UAV Manufacturer Cuts Production Planning Time by up to 70% and Synchronizes R&D and Manufacturing with IT-Enterprise

“In UAV manufacturing, the speed of change has become one of the key factors of competitiveness. Today, any design change automatically goes through the entire digital cycle — from engineering documentation and production planning to procurement and cost control. We now have a digital environment that gives us the flexibility we need to scale production.” — Ivan, COO of a Ukrainian UAV manufacturer

The Challenge

As demand for UAVs increased, the company, whose name is under NDA, faced a new set of operational challenges. Having moved from producing individual units to serial production of dozens of UAV variants, the company needed to manage engineering changes, production processes, material resources, and contract fulfillment significantly faster.

• No single digital environment. Engineering, manufacturing, procurement, warehouse, and finance teams were working with different information tools, making cross-functional collaboration more difficult and slowing down decision-making.
• Manual management of R&D changes. Each UAV design update required manual adjustments to bills of materials (BOMs), production routings, manufacturing plans, material requirements, and cost calculations. This increased the risk of errors and extended the time required to launch new products.
• Limited production visibility. Without end-to-end data traceability, the company could not quickly assess how design changes affected order fulfillment, production capacity, material availability, and financial performance.

For a company operating in an environment of continuous product improvement and high demands for production speed, this fragmented management model had become a constraint on further growth.

MilTech Solution

To support production scaling, the company implemented a specialized IT-Enterprise MilTech configuration — an industry-specific solution designed for manufacturers of UAVs, robotic systems, electronics, and other defense-related products.

The IT-Enterprise platform brought all key processes together within a single digital environment, from engineering preparation and manufacturing to financial management and analytics. This enabled the company to synchronize the work of engineers, production technologists, manufacturing units, procurement and warehouse teams, quality management, finance, and management.

The foundation of the solution is a unified master data and reference database that provides centralized management of materials, components, products, and technological standards. Shared reference data is used across all subsystems, eliminating duplication and ensuring consistency in planning, procurement, and accounting.

Digitalization of engineering and technological production preparation enabled automated management of product specifications, production routings, documentation versions, and design changes. Integration with CAD systems synchronized engineering data with the ERP system, reducing the time required to transfer information between engineering teams and production.

The production planning layer is built around MPS, MRP, and APS. The system automatically generates production programs, calculates material requirements, analyzes equipment utilization, identifies potential resource shortages, and supports rapid rescheduling when priorities change or new orders arrive.

For operational production management, the company implemented a MES layer, which supports the creation of production tasks, monitoring of technological operations, tracking of material consumption, and recording of actual production performance in real time.

End-to-end material flow management is supported by inventory management and WMS modules. The system provides location-based storage, inventory control, component reservation for specific orders, and full traceability of materials and finished products.

The financial management layer covers procurement, contract management, treasury management, statutory and tax accounting, as well as planned and actual product costing. This enables the company to monitor costs, analyze the economics of individual products, and make management decisions based on up-to-date data.

All digital processes operate on a single IT-Enterprise platform, creating an integrated digital environment in which changes to engineering documentation are reflected in production planning, procurement, warehouse logistics, product costing, and financial analytics.

The IT-Enterprise platform can also support the company's corporate processes, including electronic document management, HR management, personnel administration, payroll, KPI management, employee self-service, and employee onboarding tools.

Results

The implementation of the IT-Enterprise MilTech configuration enabled the company to move from fragmented management of individual processes to an integrated digital production model.

• The company gained visibility across the entire product lifecycle — from product development and engineering preparation to serial production, quality control, and contract fulfillment.
• The single digital platform enabled faster implementation of product design changes, rapid production rescheduling, more accurate material planning, and comprehensive cost control.
• Management gained real-time tools for controlling production capacity, inventory, finances, and order fulfillment, as well as a foundation for further implementation of AI solutions, BI analytics, and Smart Factory technologies.

“MilTech manufacturing requires a digital platform that can quickly adapt to product design changes, provide full component traceability, and support production scaling. These requirements were at the core of the IT-Enterprise MilTech configuration, which brings engineering preparation, manufacturing, logistics, finance, and analytics together within a single digital environment.”

— Oleg Shcherbatenko, CEO of IT-Enterprise

Key Project Results

X times faster — launch of new products into production.

Up to 70% reduction — in production planning time through the use of APS, MRP, and MES.

Up to 90% accuracy — in planning material and component requirements.

+20% improvement — in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

The resulting digital environment has become a foundation for further production scaling, improved operational efficiency, and faster introduction of new UAV variants in response to the needs of modern defense manufacturing.

Learn more about the IT-Enterprise MilTech configuration for manufacturing companies and its capabilities.