Without Quality and Efficiency is it Really a ‘smart factory’?
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Without Quality and Efficiency is it Really a ‘smart factory’? Many manufacturers continue their daily manufacturing operations without a solid strategy in place for achieving the one thing that will assure their business’ profitability and long-term success. What is that one thing? It is whether the factory is capable of producing quality products to sell to their customers. Second to producing quality products is doing so in an efficient way with little waste produced. Arguably a manufacturer will never be a ‘smart factory’ if the execution of their assembly line is not fool-proof and is untimely; with defects passing and/or products never being produced within cycle time/Takt for any reason, be it human errors, machine failures, poor or missing materials, or the assembly strategy itself. The modern-day manufacturer is totally dependent upon the production of quality products because it is the product and customer experience that ultimately returns profits, and creates a positive perception in the customer’s mind to steer future pricing and sales. Undoubtedly the success of the manufacturer is directly correlated to the activities on the manufacturing line by the human or machine ‘physically’ assembling the parts or products; and without a closed-loop of accountability and physical process step control inherent in the operations then mistakes will happen. With the progression of error-proofing technologies like PINpoint Information Systems’ manufacturing execution system (MES) / manufacturing operations management (MOM) software, manufacturers now have ready at their disposal a turn-key solution that controls all assembly processes by human or machine, including the full-control of all tools (on/off), devices, PLCs; any/all systems connected to the plant network connect to and are controlled by the MES/MOM. In short the MES/MOM ensures one- hundred percent (100%) compliance to assembly standards. The MES/MOM ensures no deviation from quality control is possible since each process step or input/output by the line station worker and assembly line devices is recorded, critiqued and actioned. By completely removing the opportunity for a defective product to progress unchecked down the assembly line a manufacturer ensures only quality products will be shipped. Further, the manufacturer is learning along the way, gathering data and analyzing reports designed to help find the means to further improve timing and process steps sequencing for better assembly efficiency. The MES/MOM software comes complete with all the tools needed to build a quality control strategy the manufacturer can live with and grow with long-term given the flexibility and scalability of the solution. Utilizing the Product Tracking capabilities of the MES/MOM software a user can simply open a website browser and access the MES/MOM configuration website/portal (see Figure 1. below) to see a complete view of the status of their manufacturing operations and every product work order or serial number in real time. Any defects or rejects are highlighted and can be located easily, right down to their physical location on the assembly line. Defects are not only caught and tracked via their repair or escalation route, but also all the information associated with that product or part is captured in the server database for critique, and the creation of actions which will allow for the remediation of that issue so it is not repeated.
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Transcript of Without Quality and Efficiency is it Really a ‘smart factory’?
Without Quality and Efficiency is it Really a ‘smart factory’? Many manufacturers continue their daily manufacturing operations without a solid strategy in place for achieving the one thing that will assure their business’ profitability and long-term success. What is that one thing? It is whether the factory is capable of producing quality products to sell to their customers. Second to producing quality products is doing so in an efficient way with little waste produced. Arguably a manufacturer will never be a ‘smart factory’ if the execution of their assembly line is not fool-proof and is untimely; with defects passing and/or products never being produced within cycle time/Takt for any reason, be it human errors, machine failures, poor or missing materials, or the assembly strategy itself. The modern-day manufacturer is totally dependent upon the production of quality products because it is the product and customer experience that ultimately returns profits, and creates a positive perception in the customer’s mind to steer future pricing and sales. Undoubtedly the success of the manufacturer is directly correlated to the activities on the manufacturing line by the human or machine ‘physically’ assembling the parts or products; and without a closed-loop of accountability and physical process step control inherent in the operations then mistakes will happen. With the progression of error-proofing technologies like PINpoint Information Systems’ manufacturing execution system (MES) / manufacturing operations management (MOM) software, manufacturers now have ready at their disposal a turn-key solution that controls all assembly processes by human or machine, including the full-control of all tools (on/off), devices, PLCs; any/all systems connected to the plant network connect to and are controlled by the MES/MOM. In short the MES/MOM ensures one-hundred percent (100%) compliance to assembly standards. The MES/MOM ensures no deviation from quality control is possible since each process step or input/output by the line station worker and assembly line devices is recorded, critiqued and actioned. By completely removing the opportunity for a defective product to progress unchecked down the assembly line a manufacturer ensures only quality products will be shipped. Further, the manufacturer is learning along the way, gathering data and analyzing reports designed to help find the means to further improve timing and process steps sequencing for better assembly efficiency. The MES/MOM software comes complete with all the tools needed to build a quality control strategy the manufacturer can live with and grow with long-term given the flexibility and scalability of the solution. Utilizing the Product Tracking capabilities of the MES/MOM software a user can simply open a website browser and access the MES/MOM configuration website/portal (see Figure 1. below) to see a complete view of the status of their manufacturing operations and every product work order or serial number in real time. Any defects or rejects are highlighted and can be located easily, right down to their physical location on the assembly line. Defects are not only caught and tracked via their repair or escalation route, but also all the information associated with that product or part is captured in the server database for critique, and the creation of actions which will allow for the remediation of that issue so it is not repeated.
