Converting Operations Tracking and Traceability System

COTTS is specifically designed for organizations that convert rolls and sheets of material into products. It consists of the Real-Time Operations Tracking System (RT-OPS) plus the Equipment Tracking Option (ETO) for handling groups of jobs run on the same machine time. COTTS works in multiple units of measure and includes the available inventory prediction (AIP) module to make sure that you have the needed material on hand.

Many convertors use the BellHawk software because of its ability to track rolls and sheets of material which have different dimensions, using a common part number. This avoids the need to assign a different part number to each different length and width of material. In BellHawk you can track materials in many different units of measure, with BellHawk automatically translating between the different units of measure. Thus you can receive rolls of material in pounds, convert them in feet, and produce sheets that are measured by the ream. With BellHawk there are a number of different ways of tracking rolls, depending on your operations and what you are trying to track. In the technical note "Five Ways of Representing Rolls of Material in BellHawk", we describe the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

Material Converting and Printing Applications of BellHawk Slitter A substantial number of users of BellHawk are make-to-order, quick-turn material converters and printers. These clients include printers and converters of paper, plastic, woven and non-woven materials. as well as makers of packaging materials. These clients use BellHawk because it is able to:

Track rolls and sheets of materials in different units of measure and to convert between them Track rolls and sheets by length and width and thickness and to convert to and from pounds Use generic part numbers with attributes such as length, width, and color to represent a large number of different raw, intermediate, and finished materials using a small number of intermediate part numbers Track the receipt and put away of raw materials, including customer owned materials Track the conversion of these intermediate products into finished products in a series operations Track work-in-process materials between operations Track rework and scrap, including recyclable scrap Track the packaging and shipment of finished products Generate barcode labels on-demand for incoming and finished products Interface with weighing scales for determining quantities on rolls, reels, and skids of material Some examples of the uses of BellHawk are in tracking:

Printing, coating, laminating rolls and sheets of material Die cutting and punching Slitting into rolls and cutting into sheets Assembly of finished products into kits In each case there are multiple units of measure involved. As one roll�converter stated "I buy in pound, convert by the foot and sell by the sheet". This is typical in many converting applications. Also the business operations tend to be very specialized and integration with weighing scales or other devices is required.

BellHawk supports multiple units of measure and knows how to translate between them. It can weigh a roll of paper and compute the length of the material on the roll. It can weigh items and determine the count. It can also compute the weight of pallets based on the quantity of items on the pallet.

BellHawk is also able to track materials left over from manufacturing operations. It is able to track butt rolls and left�over chemicals so they can be reused and accurately accounted for. BellHawk is also able to automatically exchange accounting data with financial systems ranging from QuickBooks to high end ERP systems.