Flexibility is essential when a project is not going to plan. And when this is combined with an extraordinary level of local presence, there is only one outcome: Innovative solutions. This is also the case at Sto, which, with respect to its vertical integration, benefits from cooperation with ProLeiT. Thanks to a fully integrated MES that offers greater transparency, control and optimization options. The success story of Sto began in Stühlingen in 1955. Today, the Group is a leading international manufacturer of products and systems for coating buildings. It is represented in 38 countries with 50 subsidiaries of its own worldwide. In 2020, the Group had more than 5,500 employees and generated €1.4 billion worldwide.
As part of its drive to be sustainable and remain competitive in the long term, Sto invests millions of euros in various sectors of the business each year. Some of this money also flows back into the company’s own manufacturing plants, where modernization of the process control technology is a top priority: Besides its manufacturing plant in Donaueschingen, three more plants are to be equipped with a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) from ProLeiT by 2024. This will ensure complete consistency across all levels – specifically in a classic vertical structure from SAP to the control system and back again. The recording of all production data will enable Sto to determine relevant KPIs and continuously optimize operational processes in the future. Further, the company has a quest to become paperless and operate without routing slips.
The plan was therefore to gradually roll out a holistic solution in the individual manufacturing plants. Any special features of the respective locations needed to be considered in a concise and consistent manner, thereby enabling their integration into the overall solution. This means Sto is not only one of the largest ongoing projects but also one in which the highest level of innovation is required. Since individual solutions have to be developed flexibly and in cooperation with each other to meet the precisely defined targets.