started in your production?

When we consider how much time is spent on this in work preparation and production and all too often wasted on finding the right materials and tools, it quickly becomes clear that clever material and tool management solves real issues in carpentries.

For example, take a look at what happens in your workshop when the material is delivered. How often are outdated lists maintained? Quite often nothing is noted or documented at all. The production employees are then at a disadvantage when the material is sought or even determined that it must be reordered before production can continue. And last but not least, the motivation of the person who is now ordered to clean up the chaos of materials in the workshop warehouse is diminishing.

But what could the process look like with twinio?

Let's take a look at the management of edge band material as an example. If a new job is planned in the job preparation department, a glance in twinio on the PC or smartphone is enough to determine how many meters of the remaining length of the special edge and are in stock. This means that only the missing quantity needs to be ordered from the supplier.

When this is delivered, the edge can be provided with a QR code with just a few clicks, which is stuck onto the edge. At the same time, a storage location for this special edging can be stored at goods receipt, as well as other individual details. At this point, for example, the commission name or number for the special project could be added. It will be even easier and faster if integrated tapio partners provide their data. Then a quick scan is enough and the corresponding material or tool is created rapidly.

If the machine operator needs this special edge, he simply searches for a suitable parameter in twinio and immediately receives information on where the edgebandings are located and how many meters the rolls provide. The machine operator can then quickly load the edge band on the machine and start producing. This project also leaves a small amount of residual edge. The machine operator again selects the respective edge band, notes the quantity used, and the storage location. That’s it.

In this way, the workshop organization is done with just a few clicks. Everyone benefits from the increased transparency: the work preparation department can now see exactly which material is still in stock before placing unnecessary new orders and the production department immediately knows where to find which material and does not have to search for a long time. Last but not least, twinio helps to keep the warehouse and the workshop in good order - this saves tedious tidying up and unnecessary costs.

How can digital tools and material management be introduced in your team?

It is best to select a test area in your workshop, such as saw blades that come to the sharpening service, your CNC tool, or circular saw blades in general. Then register for a twinio test version for 30 days. To do so, register your company and create individual users on tapio. Then select the free twinio test license.

Now you can start directly and create up to 30 tools digitally. Include some of your colleagues in the test phase to see how you can improve your workshop organization. The mobile app for tool management and material management will immediately show all information for your team: as a web app in the browser, mobile on the smartphone, laptop, or stationary PC.

Once you have started with a subarea in your workshop, such as CNC tools, you discuss the improvements and changes with the team. In the next step, you then expand the clever tool management with twinio to include other materials and tools, such as circular saw blades or edge bands.

In this way, you can test in small steps and without a large initial investment how twinio can improve your material management and tool management digitally and mobile, quickly and easily. It could be the first step for your digital tool management as well as possible future changes towards digital production.

We look forward to your feedback on your new digital tool management!