Stalkanat-Silur Increased Production Capacity by 20–50% by Implementing a Smart Factory Cycle

Stalkanat-Silur is one of the largest manufacturers of steel wire, wire rope, strands, fibers, and slings, offering the widest product range in its segment.
With annual production capacity exceeding 60,000 tons and more than 850 product form factors, the company operates in a highly diversified manufacturing environment.

This wide product portfolio is a key competitive advantage, but it also creates significant challenges in production planning, scheduling, and cost control.
To maintain flexibility and meet diverse customer requirements, Stalkanat-Silur partnered with IT-Enterprise / Clobbito implement a Smart Factory operating model capable of supporting high variability without sacrificing efficiency.

Prerequisites, concepts, and challenges

Maintaining a strong customer-oriented approach required the company to balance several competing priorities: competitive pricing, consistent product quality, reliable delivery schedules, fast response to customer requests, and the ability to accept customized orders.

Achieving this balance required end-to-end control of production processes and real-time visibility into their performance.
The objective was not incremental automation, but a coordinated Smart Factory cycle aligned with Industry 4.0 principles.

Project solutions

Following an in-depth assessment of production conditions, IT-Enterprise / Clobbi designed a transformation roadmap focused on improving efficiency across all production stages.

Unified regulatory and technical standards

A single digital environment was created to provide all production participants with real-time access to up-to-date technical data.
Bills of materials, technological routes, and standards were unified across finished products, semi-finished goods, and raw materials.

Tool: Clobbi Cable Designer
Cable Designer enabled fast and accurate estimation of lead times and resource requirements for each order, significantly accelerating quotation preparation and production planning decisions.

Advanced planning, scheduling, and workload optimization

Advanced Planning & Scheduling introduced realistic, constraint-based production schedules and optimized workload distribution across work centers.

Tool: Clobbi APS
The solution automatically generates and compares multiple production scenarios based on deadlines, priorities, and resource constraints, selecting the optimal sequence using predefined KPIs.
Daily planning meetings were eliminated, allowing shop-floor supervisors to focus on process improvements rather than manual rescheduling.

Automated task execution and monitoring

Mobile solutions synchronized with Manufacturing Execution capabilities enabled real-time task execution and monitoring.

Tool: Clobbi MES
Employees receive digital work orders on mobile devices, with full access to product quantities, technical requirements, materials, packaging, and lead-time information.
The intuitive interface ensured rapid adoption without extensive training.

Output reporting and cost transparency

Digital task execution data and QR-based tracking enabled fully automated production reporting.
The system generates real-time data on output, material consumption, semi-finished goods handling, defect processing, and resource transfers.

As a result, shop-floor accounting was fully embedded into daily operations, eliminating the need for separate manual accounting roles.

Quality control through IIoT

Integration of technical control laboratories into the digital ecosystem enabled real-time quality verification of raw materials and finished products.

Tool: Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
Quality data is available during planning, including information from certified suppliers, allowing early adjustment of production plans.
The company transitioned from selective quality checks to trend-based quality analysis across batches, operations, and work centers.

Results

The Smart Factory transformation optimized every stage of Stalkanat-Silur’s manufacturing cycle.

Pre-production planning became twice as fast through standardized technical data.
New product configurations can now be prepared and approved within minutes, while fully new product development requires only hours instead of days.

Implementation of advanced planning and execution tools increased throughput and asset utilization by 20–50%, based on realistic workload assessment and optimized scheduling.

Full online production accounting enabled strict control of work-in-progress and inventory.
Real-time visibility into process data reduced WIP and overstocking dramatically, improving cash flow and operational stability.

Quality management was strengthened through data-driven control, enabling full batch traceability and reducing the risk of customer complaints.

All implemented solutions operate as part of a single IT-Enterprise / Clobbi Smart Factory ecosystem, designed for scalability and customization using the company’s internal resources — a key requirement for sustainable long-term growth.