Lighthouse Systems provides a state of the art MES solution to NKT Photonics

The MES solution delivers step-by-step visual instructions for the assembly of laser systems and full product traceability.

Lighthouse Systems is delighted to announce that NKT Photonics, the leading manufacturer of high performance fibre lasers, fibre optic sensing systems and photonic crystal fibres, has chosen to implement Shopfloor-Online MES to accelerate the digital transformation of its assembly process.

The Manufacturing Execution System provides:
- A single visual interface for operators to execute production step-by-step according to the Bill of Materials,
- A Central place to record Quality Checks
- Real-time visibility of WIP (work in progress) and inventory
- Full product traceability of serialised and non-serialised parts
- Integration with Dynamics 365 to give the enterprise a real-time view of order progression and accurate inventory data

“We are really excited to be providing a state of the art MES solution to NKT Photonics and help them achieve their operational goals,” commented Tim Barber, Director at Lighthouse Systems.

With the deployment of Shopfloor-Online, NKT Photonics aims to improve production order status visibility, maximise information available to the operator and gain a data-acquisition set of tools that will allow performance criteria to be defined and assessed.
Benefits that NKT Photonics is expecting to realise from Shopfloor-Online:
- Achieve a paperless production environment by removing all paper from the shop floor (orders, travellers, assembly instruction, drawings, Spec. sheets…..)
- Eliminate human errors in assembly operations to ensure accurate orders’ fulfilment, and improve Customer Satisfaction.
- Increase productivity with information at operators’ fingertips
- On-board new operators quicker
- Increase control of inventory to improve cycle time and cash-flow
- Support future improvements with detailed “takt time” data

The Chief Operating Officer of NKT Photonics commented: “Shopfloor-Online is an intuitive and configurable software that easily lends itself to the task of covering the diverse operational environment of a multi-national manufacturing company. Carefully configured, the software interfaces are very intuitive – suffice it to say our production operators did not need more than a cursory introduction to the new software. Future integration with measurement automation systems will be a major foreseen benefit for NKT, in standardising automation interfaces and bringing the test results to the operators’ workstations. Shopfloor-Online will act as a central point for quality audit and control, as well as product development process gate-reviews.”
The Manufacturing Execution System software was deployed at NKT Photonics’ UK manufacturing facilities in Southampton in March 2021. Next, it will be rolled out to NKT Photonics’ other facilities in the US, Denmark and Switzerland.

About Lighthouse Systems
Lighthouse Systems, a global vendor of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) software, enables Smart Manufacturing through the digitisation of manufacturing processes and operations. With functionalities across production, quality, inventory/logistics and maintenance, Lighthouse’s MES Shopfloor-Online software removes traditional organisational siloes to optimise business processes. Creating an uninterrupted thread of real-time critical data throughout manufacturing operations, the MES empowers organisations, from plant operatives to executives, to drive improvement in efficiency, output, compliance and customer satisfaction.
Shopfloor-Online is modular with out-of-the-box functionalities giving organisations the flexibility of a step-by-step approach to digitisation. Web-based, Shopfloor-Online is particularly suited to multi-site rollout and is available in a range of hosting options: on premise, corporate data-centre and in the cloud.

Shopfloor-Online is used in the aerospace, automotive (OEM and Tier 1 – Tier 2), building and construction, food & beverages, packaging, pharma / life science, and sustainable energy industries, in over 55 countries worldwide.

Lighthouse Systems was recognised in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Manufacturing Execution Systems. www.lighthousesystems.com

PR Contact: Anne Collet - anne.collet@lighthouseystems.com , Tel. +44 (0) 1293 365 031 -

About NKT Photonics
NKT Photonics is the leading supplier of high-performance fiber lasers and photonic crystal fibers. Our main markets are within medical & life science, industrial, and aerospace & defense. Our products include supercontinuum white light lasers, low noise fiber lasers, ultrafast lasers, and a wide range of specialty fibers. NKT Photonics has its headquarters in Denmark with sales and service worldwide. NKT Photonics is wholly owned by NKT A/S. www.nktphotonics.com