Products · ARGUS
The digital employee for your business.
ARGUS operates your existing ERP like a good employee and runs the whole business: from the enquiry through planning board, machines and staff to stock, dispatch and quality. With a new, clear interface. Nothing is rebuilt.
Rebuild nothing. Relieve everything.
Your ERP has been running for years. It is paid for, people know it, the data is in it. The problem is not the ERP, but the work around it.
Retyping enquiries, calculating quotes, creating orders, writing work plans, reordering material, asking where an order stands. This is exactly the work ARGUS takes over. It operates your ERP the way a good employee would and gives your team a clear interface that works on screen and on a tablet.
Whatever needs a decision, ARGUS puts in front of your team. Whatever is routine, it does itself, and every action is logged.
At a glance
- Works with your existing ERP
- One place for orders, planning board, machines, staff, stock and quality
- New interface for office, workshop and management
- Modules can be activated individually
- Your team approves, ARGUS does the work
- Emergency switch: pause it and everything runs as before
- Runs in your business, the data stays in house
From the first email to the machine
Read
ARGUS reads enquiries and orders from email and PDF, recognises customer, part, material and quantity and checks feasibility.
Calculate
The calculation follows your rates. Your team checks and approves, only then does the quote go out.
Enter
Quote, order and production order are in the ERP without anyone retyping a figure. The documents are linked.
Plan
Work plan, times, material and job card. If material is missing, a purchase proposal is ready.
Execute and measure
The job appears on the workshop tablet. Times flow back, the cockpit shows utilisation and post-calculation.
Twelve modules, one business
From the office through the workshop to management. Each module can be switched on individually. Whatever is switched off, your team does in the ERP as before.
Order intake
Reads enquiries and orders from email and PDF and enters them in the ERP. Nothing gets lost in the inbox any more.
Quote and calculation
Calculates with your rates and experience, creates the quote and reminds you to follow up. Your team approves.
Job preparation
Work plan, times, material, job card and handover to machines and CAM.
Purchasing and material
Reserves material, detects demand, proposes orders and monitors delivery dates.
Workshop tablet
Job, drawing and protective equipment in your people's language, with pictures instead of lots of text. Times per job, target and actual.
Management cockpit
Utilisation, hit rate, delays and post-calculation per order. You see which orders make money.
Assistant
Questions in plain language to your company's data: which orders are late? Which machine is down?
Planning board
Detailed scheduling across machines and days, by mouse or automatically. ARGUS checks sequence, staff, material and delivery dates and resolves conflicts.
Machines and OEE
Every machine live: running, setting up, idle or faulty. OEE, downtime reasons, part counters, energy and maintenance.
Staff and assignment
Attendance, assignment to machines, skills, shift plan, holidays and safety instructions. ARGUS warns before a machine is left unstaffed.
Stock and dispatch
Stock with coverage and purchase proposals, remnants matched to orders, goods receipt with certificate, dispatch with invoice in the ERP.
Quality
First article inspection with measurements, 8D complaints, gauges and traceability down to the batch.
How ARGUS is built
ARGUS runs in your business and connects what is separate today: ERP, machines, workshop and office.
Connecting machines, older ones too
OPC UA
Newer machines provide state, program, counters and messages via the standard interface OPC UA. Whether and how your machine supports it, we check with the manufacturer.
Retrofit module
Older machines get a small module on the machine signal light. ARGUS then sees whether the machine is running, idle or faulty, without touching the control.
Tablet
Manual workstations such as welding or assembly report start, end and downtime reasons on the tablet, with one tap.
Three routes to the ERP
From large to small: Navision and Business Central, SAP, Abacus, Proffix, Sage and bexio.
Official interface
Web services, REST or OData, as offered by your ERP. The cleanest and most stable route. We always use it first.
Read
Where there is no interface, ARGUS reads via the database or an export, read-only. ARGUS never writes directly into the database.
Operate like a person
As a fallback, ARGUS operates the ERP's interface by screen automation, with a log of every action.
| System | Typical route |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision), from 2009 | Web services (SOAP), from NAV 2013 also OData |
| Microsoft Dynamics NAV, older versions | Read via the database, write via import or by operating the interface |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central | REST API and OData |
| Abacus | AbaConnect, newer versions via REST API |
| Proffix | Proffix REST API |
| bexio | REST API |
| SAP Business One | Service Layer (REST) and DI API |
| SAP ECC and S/4HANA | BAPI and RFC, IDoc, OData |
| Sage | Depending on product and version: interface, read access or import |
Typical routes. Before every project we check version, licence and interface with you and your ERP partner.
Safe and under control
Your team decides
Quotes, orders and anything that goes out are approved by a person. ARGUS prepares.
Emergency switch
One click pauses ARGUS. Your ERP keeps running as before, your team works in it directly.
Complete log
Every action with time, content and route. You always see what ARGUS has done.
Data in house
ARGUS runs on a computer or a virtual machine in your business. AI only with the data you release.
Permissions as in the business
Everyone sees and may do what their role allows. The workshop sees jobs, not margins. ARGUS writes to the ERP only through official routes.
Staff recorded fairly
Working time, assignments and skills, but no monitoring of behaviour: no GPS, no cameras on people, no rankings of individuals.
Introduction in stages
Conversation and site visit
We look at how quotes, orders, the workshop and customer acquisition work today and where most time is lost.
Your own demo
You see the products with your processes and your company before you invest.
Test the connection
We connect ARGUS to a test environment of your ERP and check every step before anything runs in everyday work.
First module live
We start with the module that works fastest, for example order intake, instant price or follow-up.
Expansion in stages
More modules once the first one is settled. You pay per stage and decide again after each one.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to replace our ERP?
No. ARGUS works with your existing ERP. Your data, your documents and your processes in the ERP stay.
Which ERP systems does ARGUS support?
Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) and Business Central, SAP, Abacus, Proffix, Sage and bexio. Which route is right for you, we check with your version before the project.
What happens if ARGUS makes a mistake?
Anything that goes out is approved by your team. Every action is logged and traceable. With the emergency switch you can carry on working directly in the ERP at any time.
Where does our data run?
ARGUS runs in your business. For AI features you choose whether a local model or a service is used and which data is released for it.
What is the difference to a new ERP?
A new ERP means data migration, training and often a long changeover. ARGUS builds on what you have and brings value from the first module.
Do we also need an MES?
No. Planning board, machine data, staff and quality are ARGUS modules. If you already have an MES or time recording, ARGUS connects to it instead of replacing it.
Can old machines be connected too?
Yes. Newer machines often provide their data via OPC UA. Older machines are connected with a small retrofit module on the machine signal light. Manual workstations report via the tablet.
May we record staff like this?
Working time, assignments and skills may be recorded. Systems that monitor employee behaviour are not allowed in Switzerland, and ARGUS is built not to do that. We clarify the details for your business with you.
How far along is ARGUS?
We show the interface and processes in the live demo. We set up the connection to your ERP for your business and test it in a test environment before ARGUS works in everyday operation.
What does ARGUS cost?
That depends on the modules and your ERP. After the site visit you receive a quote with a fixed price per stage. You only pay for the modules you use.