Multiple facilities and production lines
What is MillTools?
MillTools is a manufacturing execution system, engineered for continuous manufacturing. Pulp plants, paper mills, nonwoven mills and converting facilities have special needs for translating customer orders into machine production, finishing, warehousing, and completed loads for truck, rail and vessel. MillTools enables people and automates machines to plan and execute all necessary work on the shopfloor and in the yard while following established processes and business rules. MillTools automates many processes and integrates third-party business, process control, and logistics systems. This powerful MES automates communication among your own people in addition to critical communication with customers and carriers. MillTools tracks production quality and provides significant manufacturing, inventory and shipping intelligence for operations to make smart and timely decisions. MillTools is a linchpin for companies focused on digital transformation, enforcing business rules, optimizing machine uptime, reducing human error, achieving operational excellence and pursuing continual improvement from orders and planning to production and logistics.
MES that is ready for anything
Think of MillTools as more than a supply chain solution. It saves precious time and limits human error in offices, on shop floors, in warehouses, at shipping docks, and in the yards. It does more than provide real-time production data and end-to-end roll tracking for mills and plants with one or many production assets. MillTools can improve communication within your own operations and externally. the software suite gives managers the intelligence required to lead, train and make decisions. Operations and inputs can be automated, and our reporting capabilities and interfaces to share data with people, machines and systems are boundless. MillTools is secure, configurable and able to internationalize and localize for use anywhere in the world. No other MES is more empowering and equally suited to the present and future of continuous manufacturing.
IT administration made easier
Modular MES that matches your workflow
MillTools brings you a complete and integrated system of software for orders, production, finishing, inventory, shipping and reporting.
Base system
MillTools apps allow users and machines to enter, view and use data in Panther open relational databases for operations, production and management across your organization:
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Administration
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Orders
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Scheduling
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Finishing
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Inventory
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Shipping
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Invoicing
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Reporting
Enhanced solutions
MillTools scalability allows you to add only those manufacturing packages to the base system that correspond to your operations:
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Raw materials
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Pulp and coproduct production
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Paper, paperboard and tissue production
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Trim optimization and block scheduling
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Nonwoven manufacturing
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Converting and extruding operations
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Yard management
Boundless integration
Panther develops interfaces to integrate and automate machinery and exchange information with third-party business systems:
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Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
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Material requirements planning (MRP)
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Transportation
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Data warehouse
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SCADA
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DCS and PLC
- QCS and other advanced process controls
- Automatic and benchtop quality test devices
- Core cutters and handlers
- Auto slitters
- Winders and rewinders
- Roll lines, wrap lines and other finishing lines
- Scales
- Robotic clamp truck
Configuration for your mill
PantherPortal
- Access MillTools and TestCentral applications in one convenient portal
- Compatible with all PCs and connected mobile devices running Chromium browsers
Mill Configuration
- Configure mill- and plant-specific database/application options
- Align MillTools with your process, workflows and customer specifications
User Manager
- Administer user and group privileges for all applications and functionality
Customer Manager
- Manage customer profiles to populate application fields automatically and apply customer specifications to scheduling, production and shipping
Product Target
- Establish products and grades inside MillTools, including tests, run targets and tolerances
Order entry, production planning and invoicing
Order Entry
- Create new orders, modify and duplicate orders with credit check capability
- Integrated credit-check capability
Order Manager
- Review and change the order status
- Display total quantities for ordered, produced and shipped
Order Browser
- Track order progress instantly via intranet
Schedule
- Create trim patterns and prioritize machine run schedule
Pattern Manager
- Review and change pattern status
- Displays batch ID, total trim, status, planned versus produced sets, product and grade type
Invoicing
- Create, edit, void and reverse customer invoices and credit memos
- Apply freight charges and rate adjustments
- Print/reprint capability
Production
Winder
- Select and modify trim patterns
- Adjust data for rolls and sets against production orders and run schedule
- Produce items and generate core tags
- Create shipping units (as process requires)
- Generate shipping unit labels (as process requires)
Scale
- Scale and Create shipping units
- Generate branded shipping unit labels
- Bundling
Machine Downtime
- Record, review and export downtime events by configurable and hierarchal event type
Daily Production Browser
- View summaries of machine production and shipments by date range
- View status and details of patterns without interfering with the shop floor
Warehouse and logistics
Inventory
- Manage shipping units by location
- Change unit status, dimensions and attributes
- Track shipping units with scan gun and mobile device
- Compatible with RFID
Inventory Reconcile
- Verify warehouse contents by physical audit
Freight Reconciliation
- Manage carrier accounts, freight rates, charges, payments and accruals
Load Planning
- Identify and group shipping units by unique load identifier
- Directs clamp/fork truck drivers where to take units — warehouse, bay, and vehicle — by load identifier
- Supports fixed and open loads
Shipping
- Manage vehicle status and location inside your facilities
- Load containers, trucks, railcars and vessels
- Enforce critical test limits to prevent loading of failed units
- Includes jock and carrier management functions
- Generate branded transportation documents for shipments
- Accept electronic signatures
- Advance shipping notices (ASN)
- EDI and TMS compatible
Reporting
Grid Reports
- Sortable, filterable and exportable directly from MillTools
Panther Reports
- 300+ SSRS reports covering orders, production, inventory and logistics and available in PDF format
- Accessible via intranet
User Log
- Comprehensive record of timestamped user activities
SSRS and Crystal Reports Compatibility
- Compatible with your own customer SSRS and Crystal reports
Business interfaces
ERP
- Custom interface between MillTools 2.0 and your ERP
Document Messaging System (DMS)
- Automatic event/transaction notification and report delivery via email to designated recipients
- Text alerts to subscribers on their smartphones when paired with your third-party short message service (SMS) of choice
ASN and electronic data exchange (EDI)
- Notify customers of shipments with load details
Business Interface Module (BIM)
- Middleware supporting business transaction information requirements
- Includes predefined tasks and table data enabling information transfer between MillTools and external business systems
In-application internal communication
- Comments, specifications and instructions to MillTools users
Machine interfaces
PantherConnector
- Highly configurable general-purpose machine interface
- Provide reel information such as grade, reel of the day, machine and trim width to MillTools
- Receive scanner profiles from QCS and defect data from vision inspection system
- Communicate with production machines and finishing lines
- OPC UA compatibility
Related products
RollLineSupervisor
- Highly configurable solution automates scaling, wrapping, banding, labeling and routing of finished goods to increase productivity and free up mill and plant personnel to work where they are needed most
PantherAutomation
- Process control and automation solutions for raw materials handling; pulp, paper and nonwoven production; warehouse, dock and yard management; and
TestCentral
This quality tracking system used in the laboratory to record test data and associate all lab and quality profiles to production reels and as-built customer rolls and other produced items.
ProcessAnalyzer
A process analysis application which combines quality, production and process data. Users can visualize, trend and analyze an unlimited number of tags, and conduct cause-and-effect analysis to solve quality and performance problems that occur during production.
PantherQCS
The pulp and paper machine quality control system for MD, CD and grade control of paper production.
Service and support
Panther Systems supplies complete turnkey services from conception through start-up, plus continuing long-term support for installed systems.
Services include project management, analysis, custom software development, hardware architecture, installation, system configuration, database administration, training and consulting.
Support includes Panther’s 24/7/365 helpdesk, technical account management, automatic upgrades, onsite maintenance, system repairs and emergency response wherever we are needed.
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