Fabrication shop vs assembly line software needs in farm machinery

Fabrication is job work. A plate is cut, bent, welded and ground against a drawing, and each job can differ from the last one on the same bench. Assembly is serial work, where the same sequence of stations repeats, parts arrive in kits, and a missed step shows up two stations later.

Farm machinery plants usually hold both. The fabrication side makes frames, hoppers, tanks and hitches, while the assembly side bolts on axles, gearboxes, hydraulics, wiring and sheet metal.

The two sides think in different units. Fabrication counts jobs and hours, while assembly counts machines and takt time, so one report rarely suits both sides or the foreman who reads it.

Each job needs a drawing revision, a cut list and a route through laser, press brake, weld and finishing, so the supervisor can see what waits at each bench. Rework and scrap need a reason code. A note is not enough.

Material matters here. Plate comes in different grades and thicknesses, and offcuts go back to the rack as tagged remnants that a nesting run can use before a fresh sheet is opened. A system that tracks remnants saves steel and stops people cutting fresh sheet for a small gusset or bracket that an offcut from last week would have covered.

Labour is booked by job. Hours booked against the estimate show which quotes ran too low on press brake or weld time, and which welder or bench keeps running over.

Assembly runs on kits. A station should not start until its kit is complete, because a missing bolt set stops the line, so the shortage must show on a screen a shift earlier.

Each machine carries a serial number from the first station, and torque readings on wheel hubs, hydraulic pressure tests and final inspection results attach to that number. Paint and decal checks go there too.

A model changeover needs its own step on the line, otherwise kits for the old model sit beside kits for the new one and a wrong bracket gets fitted.

A frame leaves fabrication and enters assembly. It should arrive carrying its job number, drawing revision and weld sign-off, because a line that must phone the fabrication office loses time and breaks the trail. Scanning a frame tag at the first station is enough, as long as the tag was printed at the last weld and not typed later.

The handover also decides stock. A frame built for a specific order should not be taken for another by mistake, so reserve it against the order or the serial number.

Dealer claims trace back through this link. A cracked hitch is only worth investigating if the weld record is one click away, with the welder, the date and the wire batch beside it. Otherwise the claim stalls.

Start where the pain is loudest. A plant that loses jobs on the shop floor needs job tracking first, whereas a plant that stops for missing kits needs the bill of materials and stock first.

Write one sheet for each side listing the records you keep today and where they live, whether a register, a whiteboard or a spreadsheet. Bring both sheets to any vendor meeting. Have the vendor demonstrate each record on screen, starting with the frame handover, and note every field it cannot hold or must retype.