Figure 1. PINpoint product and work order tracking website.
The information captured by the MES/MOM from the innumerable actions taking place on an assembly line is invaluable to continuous improvement, and can be extremely complicated to decipher given the countless serial numbers or work orders that may exist, especially when products are make-to-order (MTO) or have unlimited customizability. Again, the MES/MOM becomes an indispensable tool to interpret and report on what that information means. Every manufacturer regardless of size, number of assembly lines or products must address the key issues unique to their operations holding them back from achieving quality and efficiency; and without knowledge of what those issues are the business is handicapped. The true ‘smart factory’ is one that can maximize its’ profitability in the most pragmatic way possible. Common sense dictates naturally that if a manufacturing business is to be profitable for the long-term it must produce quality products efficiently. The level at which a manufacturer sets its goals for success does not matter to the MES/MOM solution itself since it is designed and set to function as the means to achieve those goals. It is up to the manufacturer to make use of proven software to ensure the utmost in expectations of quality and efficiency, otherwise failure is inevitable (garbage in, garbage out). MES/MOM SYSTEM SOFTWARE PINpoint Information System’s manufacturing execution system (MES) / manufacturing operations management (MOM) software is meticulously designed and tested to ‘Information Technology Infrastructure Library’ (ITIL) standards before any official version release. Their MES/MOM and Andon communications products have been developed since 1997 and continue to be evolved and pushed-forward by their customers (Version 4.x available now; V5 scheduled for release this Summer 2017).
Thoroughly proven the software is in use daily around the World in multiple languages by leading manufacturers. Headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, PINpoint services industry internationally from their offices in Canada, the United States, and China. For more information, please call: +1 (905) 639-8787, email: [email protected] or visit: http://pinpointinfo.com/ RELATED LINKS
See the “Why PINpoint?” prezi here: https://prezi.com/adp9dhp3vgn0/why-pinpoint-manufacturing-execution-system-mes-manufacturing-operations-management-mom-solutions/
MES Systems: http://pinpointinfo.com/mes-systems/
Andon Communications Software: http://pinpointinfo.com/andon-3d/
Author: Anthony Borges Biography: Anthony offers over a decade of manufacturing optimization knowledge, with an aptitude for solving problems which increase manufacturing efficiency. He has successfully provided solutions to various multinational manufacturers involving the latest technology in sensors, laser (detection, measurement, welding, cutting, and marking systems), PLC, machine vision, microscope, and software solutions. Keywords: manufacturing execution system, manufacturing operations management, MES system, andon, andon system, andon software, error-proofing, lean manufacturing, six sigma, paperless manufacturing, continuous improvement, quality control, process control, smart factory, industry 4.0,
Abstract / Introduction: Many manufacturers continue their daily manufacturing operations without a solid strategy in place for achieving the one thing that will assure their business’ profitability and long-term success. What is that one thing? It is whether the factory is capable of producing quality products to sell to their customers.
