tube mill

INVEX software built for tube mills and service centers focused on pipe as well as tube production

The INVEX cloud-based metal software offers comprehensive functionality for metal and steel tube mills and tube producers. INVEX enables tube mills to quickly take, produce, and ship orders with minimal screens and steps. Common business cases to produce tube from slit coil can be handled quickly and out-of-the-box.

Tube mills, which included welded pipe and ERW tube mills, produce and carry a wide range of products which includes round, square, and rectangular tube products.

Inventory can be searched by grade and shape of the tube, with additional searches by OD, ID, and wall for round tube.

In addition to viewing the heat and chemistry of the tube or bundle of tubes, the various mechanical tests that may have been taken during tube production can be viewed from the stock screen as well.

metal service center software invex rectangle tubes

CASES HANDLED:

  • Fast entry of quotes and orders
  • Fulfill pick and ship orders quickly
  • Ability to enter orders for repetitive parts
  • Single or multi-step multi-plant processing
  • Handles the process to consume coil and produce slit coils
  • Handles the process to consume slit coil to produce tube
  • Handles the slit coil charging process at the tube mill
  • Record test results of produced tube produced from a coil-heat batch
  • Weight for Coil Heat Batch can be set by Grade
  • Customer consignment
  • Receive inbound coils while in-transit from the mill on a vessel, truck, or barge
  • Handles tube to pipe conversion process
  • Outside processing for processes such as galvanizing a bundle of tube
  • Non-Conformance function for complaints and claims

TUBE PRODUCTION

INVEX includes a highly optimized set of special production recording functions that include slit charging and tube production recording. This is designed to accommodate the fast paced manufacturing process normally associated with pipe and tube mills.

TESTING

A fully integrated test entry function enables test results to be recorded for pipe/tube bundles produced from a coil-heat-batch. Accurate and valid test results are assured through validation against metal standards.

PIPE & TUBE INVENTORY

INVEX tracks the cross section and length of the tube as well as the shape, such as round, square and rectangles. Each bundle in inventory displays the Length, Pieces, Weight and total footage of a bundle.

metal service center software invex steel pipes

out of the box solution

Tube mills can streamline their tube processing from
start to finish using the INVEX metal ERP software

INVENTORY

FEATURES:

  • Products can be tagged for full traceability
  • Flexible stock search features to search by grade, cross section, ID/OD, or length
  • Drop (remnants) can be viewed in the same inquiry as stock material
  • Bar, pipe, and tube can maintain a fixed, mill, or random length designation
  • Track the various finishes of the tube such as flash control, stencil, indented, or bead rolling
  • Fittings can be controlled per piece
  • Inventory Replenishment functions and tools

FLEXIBLE STOCK SEARCH

  • Search by spec (ASTM, ASME, etc.)
  • Conditions, holds, and quality codes
  • View substitute products
  • Wild card grade and finish codes
  • View the test certificate from the mill
metal service center software invex The INVEX Stock Available inventory screen is shown on a desktop computer screen.

SALES

Fast entry of quotes and orders with real-time access to inventory and pricing information makes all the difference.

FEATURES:

  • Fast quote to order conversion
  • Short cut entry mode to speed up quote entry
  • Enter quotes for prospects
  • Source a single order from different warehouses
  • Ability to enter the pieces per bundle for the sold tube item
  • Integrated metal price book
  • Duplicate a quote or order
  • Multi-currency pricing

ORDER STATUS

A highly advanced and integrated Sales Order Status Desktop enables sales and customer service staff to view a comprehensive status of a customer order. Consolidated in a single, clear view, the INVEX Sales Order Status includes production planning, scheduling, shop floor progression, outside processing status, ready-to-ship designation, and logistics status.

metal service center software invex A sales order in INVEX is shown on a laptop computer screen.

PRODUCTION

FEATURES:

  • Value-add costing
  • Production Scheduling
  • Multi-step processing (slit, produce tube then saw)
  • Item route can be across multiple warehouses (multi-plant, slit in warehouse A, tube production in warehouse B
  • Item route can include outside processing steps
  • Planning function to group multiple orders onto the same Production Job
  • Add slit coils to the Job as they are mounted
  • Calculates the number of bundles that can be produced from the slit coil
  • Combine production from two slit coils into a single bundle
  • Handles standard, customer or order-specific bundling sizes
  • Heat/Lot control for Test Entry
  • Record the run, setup, and down time
  • Record picking of coil, slit coil, or tube on a mobile device

PICKING

Picks can be recorded directly on the shop floor with a mobile device. The picker can scan the material being picked, print a shipping label, and if required package the material in a box directly from the mobile device. A label can be printed for the remaining bundle of material.

metal service center software invex A picking INVEX screen is displayed on a mobile device.

post tube production – mechanical testing

After Tube Production, the bundles can be passed through a Quality & Testing Process that enable the quality staff to perform mechanical tests on the size and heat. The quality staff can apply the new test results to all bundles of the same size produced from a single heat.

FEATURES:

  • INVEX produces a test tube which is used to cut for testing
  • Testing frequency can be stored based on the customer, grade, size, or OD
  • Validate results against industry specifications
  • Approved bundles can be shipped (Optional)
  • Test Certificates will include original mill chemistry plus new mechanical test results
  • Tube bundles are held for shipping until they pass testing
metal service center software invex cutting a metal tube

SHIPPING

INVEX shipment planning is completely online. A comprehensive multi-layer inquiry to view sales orders and inter-warehouse transfers can organize and summarize orders by delivery route or shipping zone for better load consolidation.

FEATURES:

  • Transport lineup shows all planned delivery loads by scheduled date and time
  • Shipping staff can view available capacity and route information
  • Loading List can be printed to help load the truck
  • Print a Packing List or Bill of Lading
  • Sequence the stops
  • Copy of the original mill cert or company certs are auto-printed and/or emailed
  • Plan a load with multiple warehouse pick-up points
  • Finished goods can be staged or live-loaded onto the truck

LOAD VERIFICATION

This function verifies that the material that is being loaded or has been loaded on a vehicle is the correct material and that the transport includes all the items that were planned for delivery. Using a mobile device, the operator scans the barcoded Shipping Labels attached to the material that has been loaded.

metal service center software invex A mobile phone displays INVEX's load verification of a shipping transport.