Genplast (Genplast A/S) is the story of a company in Farsø, with its heart in the right place. The company was founded in 1996 by Stig Steendahl Nielsen in response to the increasing demand for recycling plastic. The need for environmentally friendly handling of plastic is great and Genplast has established strong relationships with a number of important customers, which has created the foundation for a sustainable growth story.
Recycling plastic. Cut out of cardboard.
To understand the need, it makes sense to take a brief look back. In Denmark, we have been shaping plastic for more than 80 years and since then, plastic has shaped our world and our lives. There are many types of plastic, each with their own properties, and plastic has influenced the development of a multitude of products, but it has come at a price. Every Dane uses an average of 24.5 tons of new material each year. That is far too much and significantly higher than the 8 tons per person per year that is considered a “sustainable” level. This is precisely where Genplast has its justification.
Genplast purchases surplus plastic from companies that can no longer use it, ensuring that it is not wasted and that it is handled correctly for recycling. Genplast also processes large amounts of otherwise unusable plastic waste. By grinding, washing, sorting and pelletizing plastic materials, waste is converted into high-quality recyclable plastic granules.
Through ongoing investments in modern technology, Genplast has achieved a current capacity to handle 8,000 tons of waste plastic per year, which after treatment yields approximately 7,500 tons of finished pure plastic of various types, including; PP (Polypropylene), LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene), HDPE (High-density polyethylene) and PP COPO which is a plastic blend consisting of 70% PP and 30% PE.
In addition to selling recycled plastic for various production purposes, Genplast also produces a number of products from recycled plastic, including driving plates, marking tape, marking nets and cable covers for high-voltage, gas and data.
A Showdown with the Standard Systems
To handle the capacity expansions, Genplast has over the years, in collaboration with the consulting company Howbiz, investigated various options for system support of the processes. Initially, they looked into whether the then Navision implementation could be changed/expanded to handle the processes, later they investigated the possibilities with Dynamic 365 and SAP, but since none of these systems in standard setup can handle the complexity, it was clear that it would be far too expensive in terms of start-up, development and maintenance costs to implement the necessary changes in the standard systems.
Instead, they chose to develop a number of ingenious manual systems, where, among other things, storage locations were "cut out of cardboard" and mounted on specially designed hooks to achieve the necessary flexibility in a form of chaos warehouse. In this way, they could ensure;
- correct registration of incoming material (LOT registration)
- management of plastic types through the various production processes
- correct marking of outgoing material (LOT registration)
- and last but not least simple management of storage locations
These systems worked very well for a while, but due to strong growth and rapid expansion of the workforce since 2020, the manual processes could no longer keep up. With thousands of half-ton LOTs to be handled and documented in detail with full traceability, it was time to digitize the workflows.
As it happened, Howbiz had meanwhile begun to investigate the new trends in low- and no-code development, as an alternative to expanding standard systems and coding from scratch. In this context, Howbiz came across the TS No-code Platform. After an introductory meeting in Gistrup near Aalborg, where Howbiz is based, things picked up. Howbiz joined the TS Partner Program and sent two skilled consultants (Samer Al-Taminmi and Valdemar Laustsen) to Birkerød north of Copenhagen for two days of intensive training in developing business applications on the platform.
Samer Al-Tamimi, who was the lead on the assignment at Genplast, has, by virtue of his education as a process engineer and his curiosity about technology, completed a number of successful implementation and optimization projects in Danish industrial companies. With his in-depth process understanding, he effortlessly embarked on the platform, which is distinguished by its powerful workflow engine, among other things.
Context-Based Production Management
Based on the existing manual registrations and workflows that were implemented when the first efficiency boost was made, Samer set about building a new manufacturing system, with an associated order processing and inventory management module, as well as functionality to facilitate laboratory samples and controls.
Production Management - also known as Manufacturing Execution Management (MES), can be anything from a simple linear process, which is relatively easy to support with a system, to complex context-based workflows, where each item may have different paths through production, as is the case at Genplast. Despite the high complexity, Samer has managed to “boil the system down” to a few core processes. In this way, up to several “input material” LOTs can be smoothly routed through the relevant process steps, to finally be collected in one “output material” LOT. In the same way, a large amount of input material, of the same type, can go through the process steps that are necessary to achieve a homogeneous quantity that can be distributed to different orders, used in mixed plastics, or included in finished products.
Streamlined handling of the high complexity means that Genplast can document exactly how many kilos of which “input material” LOTs a finished product or a recycling granulate consists of and what properties the final material has. This not only results in great flexibility, but also delivers on a very central point - traceability. For a company like Genplast, quality and traceability are the highest priority. All plastic granulate undergoes extensive quality control to ensure that each and every delivery meets the highest standards.
Integrated into the established process steps, plastic granules are automatically sampled for quality control. Depending on the type of plastic and order specification, relevant laboratory tests are carried out by specially trained personnel. As a minimum, an MFI (Melt Flow Index) analysis is carried out before, during and after production to ensure that the granules meet the customer's specifications. Test results are recorded for each LOT, and samples are stored for a minimum of three years from the date of production. Density, tensile strength, impact strength and hardness tests are also carried out when the production order requires it.
Smart “Scanning Language” Eliminates Errors
To make it easier for employees to register and handle the large volumes and to eliminate errors, Samer has taken another smart step – QR codes. Each material type is represented by a QR code, which contains the relevant material information, as well as a LOT-number. Each process step in the production is also provided with a QR code and the same applies to all warehouse locations.
This has resulted in a very simple “scanning language” that shows exactly who does what with which LOT-number when, as well as where in the process the LOT-number in question is currently located, or at which warehouse location. At the same time, this has converted an ordinary smartphone into an effective and affordable hand scanner, which employees always carry anyway. In addition, smartphones are available at charging stations, at selected places at the production site, ready for use. iPads have also been set up that show the progress of individual production orders in real time, so that all employees can keep up with them at all times.
In this way, each employee contributes to continuously maintaining data, reducing wasted time and avoiding bottlenecks. With insight into valid real-time data and current inventory levels, you can create the necessary overview to utilize available capacity, make good decisions and ensure efficient and smooth production in constant progress.
We Need to Get the Employees on Board
“When implementing such radical changes in a company, it is important to get the employees on board,” says Samer, nodding emphatically. There are so many horror stories of companies that have forced changes on their employees without involving them at all or even informing them about the plans. Such projects are doomed to fail.
Naturally, we did not want to make the same mistake at Genplast. That is why we have communicated clearly about the plans from the very beginning, explained the need, the expectations, and made sure to involve the employees to the greatest extent possible along the way. This is a good idea, because they are the ones who know the inadequacies in the existing processes and can help identify improvement opportunities that would never have been invented behind the desk. This has had the positive side effect that we have received valuable input into the design of the digital workflows, so we are sure that they reflect the reality in which they are to function.
Very telling of the experience and a discreet proof of the successful change process - at one of our last meetings before we went into production with the system, we asked the employees what they thought we should call the application. After a short silence, a suggestion came to the table. "How about we call the system TS?".