Friendshoring stands out as one of our most valued principles — focusing on collaboration with trusted partners such as HOMAG.

We take pride in this seven-year partnership and look forward to continuing to collaborate on new projects that drive innovation and meaningful impact in the Manufacturing industry. 

Last year was marked by several moments that strengthened our collaboration, helped us learn from our partners, and brought our teams closer together. This is why we wanted to share a few highlights from our collaboration such as key meetings, projects, and initiatives we participated in, which helped us create a genuine partnership. 

Driving meaningful impact together  

Our partnership with HOMAG has led to more than ten projects and initiatives that we worked on together, driven by a commitment to sustainability and enhancing the customer experience. HOMAG led us with their vision for innovation and trusted us as partners to navigate the complexities of digitalisation; And together, we embraced a collaborative approach, where our experts were contributors and kept in the loop throughout the entire product lifecycle.   

HOMAG allowed us to be fully involved in the development process, once we aligned with their vision, refined solutions in real time, and adapted to user needs. This seamless approach helped us co-create initiatives that truly resonate with the end customers and to build a partnership set for success. User centricity is key for both our partners and us, and to ensure the best approach, we have hosted visits and gatherings focused on initiatives in which the customer plays a central role.

These discussions were grounded in a shared vision of using various technologies to address both operational needs and long-term strategic goals, resulting not only in great project outcomes, but also team members who have been hands-on and fully integrated into the entire project lifecycle since 2018, such as our colleague, Radu Vingan.  

Manufacturing for the Future: The Cutting Assistant 

Beyond simplifying processes, our collaboration with HOMAG aimed to improve manufacturing practices by introducing smarter, more adaptable production systems.  The Cutting Assistant is a user-friendly solution meant to optimise cutting processes and part labelling across various saws, including manual ones. This simplifies cutting plans, ensures accurate processing through step-by-step guidance through an app, and prints individual labels for seamless identification during each step. Having a customer-centric approach in mind, the start-to-end project’s outcome resulted in a compatible solution with saws of all types, ages, and manufacturers that offers flexibility and improved workflows for HOMAG’s customers. The assistant includes four powerful apps: 

• intelliDivide Cutting for cutting optimisation 

• productionAssist Cutting as a digital assistant for the actual cutting and labeling process 

• materialManager for central material management 

• materialAssist Boards for managing boards and offcuts in production  

Additionally, it includes a label printer that has two rolls of labels and the HOMAG CUBE, an intelligent control box that connects the printer to the internet and the apps to enable our experts to gain a deeper understanding of the machine’s functionality, purpose, and future development potential, we collaborated closely, meeting on various occasions to exchange insights and refine our approach.

An outcome that could only be achieved thanks to our partners who involved us throughout the entire product lifecycle. A key highlight of this project was our visit to Buzău, where we had the opportunity to explore a factory that operates exclusively with HOMAG machines. This visit provided a great opportunity for our team to deepen their knowledge, identify specific needs, and generate ideas aligned with our partner’s expectations. 

Find out more about simplifying processes and to explore the integrated cutting technology developed together with our partners here 👇 

The Nesting Assistant  

We continued our sustainability focused journey with our partners as we supported them in developing the Nesting Production Set, also known as the Nesting Assistant, which aims to optimise material usage and streamline nesting processes. This innovative solution automatically calculates precise nesting patterns, arranging components efficiently to reduce material consumption and lower costs.  

It also enables the printing of individual labels for each nested part, ensuring clear identification and consistent processing data throughout production. Features such as intelliDivide Nesting, productionAssist Nesting, materialManager, and materialAssist Boards, along with a label printer, the HOMAG CUBE ensure seamless functionality and connectivity. Finally, the end user can choose between solutions that suit his needs such as minimum material cost, minimum time or lower waste.  

For this initiative, we collaborated closely, as our partners offered us the opportunity to support and deepen our knowledge regarding the Manufacturing industry. A key opportunity for knowledge exchange was the same visit to Buzău, where our experts divided into specialised groups based on their areas of expertise to gain hands-on insights into machinery operations at a factory that exclusively utilises HOMAG equipment. We had the opportunity to learn, develop ideas, and collaborate towards a shared goal: sustainability and improving the customer experience. 

MMR Mobile: Real-time Insights for Optimised Manufacturing 

Another project we worked on together was the MMR Mobile initiative. Featuring intuitive graphics and key metrics, the MMR Mobile app enables users to analyse trends over specific periods, uncover improvement opportunities, and optimise operations, even remotely. We have been collaborating closely with HOMAG for over four years to ensure that MMR Mobile works seamlessly, making it a journey of learning, growth, and optimisation. 

Our support ensured the integration of the app with HOMAG's latest machines equipped with powerTouch, delivering quick connectivity and enhanced production management solutions tailored to customer needs. 

One of the standout moments in our journey was a workshop discussion on how the statistics should be presented to the end user. We explored what truly mattered, our partner’s needs, focus points, and core values, and by the end of the session, we had a clear vision: an easy-to-use app with a clean, functional design that delivers value to both HOMAG and its customers. 

Key moments from last year 

Our sessions together served as a platform for exchanging ideas, aligning on project objectives, and collectively solving challenges. We supported and collaborated with HOMAG in order to optimise workflows, focusing on digitalisation in key areas to grow efficiency and sustainability.  

Whether welcoming the HOMAG team to our Cluj office for project and 2024 strategy discussions, providing our tech colleagues with a hands-on experience for HOMAG machinery in Buzău, supporting and catching up with our partners at HOMAG Treff, an in-house HOMAG event, or hosting a three-day visit at our headquarter in Cluj dedicated to workshops and planning for 2025, each gathering and visit strengthened our collaboration and shared vision for our next chapter. 

The lessons and innovations achieved over the past year will serve as a foundation for the continued success of our collaboration. 

Looking forward to the future  

The success of our joint initiatives over the past years has created a solid foundation for even more ambitious projects ahead. Our partner’s success as a business is our success — and we’re grateful to be part of HOMAG’s journey, to learn from their expertise in scaling projects and their efficient approach to executing them. 

Together, we will continue to innovate and refine digital solutions meant to deliver sustainable services. With a shared commitment to improvement and efficiency we are looking forward to seeing the next chapter of our partnership with HOMAG grow and develop further.