Case study
Budve SmartFlow: production and quality management for a manufacturing unit
A manufacturing production and quality management system that connects production planning, work orders, stage-wise manufacturing processes, quality inspection, document control, PDI and dispatch in one centralised workflow.
- Category
- Production & quality management software
- Industry
- Manufacturing & Industrial
- Services
- Software Development, Data & Analytics, Automation
Screenshots
What the screens show
Desktop dashboard
- Summary panels covering production, quality and dispatch.
- A chart of production progress by stage.
- Work-order status breakdown: in progress, completed, on hold, quality check and delayed.
- A recent production orders table showing part, quantity, current stage, status and due date.
Navigation
- Modules for the dashboard, master data, production, quality management, PDI and dispatch, document control and reporting.
- Entries for the shop's manufacturing processes.
Mobile view
- A production overview with summary panels.
- Today's progress for each stage.
- Recent work orders with their status and due date.
Overview
Budve SmartFlow is a production and quality management system for a manufacturing unit. The unit's manufacturing processes are bending; pressing, which covers blanking, forming, pearling and restricting; welding, carried out in five stages; and painting. Finished work then goes through pre-dispatch inspection (PDI) and dispatch.
The system brings production planning, work orders, stage progress, quality and the documents operators work from into one place, so the people running the line and the people reading the numbers work from the same record. It has a desktop dashboard and a mobile view for use on the floor.
The challenge
In a multi-stage shop, an order is only as visible as the last time someone wrote down where it was. Status, quality results and the drawings used at each stage tend to live in different places: registers, spreadsheets, printed sheets and people's memory.
The system needed to give planning and management a current view of every order and stage, make quality part of the production flow rather than a separate record, and keep the shop's documents under revision control.
What the system needed to do
- Create production orders and plan them into work orders.
- Track each work order through its stages, including work in progress (WIP).
- Model the shop's real processes, including the operations within pressing and the five welding stages.
- Build quality checks into each stage, with pre-dispatch inspection before dispatch.
- Prevent a stage from starting until the previous stage is complete.
- Control drawings, SOPs, work instructions and quality documents with revision control.
- Track batches and lots, and identify production with production IDs.
- Track machine utilisation.
- Support a QR or barcode workflow on the shop floor.
- Give each role (operator, supervisor, quality, management) access to what they need.
The solution
SmartFlow models the shop's real processes as a workflow. Production orders are planned into work orders, each with its own stage sequence and status, and production records carry production IDs in a format such as PROD-2026-000001.
A workflow engine moves work from stage to stage, including through the five welding stages. Stage blocking keeps a stage closed until the previous one is complete, so work can't skip ahead. The system also includes a QR and barcode workflow capability for use on the floor.
Quality management, PDI and dispatch, and document control are core modules of the same system. Quality runs as a stage-wise workflow alongside production, and drawings, SOPs, work instructions and quality documents are managed with revision control. A dashboard and a reporting module sit on top of the same system.
Key functionality
Core modules
- Dashboard
- Master data
- Production
- Quality management
- PDI & dispatch
- Document control
- Reporting
Production
- Production orders
- Production planning
- Work orders
- WIP
- Batch / lot tracking
- Machine utilisation
- Production IDs (format: PROD-2026-000001)
- QR / barcode workflow
Manufacturing processes
- Bending
- Pressing: blanking, forming, pearling, restricting
- Welding: stages 1 to 5
- Painting
Quality
- Quality management
- Stage-wise quality workflow
- PDI (pre-dispatch inspection)
Document control
- SOPs
- Work instructions
- Drawings
- Quality documents
- Revision control
Workflow & access
- Workflow engine
- Stage blocking
- Role-based access
How work flows through the system
- 01
Production order
An order is created and planned into work orders.
- 02
Processes
Work orders move through bending, pressing, welding (in five stages) and painting; progress is visible on the dashboard.
- 03
Stage blocking
The next stage opens only when the previous one is complete.
- 04
Quality
Quality checks are part of the stage-wise workflow, not a separate register.
- 05
PDI & dispatch
Finished work goes through pre-dispatch inspection before dispatch.
Implementation approach
- 01
Model the real processes
The shop's own processes were modelled, including the operations within pressing and the five welding stages, rather than a generic manufacturing template.
- 02
Quality inside the flow
Stage-wise quality checks and PDI were designed as part of the workflow, not a separate register.
- 03
Documents in the same system
Drawings, SOPs, work instructions and quality documents were brought under revision control in the same system as production and quality.
- 04
Desktop and floor
Planning and reporting on desktop, with a mobile view for the shop floor.
Outcome
What the system now provides.
- Production planning, work orders and stage progress are managed in one system instead of separate registers and spreadsheets.
- Quality runs as a stage-wise workflow within production, with PDI before dispatch.
- Stages are enforced in sequence through stage blocking.
- Drawings, SOPs, work instructions and quality documents are managed with revision control.
- Production is identified through production IDs and batch and lot tracking, with QR and barcode workflow support.
- Each role sees the screens and actions relevant to it.
Services used on this project
- Software DevelopmentCustom business software, APIs and databases.
- Data & AnalyticsLive dashboards and one trusted view of business data.
- AutomationRemove repetitive work by connecting the tools you already use.
Related reading
- Production tracking by stage: how manufacturers improve shop-floor visibility
- Manufacturing quality management: from production stages to PDI
- Quality checks before dispatch: stage inspection and PDI
- What is pre-dispatch inspection (PDI) in manufacturing?
- Document and revision control on the shop floor
- Why spreadsheets stop scaling
- Automate the approval, not the judgment
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