For this Plastics News Europe feature, Emil Eifrem of Neo Technology explains how his company’s graph database system has helped the German toymaker Schleich manage its complex product and supply chain data.
Schleich’s injection moulded plastic figurines, produced at its headquarters in Schw?bisch Gmünd, Germany, and other facilities, are sold in more than 50 countries.
Schleich knew that to manage its heterogenous data it needed a powerful and flexible product data management (PDM) solution. After much deliberation, it decided to go with Neo4j as its central database because it offered the scalability and speed its global operation demands.
Neo4j is a graph database, which differs from other traditional business databases such as relational or SQL in that it specialises in managing relationships between large numbers of data points, not just records themselves. This helps to leverage data management more efficiently.
Schleich needed a database solution that could cope with its expansion. The company originally concentrated on the development, manufacture and sale of comic figurines, but later expanded its range to include lifelike animals, and the toy worlds of knights, Native Americans and elves. The design of product and tooling is mostly done in house.
The original model is sculpted in clay by hand. Once the primary model is created it provides the base for the silicone mould, used to create prototypes. The injection moulding process is then used with a metal production mould to create the figurines. These are then hand painted by Schleich artists in Germany, creating detailed models with lifelike colouring.
Schleich supports a wide range of heterogeneous data structures that have expanded over time. Its plastic toys are subject to strict legal rules and require extensive material management – from the first draft of a figure through its production to sales. Data on, for example, individual toy parts, their quality standards and country-specific regulations, materials, production tools and their components all have to be maintained. The data comes into Schleich’s PDM system from various sources, such as component manufacturer and suppliers’ systems, as well as from countries. This data is extremely important – Schleich staff utilise this complex data throughout the entire value chain.
Top of Schleich’s shopping list for the new PDM system was the ability to put all its information into a semantic data model and process it across the company. The company stressed how important it is to meet the highest quality and safety standards. Staff need to be able to quickly and easily access the relevant data throughout the entire value chain. Transparent evidence of compliance with all legal stipulations is essential. The company’s old data silos have been gradually replaced.
With priorities being flexibility and scalability, Schleich opted to go with Neo Technology, the developer of graph database Neo4j, and its partner and IT specialists Structr. The new PDM system – based on Structr’s open-source software platform, with Neo4j as the central database – dramatically simplifies and speeds up the development of software solutions. Individually optimised user interfaces only take a couple of days to create. Interoperability with other interface systems ensure a high degree of integration.
The Structr graph application platform enables mini-apps to be specially developed for the different requirements of Schleich’s staff. Its specialist departments can access the functional modules via individual user interfaces, which is a motivating factor for adoption.
All data is tucked away behind the applications concerned and consolidated in Neo4j with the mini-apps tailored to user groups and with a different interface and operating method for each. Apps can be created quickly, with flexible front-ends for web and mobile devices. And it is here that the flexibility and speed of Neo4j is such an advantage. Multi-user operation is also possible in large departments without any problems, so users can work on the systems in parallel.
Within just six months, Schleich successfully implemented the new PDM solution and migrated its entire dataset. The company reports that the availability of mini-apps as functional modules makes it possible to ensure better use of the system, with improved performance, while requests for changes and individual views of the data world can be implemented far quicker.
Staff receive precise information about the raw materials being used via a bill-of-materials mini-app, for example. This enables them to check compliance with legal directives and adjust their drafts as required. The entire value chain – from raw materials manufacturers and suppliers to Schleich’s own production teams – can be clearly viewed and tracked for material management and compliance, for example. Changes to laws can also be quickly monitored to assess their impact.
External groups can view and edit relevant data using pre-defined access rights in the mini-apps. Outside laboratory operations can import their data directly into the system in the medium term. Externally available datasets can also be easily integrated, such as the European Chemicals Agency list of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs).
The Structr platform’s open system architecture has been integrated into Schleich’s heterogeneous system environment. The direct coupling of the new system to SAP, which is currently being introduced at Schleich, enables the company to cover almost all PDM-specific requirements within the new platform. SAP remains an industry standard and is being introduced in specific locations, enabling the toy manufacturer to make cost savings, whilst reducing the complexity of its IT infrastructure.
Using the new platform, Schleich has found that as well as improved transparency in terms of quality assurance, it can also plan and track all the processes along the value chain. The new PDM has given the toymaker a window on its entire product cycle.
? About the author: Emil Eifrem is co-founder and CEO of Neo Technology, the company behind Neo4j.
Schleich’s history
Friedrich Schleich founded the company in 1935 as a supplier to the plastic industry. The first figurines of comic book characters were produced in the 1950s. In the early 1980s Schleich started moulding animal figurines and extended their use with the creation of play worlds.
After 77 years as a family business, Schleich was sold to HgCapital in 2006. A new management team, headed by Thomas van Kaldenkerken, was appointed in 2013, and the company launched new product ranges. HgCapital sold Schleich to private equity investor Ardian and the Schleich management team in 2014.
Schleich generated sales of ?106m in 2014 and had around 340 employees, Ardian said.
