Lantek is the global leader providing software systems and solutions to companies manufacturing parts with sheet metal, tubes, and structural steel. Customers trust Lantek for daily operations designing, planning, and controlling their production with its software. In this interview, Muralidhar D, Country Head, Lantek Automation India Pvt Ltd, elaborates on industrial trends and how Lantek helps companies to digitise all their industrial processes effectively and profitably.

How is Lantek serving the needs of the sheet metal and structural steel industry?
Lantek is the global IT company that focuses on the development and marketing of CAD/CAM/MES/ERP software solutions and a pioneer in the digital transformation of companies in the sheet metal sector. Lantek had lead the way to new innovations and break through solutions which enables the best savings in the raw material, execution process and control over the entire plant.

What are key challenges before the sheet metal and structural steel industry? How are you helping them overcome some of these challenges?
Lantek integrates the most advanced nesting software in the industry with the highest standards in manufacturing management solutions. Raw material saving, infrastructure planning and handy information of the entire plant & process are the key challenges we consider vital and Lantek addresses these issues with our developed applications in most technological way helping clients achieve their objectives.

Lantek product family incorporates significant improvements in flexibility, making it adaptable to the different circumstances of all types of companies; usability, for a better user experience and process visibility; and efficiency and automation to accelerate the speed of the tasks, reducing manual steps.

How are you helping your customers to increase their efficiency and productivity?
Efficiency is achieved when an organisation secures a comprehensive, automated system that minimises the need for human intervention and allows for data to move in each stage of the journey. Lantek offers a system of products that share data so that the process is fully traceable: from quote to manufacturing order, from nesting to job planning, from inventory to assembly, from delivery of the finished product to billing. It is paper-less and hassle-free.

Companies that use the Lantek platform are able to increase production efficiency based on measurement, planning, execution, and control.

All the information about the goings-on is available on your cell phone. You get notifications for each machine shutdown, workloads in progress and pending, and real-time status. Control and information to make decisions instantly leads to greater efficiency and productivity.

How is Lantek helping its customers in their digital transformation journey?
To start and proceed along the route to Industry 4.0 and the smart factory, we need a technology partner to lead us along the path. The unstoppable digital transformation that we have been seeing for years and uncertain and unexpected events such as the Covid pandemic have highlighted the importance of collaborative work and the co-creation of solutions with customers and suppliers.

At Lantek, we have been accompanying our clients in their evolution for 35 years, adapting to their different levels of digital maturity, guiding and supporting them through their digital transformation.

By working extensively on software development, Lantek has been constantly advancing and working towards the smart factory concept. Now, along with the evolution of Industry 4.0 and the increased challenges, this trend is becoming mainstream and companies of all sizes are looking for the best way to apply it.

This is where Lantek can provide a clear advantage for sheet metal companies, as it has sophisticated products such as Lantek MES and Lantek Analytics designed specifically for this industry. These products are designed so that any company, regardless of their digital maturity, can begin to take easily configurable steps on their path towards becoming a smart factory with digital transformation.

Having been involved in the early stages of this revolution, Lantek has in-depth knowledge of the needs and obstacles faced by manufacturers and has considerable experience in integrating systems with any software that the customer already has, as well as the necessary requirements and configurations for OEM suppliers.

Are your solutions cost-effective for small & medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt them?
About 80% of our customers in India are SMEs. We have unique and most adaptive applications which fit into their technological as well the investment cost.

Any plans to launch new products/services in the near future?
Lantek has launched new release for year 2022 recently and these numerous developments in Lantek’s product families (Expert, Flex3d, MES, Integra and Analytics) put the focus on efficiency in the user’s daily work.

This new version, developed after several months of intense work involving almost a dozen teams, has resulted in more than 80 new functionalities within its portfolio, as well as other internal and architectural improvements that will allow the company to continue guaranteeing the evolution of its products.