Georg Jordan GmbH

Georg Jordan GmbH

Georg Jordan GmbH, a leading company in the field of insulator technology, specializes in custom insulation components made from epoxy resin. Based in Siegburg, Germany, this long-established mid-sized company produces over 2,000 variants of cast resin insulation components/ current-insulating cast resin components for power generation, conversion and distribution, railway technology, automation technology, and special construction. 

As an internationally operating company with a subsidiary in Malaysia, they employ 380 people and combine the strengths of large global players with the flexibility of a mid-sized corporate group, meeting the highest quality standards. 

Georg Jordan’s insulators cover a wide application range—from indoor installations to outdoor systems and custom-designed parts for all voltage levels—and also offer capacitive voltage, testing, and detecting systems.

Processes

Due to varying manufacturing techniques, Georg Jordan uses two tried-and-tested casting processes: simpler parts and large-scale production use the automatic pressure gelation method, where casting is done under positive pressure. More complex or larger insulators, as well as custom insulators in smaller quantities (lot sizes 1–250), are produced using the vacuum casting method under negative pressure.

The production process begins with resin production and preliminary work on core parts, prepared through sandblasting, external refinement, and pre-assembly for casting. Parts then undergo either vacuum casting or pressure gelation, followed by curing in an oven. Afterward, mechanical processing—including turning, milling, grinding, and cleaning—gives parts their final shape. The process concludes with comprehensive quality checks and final assembly, including electrical, leak, and X-ray testing.

Process chain—from resin production to quality control

Before Implementation

Since the late 1960s, one employee had managed production scheduling at Georg Jordan manually, resulting in non-standardized and entirely employee-dependent methods. With the rising number and diversity of orders, the complexity of available molds, cavities, machines, and personnel, as well as the different production routes, increased significantly. Production became increasingly unmanageable, and synchronization of the processes proved impossible.

Orders were started as early as possible, without considering the capacity of downstream bottlenecks, especially in mechanical processing. With push production, Georg Jordan struggled with high inventories and corresponding high capital tie-up. Additionally, extended stagnation times significantly lengthened overall lead times. The imprecise scheduling also hampered material availability, as in addition to high inventory levels of costly core parts, shortages were also a recurring problem.

Scheduling Pressure Gelation Process

Georg Jordan uses 30 machines for the pressure gelation process in insulator manufacturing. Each item can be processed on prioritized or alternative machines, complicating optimal job allocation to suitable and available machines. Due to standardization, some products use the same pressure gelation molds, available in limited quantities (1–3). When scheduling the pressure gelation process, finite capacities must be considered on four levels: pressure gelation machine, mold, cavity, and personnel.

To create realistic and feasible production schedules, Georg Jordan must account for widely varying process times by mold, long changeover times, and different curing times by product type. Maintenance intervals and resulting mold downtimes must also be factored into scheduling.

Scheduling Vacuum Casting Process

Georg Jordan produces insulators using vacuum casting on four production lines. Many scheduling challenges in pressure gelation apply to vacuum casting as well. In scheduling vacuum casting processes, finite capacities on three levels must be considered: workstation, personnel, and mold. Synchronizing vacuum casting with subsequent finishing processes is also challenging, as these vary by product. Due to the more labor-intensive finishing of vacuum-cast parts, the post-processing process must be a major scheduling consideration.

Additional Challenges

For the heat treatment of semi-finished products in 20 ovens, further restrictions apply. For example, finished pressure-cast parts go into a curing oven and are ready for further processing after 24 hours. 

Another challenge for Georg Jordan is prioritizing different orders: client orders take precedence over stock orders for catalog products and should be prioritized accordingly in scheduling.

Georg Jordan x Asprova

With the implementation of Asprova APS in 2010, all production processes were fully parameterized and integrated into scheduling according to their sequence and respective constraints, without requiring additional programming. The bottleneck process, mechanical manufacturing, acts as a tact giver for upstream processes, determining the start times for pressure gelation and vacuum casting. Asprova accounts for all capacity constraints of machines, molds, cavities, and personnel.  Maintenance schedules, including the respective intervals, durations, and service staff capacities are automatically integrated into scheduling, as are buffer times for all resources and products.

Asprova APS is integrated with Georg Jordan’s AS/400-based ERP system and a BDE/MDE system. Orders, routings, and inventory are managed in the ERP system and exported to the APS system. Essential parameterization of all process and scheduling restrictions, not manageable in ERP, is handled by Asprova. Production feedback is recorded through the BDE/MDE system and imported into Asprova via ERP.

Results

With Asprova APS, Georg Jordan benefits from an automated, standardized, and employee-independent scheduling method and a comprehensive solution for optimizing their entire production. Asprova schedules production synchronized in sequence, incorporating all available resources, creating detailed work orders for all resources, and efficiently controlling the material provision for up to 4,000 core parts.

Asprova dynamically schedules production, continuously updates schedules, and flexibly adjusts them in response to disruptions or delays. Georg Jordan can simulate all existing and planned orders — including past, current, and future projects — based on customizable logic and views, identifying potential issues early on. Visualizations allow bottlenecks to be quickly identified, with the bottleneck setting the pace and eliminating push operations. Visualizations allow quick identification of bottlenecks, with the bottleneck acting as tact giver, eliminating push operations.

With Asprova APS, Georg Jordan can precisely calculate delivery dates and make reliable commitments, significantly improving delivery reliability. Orders and resources can be prioritized with Asprova to achieve optimal utilization and align with key objectives. Following the implementation of APS, Georg Jordan reduced inventory levels by up to 50%, drastically cut production lead times, and increased resource efficiency. Capital-intensive stockpiling is now a thing of the past, boosting space efficiency significantly.