For a long time now, SAOMAD has been partnering with Kosmosoft with the aim of providing its wood processing machines with an open, complete, flexible, updated software capable of interfacing with the other management software products most commonly used by door and window manufacturers. To learn more about this we have interviewed Stefano Frignani, the sales manager of Kosmosoft.
Could you briefly illustrate the software used in SAOMAD wood processing machines?
SAOMAD produces highly evolved wood processing machines that require equally advanced and specific management software products. The Archimede software (created in 2003) is not only the perfect tool for optimizing the performance of SAOMAD’s high production machines but is also the only solution on the international market capable of integrating both commercial and organizational functions, thus allowing any door and window manufacturing company to meet every daily requirement using a single software tool.
What distinguishes Archimede from other commercially available software products?
Archimede differentiates itself from any other solution for a lot of reasons.
Differences in terms of product.
Archimede is a complete package that allows modern companies to manage every aspect of their trade. Estimates, cost analysis (materials and production times), retail management, design of complex parametric equations, forecasting/planning tools, warehouse management, tools for real-time production tracking via App, sales/production statistics tools.
Archimede is currently used in over 35 countries, which means it envisages the construction peculiarities of door and window products made in Scandinavia, Germany, UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc. Today, Archimede also provides its clients with the opportunity of creating virtual showrooms, dynamic and photo-realistic 3D renditions of their own doors and windows.
Differences in terms of service.
Our clients always have access to a vast library of online video courses they can autonomously use to learn and review how to use the software to the fullest.
Support is provided in hourly packages, something that is quite unusual in the world of software. With our assistance system, over time our clients become increasingly independent, thereby requiring less and less assistance and therefore saving thousands and thousands of euros.
Moreover, thanks to our in-house professionals we also have enormous experience in generating marketing and communication materials that we place at the disposal of our clients, allowing the creation of websites, paper brochures, etc..
Differences in terms of company.
Today, Kosmosoft boasts a staff of over 35. Archimede continues to grow thanks to the commitment and intellectual skills of 9 software engineers. The assignment of so many engineers over so many years to a niche product such as windows clearly indicates how Archimede has become the state-of-the-art product in the doors and windowssoftware industry.
Which characteristics should a software of this kind always have without fail?
I always say that a software can be forever, but it needs to have 4 characteristics, namely:
- Complete. In the fourth revolution we are in now, software has become every company’s brain. This is why it is right that only one brain be present to manage the whole company. Those who have tried to retain various different software products in their company know that this is not the most suitable solution for simplifying the life of the management or of the staff.
- Open.A client must be totally independent. Clients must be able to add or change new products, printouts, price lists and processing procedures.
- Flexible.Useful software is software that adapts as much as possible to the company, and not the other way around. Since each company is different, the software product must be extensively configurable. In Kosmosoft, because we work in over 35 different countries, we make Archimede’s flexibility one of its important strengths.
- Up to date. The world changes, the markets change, the products change, wood processing machines change. This means the software is obligated to change. It must update its interface, it must automate functions that once were manual. The software must become increasingly simpler and more intuitive via continuous improvement. The use of software that is not continuously and consistently updated is very risky.
When even just one of these features fails, the software becomes a waste of time because, sooner or later, that gap will create expensive problems..
What kind of post-sales assistance do you provide?
Our support service consists of a team of technicians with over 10 years of experience, therefore capable not only of solving problems but also of counselling clients in finding the best technical solution.
The management system based on tickets also allows to handle priorities by giving increasing importance to systems that are going through the start-up phase, aware of the fact that this is the most delicate moment in such important investments.
Via Archimede, can SAOMA Dmachines interface with the management software programmes most commonly used in the door and window manufacturing industry?
Clients always come first. This means that when a client already has a software product that runs the company and that it is happy with it, we can use pre-established and proven formats to import the information coming from external management software and then convert that data into optimized processing instructions.
May I ask which strengths you see in SAOMAD wood processing machines?
I am a computer engineer and I am competent in software and marketing. What I can confirm is the very high level of satisfaction observed among SAOMAD clients and the speed with which the machines become fully operational after installation.
We are proud to have SAOMAD’s trust, because it is a company that for over 50 years has been helping door and window manufacturers across the world. I would also like to underscore that the excellent results that we continue to obtain today are the outcome of a long-standing partnership. Together we have toiled, risked and invested, but in the end we have also won.
What are the future evolutions of Archimede?
As always, Archimede’s evolutions will be dictated by the clients’ needs, by the evolution in the market and, most importantly, by the increasing pursuance of Industry 4.0’s concepts in which we firmly believe.
These concepts must lead companies to the highest levels of organization and automation, via the use of a single software platform, so as to become increasingly competitive in the global market we operate in.
The main concept is simple: the better our clients are, the more they sell, the better they produce, the more they save and the larger those margins of profit become, the more our clients will continue to invest in SAOMAD technology and in Kosmosoft.
Can one speak of Wood Industry4.0 today, or is it still too soon?
Yes, we can certainly speak of it, but only as regards a small group of companies. Many groundlessly use these terms, but the truth is that too many companies still fail to understand what Wood Industry 4.0 really means. Since 2018, we at Kosmosoft have been providing courses (www.metodojtf.com) and writing articles to help wood processing companies shift into the advantageous world of Wood Industry 4.0.
Unfortunately, many don’t understand that it is not enough to buy a machine, a few cutters and a software package to turn into a Wood Industry 4.0 company. This requires a much deeper approach, a veritable change in mentality because, as Charles Darwin stated in as early as the 1800’s: “It is not the strongest nor the most intelligent species that survives, but the one that is the most adaptable to change“.
