Apps & software: Solutions for every size of business

05/26/2025

Apps & software: Solutions for every size of business

Digitalization in the woodworking industry is gaining momentum. This means that the HOMAG portfolio of app and software solutions is constantly evolving to network individual production processes even more efficiently and intelligently.

At LIGNA, HOMAG will be presenting new functions and integrated AI solutions in established apps for digitalization, as well as digital innovations along the entire process chain — for every size of company. 

productionManager: The digital job folder is growing! 

The digital job folder has made transparent and clear paperless organization of jobs possible in many companies. Now is the time to take the next step: With the new version, productionManager opens up more opportunities and sets new standards for flexible workshop organization, combined with intuitive operation and integrated functions that make your production processes even more efficient. 

New version. Wide range of options 

The digital job folder already ensures clear job management and enables you to maintain transparency of the current processing status of all components for all employees. With the web-based app, every employee has an overview of the status of all jobs at all times.  

The new version offers further advantages to optimally support your production processes: for example, rework, lot generation and flexible workshop organization. 

Even more flexible, even more individual 

In the future, you will be able to use the app in even more ways, as the new version offers the option of making individual adjustments and thus managing your job data even more flexibly. For example, you can add more property fields, adjust the import and export of your cutting list, export additional parts lists for ERP systems and industry solutions, change and supplement parts lists or prepare CNC programs and data for production even more easily. 

Plan jobs intelligently and save money at the same time 

In puncto Auftragsplanung setzt die neue Version mit der Funktion „Losbildung“ bereits in der Arbeitsvorbereitung einen elementaren Grundstein für einen organisierten Produktionsablauf, denn die Funktion unterstützt Sie dabei, When it comes to job planning, the new version lays the foundation for an organized production process as early as the work preparation stage thanks to the "lot generation" function, which helps you to create production lots in no time at all. You already receive an overview of your jobs that still require planning in the job management system and, with just one click, you can bundle individual jobs and combine them into intelligent production lots based on important key figures (e.g. the same panel or edge material). This not only reduces your material consumption and costs, but also increases your productivity, as components with the same panel and edge materials enter production as a production lot. This allows setup processes for division (cutting and nesting) and on the edge banding machine to be reduced.  

Another advantage: Production lots can be transferred directly to a cutting optimization system of your choice (e.g. intelliDivide Cutting) where they can then undergo further processing. 

Everything at a glance — including rework 

Having a large number of jobs also means a large number of components that pass through several stations in production every day. Defective or damaged components are therefore not uncommon and parts have to be reproduced.  

The challenge: Rework often leads to longer waiting times, increased material consumption that has not been recorded and additional time being required because ongoing jobs are interrupted. 

Thanks to digital communication channels, the new version of the digital job folder remedies this problem and accelerates rework processes. The defective component is scanned directly at the point of production, displayed in productionManager as requiring rework and supplemented with additional useful information, such as images of the component, additional comments and attachments. Since employees in both production and work preparation can access the web app via tablet or PC, rework is displayed to all employees in real time. For even faster processing, responsible employees are notified directly in the app. 

Rework is recorded and processed digitally, meaning communication runs smoothly and requires no manual intermediate steps. All employees can track the status in productionManager at any time and all relevant information can be found bundled in the digital job folder.  

The result: Rework can be integrated back into the production process quickly and in a controlled way.  

Flexible and compatible with any workshop environment 

productionManager can be integrated into any existing workshop environment with very little effort. In addition to existing coordinated interfaces to SmartWOP, imos iX, OSD, Borm and other well-known software providers, the new version offers the option of seamlessly networking other ERP or CAD/CAM systems and industry solutions with the digital job folder thanks to its flexible interface. This means that there is no obstacle to automated data exchange with your existing software landscape. 

New planning module for the manufacturing execution system ControllerMES 

HOMAG has the perfect software solution for digitalized processes in the furniture industry in the form of the manufacturing execution system ControllerMES: Optimal production planning and control through intelligent networking of all information streams in production.  

This high-performance manufacturing execution system will be presented at LIGNA with a new planning module. This innovative module enables even more precise production planning and thus ensures a sustainable increase in the efficiency of your production processes. 

The functions at a glance 

• Efficient order merging: Production orders can be grouped intelligently, e.g. by customer orders and order items.  

• Up-to-date production planning: Up-to-date, detailed planning ensures maximum flexibility. 

• Consideration of important key figures: In addition to the capacities of the workstations, individual key figures such as narrow parts, materials, glue types and other important indicators are also taken into account. The key figures can be adjusted to suit requirements. 

• More precise planning: With the aid of backward scheduling, the ControllerMES calculates the required completion dates for the individual production steps (e.g. cutting, edging, drilling, etc.) and ensures optimum capacity utilization of the workstations during planning. 

• Individually configurable: The new module can be adapted to customer-specific requirements and offers tailor-made solutions for simplified and optimized production planning. 

intelliDivide: Optimization is even more intuitive and powerful 

True to the motto "Always one cut ahead", the intelliDivide web-based cutting optimization system is launching several new products to ensure efficient added value in the cutting process. 

Improved production time predictions – thanks to AI

One challenge that is often underestimated: The precise calculation of the production time. Up to now, production times have usually been calculated using fixed formulas. Both general factors and machine-specific factors, such as the operator's handling time, are not included in the process.  

The result: Deviations between planned and actual production time, which can sometimes confuse the schedule right up to delivery. 

intelliDivide has the perfect solution for this: Artificial intelligence! An AI-based model enables production time forecasts to be calculated more precisely and thus significantly improved. This ensures optimized planning and allows more precise calculation of quotations. This innovative model uses anonymized production data from saws for this purpose.  

Another advantage is that the production times of the machine are continuously fed into the AI model to continuously improve the prediction of newly calculated cutting patterns based on real values.  

Reducing stresses. Assuring quality 

During the manufacture, storage or transport of panels, differences in temperature and humidity can occur, resulting in tensions within the panel. During cutting, these tensions are released and may result in a reduction in cutting quality. To prevent this, intelliDivide now supports the targeted insertion of tension trim cuts to reduce tensions inside or at the edge of the panel. In concrete terms, in addition to the "continuous cut", intelliDivide now offers the option of using tension trim cuts ("slot centered between strips" and "bridge centered between strips"). 

The big advantage is that the tension trim cuts make it easier to handle the panel, as the panel dividing saw first sets all the required tension trim cuts and then starts cutting. The panel therefore does not immediately consist of several individual strips, but initially remains in one piece and can be processed more easily on the machine.  

Managing materials intelligently. Increasing cutting efficiency 

Individual settings can be made in intelliDivide for major optimization parameters (e.g. for offcuts, trim cuts and tension trim cuts). Among other things, this allows you to set the size from which a panel offcut is created or the trim cut dimension to be used for cutting.  

The disadvantage up to now has been that the settings for the parameters could only be defined independently of the panel material, so the settings were valid for all the materials managed in intelliDivide.   

However, intelliDivide now offers even more flexibility in terms of material management and enables settings for optimization parameters to be created for specific materials. This allows parameter settings to be defined for each material group (e.g. grouped by material costs) and used in the cutting process. 

Hand in hand with the woodStore storage software 

A new interface between the intelliDivide cutting optimization system and the woodStore storage software simplifies offcuts management and ensures a continuous data flow. All material data, stocks and panel offcuts stored in woodStore are now automatically available for intelliDivide cutting optimization. Offcuts are transferred to woodStore after cutting and suggested for reuse during the next optimization process. 

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