Panther’s new MES and quality tracking go live at Ox Engineered Products in Constantine, Michigan

Constantine, Michigan  –  Ox Engineered Products upgraded the manufacturing execution system (MES) and quality tracking system to a state-of-the-art MillTools MES and TestCentral on Thursday, July 7, 2022 at their paper mill in Constantine, Michigan. Two MES and pulp-and-paper process experts from Panther Systems were at the mill for the upgrade and supported mill personnel as they cut over to new — but familiar — applications for mill orders, scheduling, paper test laboratory, winder and a host of additional applications included in the new MES and quality tracking suite inside one cohesive user experience called the Panther Portal.

“Ox Engineered Products is now live and in production using the Panther Portal,” announced Kyle Kempton, Technical Account Manager and project manager for the upgrade. “Thanks for all of the hard work and long hours by everyone at Panther who made this upgrade go smoothly.”

This Ox Engineered Products mill in Constantine is one of several manufacturing facilities to complete this type of upgrade in recent months, and Panther is pursuing an ambitious schedule to convert or upgrade several additional manufacturers to the new MES before the close of 2022.

“These upgrades are positive steps being taken by Panther customers,” said Dan Schott who is responsible for MES, QCS and automation sales at Panther Systems. “We are helping manufacturers in the pulp, paper and converting vertical to leverage our databases, user applications, process control technologies and business interfaces to reach their Industry 4.0 objectives. We are happy to report these efforts to move this industry forward are working; we have been part of many successes.”

EverFresh software

Ox Engineered Products did not have to purchase this new solution. Panther continuing service agreements include more than around-the-clock support. Supported customers receive a benefit called EverFresh. The benefit includes unlimited software updates at no cost to customers.

Panther’s greatest investment

MillTools 2.0 and TestCentral 2.0 are the results of extensive innovation and development to bring pulp, paper and converting manufacturers into the future, where Industry 4.0 principles and practices require people, machines and data to work together. The value of these Panther software releases is priceless to pulp, paper and converting manufacturers seeking to leverage innovation. Panther invested countless nearly human hours to preserve vital functionality, incorporate valuable new enhancements and significantly improve the user experience.

MillTools 2.0 and TestCentral 2.0 development is Panther’s greatest R&D effort to date. Notwithstanding, this milestone is just the beginning of Panther’s next generation of technologies to support an ever-growing list of requirements from continuous manufacturers.

About Panther Systems

Established in 1993, Panther Systems is acknowledged by pulp and paper experts as the leading provider of manufacturing execution, automation, quality control, process analysis and other manufacturing intelligence systems. Visit panthersys.com for information or call 360-750-9783.