How Andea partnered with Tokai COBEX to implement DELMIA Apriso

The situation

Tokai COBEX, one of the world's largest manufacturers of carbon and graphite-based products, operates four production sites in Europe (Poland and France) as part of the global Tokai Carbon group, with over 1000 employees and almost €500 million in annual revenue. The company produces critical components for industries including aluminum smelting, steel production, and lithium-ion batteries.

Despite having manufacturing systems in place, Tokai COBEX faced significant challenges that threatened operational efficiency and future growth:

• Fragmented IT landscape resulting from the acquisition of Tokai COBEX Savoie, with inconsistent systems across Polish and French facilities
• Business continuity risk from an unsupported legacy MES system that could no longer be maintained or extended
• Limited visibility due to extensive Excel-based planning and manual processes that provide data but not information, preventing real-time decision-making
• Lack of standardization across facilities, hindering the goal of achieving "One Production System"

With round-the-clock operations and a strong Lean Six Sigma culture, Tokai COBEX needed a robust, scalable MES solution that could integrate seamlessly with existing ERP, SCADA, and LIMS systems while supporting both batch and continuous manufacturing processes.

Andea collaborated with Tokai COBEX to:

• Implement DELMIA Apriso MES across European carbon manufacturing facilities, replacing unsupported legacy systems and fragmented IT landscape
• Integrate critical systems (ERP, MES, LIMS, SCADA, reporting solution, label management system) with zero business disruption during go-live
• Eliminate Excel-based planning and manual processes, delivering real-time production visibility and automated quality management
• Achieve 4x faster deployment compared to previous MES implementation while maintaining 24/7 operations
• Establish "One Production System" foundation across Polish and French sites (Single Source of Truth), enabling operational interchangeability and future AI-readiness

The deployment

Following a structured MES provider selection process, Tokai COBEX selected Andea to implement DELMIA Apriso across its European facilities. Andea's proven expertise in complex manufacturing environments, combined with DELMIA Apriso's flexible framework and standard integration capabilities, made them the ideal partner.

The implementation followed a phased, agile approach:

• Stage 1 MVP deployment at Nowy Sącz, Poland, covering green production, thermal processing, machining operations, logistics, and warehouse-related processes
• Stage 2 MVP extension at Nowy Sącz, adding calcination processes, bulk materials management across all operations, and advanced reporting capabilities
• Stage 3 Roll out in Racibórz, Poland, including extensions for furnace lining production and paste/glue manufacturing

The Stage 1 go-live was particularly challenging, involving the simultaneous cutover of crucial, highly integrated systems (ERP, MES, LIMS, SCADA, reporting solution, and label management system) over a single weekend. Through meticulous planning and Andea’s close collaboration with Tokai COBEX, production resumed normally on Sunday.

The solution

Andea designed and implemented a fully integrated manufacturing ecosystem connecting:

• SAP for enterprise resource planning and commercial management
• DELMIA Apriso for manufacturing execution orchestration and real-time production coordination
• ProLab for quality assurance and certificate generation
• ASIX for machine-level process control
• Nice Label for label management
• Power BI for operational dashboards and management reporting

Throughout the implementation, Andea's agile methodology with three-week sprint cycles enabled rapid adaptation to discovered requirements while maintaining project momentum. The solution addressed Tokai COBEX's complex manufacturing challenges:

• Recipe management: Implemented dynamic recipe calculations adjusting formulations based on reusable materials, eliminating extensive manual Excel calculations.
• Thermal planning & processing: Developed sophisticated furnace planning for ring furnaces handling multiple blocks with different firing profiles.
• Machining operations: Created automatic recalculation algorithms for by-products and in-house materials, providing unprecedented visibility into material utilization.
• Furnace linings: Sophisticated routing with multiple output product combinations.
• Supervisor console: Built an innovative interface enabling material lot preparation, "green light" verification based on LIMS data, and dynamic routing modifications.
• Logistics operations: Multiple scenarios for shipping and receiving, including subcontracting, cooperation, site-to-site, external warehouses, etc.

The results

Implementation delivered immediate, measurable impact in several areas.

Implementation excellence

• 4x faster delivery compared to previous MES implementation (2024-2025 vs. 2007-2014 for comparable scope)
• Zero business disruption during go-live weekend
• Continuous production maintained since March 2025

Operational benefits

Supply chain management

• Eliminated Excel-based production planning through electronic delivery from ERP to MES
• Reduced manual routing handling through multiplication factors

Operations

• Real-time visibility of raw material delivery status and production volumes
• Live monitoring of material locations and storage space utilization
• Systematic, MES-based planning input replacing Excel-based solution
• Flexible system design enabling operators to perform transactions on various devices (PCs, scanners, handhelds) from multiple locations, maintaining operations during network issues

Quality assurance

• Automated raw material delivery notifications integrated into LIMS
• Real-time production progress visibility within LIMS
• Immediate notification about validation against customer specifications

Strategic value

• Single source of truth across the organization with harmonized KPIs
• Foundation for AI readiness with centralized data warehouse
• Operational interchangeability enabling "One Production System" across sites
• Platform for continuous improvement supporting Lean Six Sigma culture

A foundation for future growth

Tokai COBEX's partnership with Andea has not only modernized their manufacturing execution systems but also established a scalable platform for future innovation. With successful implementations at both Polish locations—Nowy Sącz and Racibórz—and upcoming rollouts to French sites, Tokai COBEX is well-positioned to leverage advanced capabilities including:

• APS integration for finite capacity scheduling with AI enhancement
• OEE and predictive maintenance integration
• Closed-loop performance optimization
• Energy management monitoring
• RFID-enabled material tracking

The project embodied Tokai COBEX's core values, demonstrating how the right technology partner like Andea can deliver transformational results even in the most complex manufacturing environments. Through Andea's expertise and DELMIA Apriso's proven capabilities, Tokai COBEX has created a foundation for manufacturing excellence that will drive competitive advantage for years to come.