About Architectural & Metal Systems (AMS)
Established in Cork in 1990, today AMS employs more than 300 people at its 400,00 square feet facility in Little Island, Cork. AMS is Ireland’s sole independently owned manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles and the only façade systems manufacturer in the country conducting all processes in-house.
Specialising in aluminium extrusion, powder coating, and sheet metal fabrication, AMS produces thermally efficient windows and doors for commercial and residential customers and provides specialist services, including engineering products, architectural glazing systems, curtain walling, architectural paint finishes, anodising and bespoke aluminium design and extrusion.
Results
AMS is the only façade systems manufacturer in Ireland that conducts all processes in-house, operating from its 400,000 sq. ft. facility in Little Island, Cork.
Project Objective
AMS introduced FourJaw’s plug-and-play machine monitoring system in December 2023 to measure machine utilisation and support its move to shift-based working patterns. AMS wanted to provide site managers with an objective view of production visibility during lights-out manufacturing. It also wanted to improve its ability to deliver products to customers within short lead times, without routinely requiring overtime.
Connecting the shop floor with the top floor to drive process efficiency
FourJaw’s platform, which AMS installed initially on several CNC machines, immediately provided reliable real-time data on machine utilisation, enhancing resource planning and enabling the manufacturer to identify areas for process improvement and cost reduction. Improved communication between managers and machine operators, and interventions inspired by analysis of downtime data, have enabled AMS to reduce time lost on each monitored machine by an average of 20 minutes per shift.
AMS has improved machine utilisation levels, which ran at an average of 39.8 per cent when FourJaw was installed, to 52.9 per cent within three months. AMS calculates that these initial efficiency improvements are worth between €19,000 and €28,000 (£16,000 and £24,000) a year.
Analysis of energy consumption data recorded by FourJaw has also identified opportunities to reduce energy use by as much as €8,000 (£7,000) a year on some machines, as well as further savings worth €12,000 (£10,000) a year by reducing energy wasted on machines that were not being isolated correctly.
AMS is also now using FourJaw data to help inform its machine investment decisions, and the company has also seen customer satisfaction improvements from its ability to propose more competitive prices, quote more accurate lead times, and provide customers with real-time updates on production progress.
AMS precision cutting and CNC machining department provides customers with the option of having their orders cut to specific lengths if required. Computerised cleat cutting saws & double mitre saws allow for the precision cutting of aluminium parts and profiles ranging in size from 4mm up to 8 metres.
