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The manufacturing business case for MES01 September 2008Over the past decade, manufacturing industry has been subject to mounting competitive pressure to increase efficiency, cut costs, generate consumer demand and accelerate new product time-to-market. Mark Perry discusses these issues and describes an effective tool to help companies perform better - the Manufacturing Execution SystemDespite manufacturers’ attempts to improve efficiency by installing automation systems, many still suffer from inefficiencies in the middle layer between the top floor and the plant, including ineffective maintenance and equipment/man power scheduling, and lack of control over energy use. However, a readily available solution to many of these problems seems to be passing by unnoticed.
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) allow the seamless flow of information from the business level to the factory and shop floor and vice-versa. Bridging this information gap between the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system and the plant floor is widely accepted as a prerequisite for a successful production strategy.
But manufacturing industry remains in the dark as to the business benefits of a MES. Consequently, improvements in three of the major issues within the industry, which can be defined as asset efficiency, operating margin and revenue growth are now beginning to separate the manufacturing and supply chain leaders from those struggling to compete in a fierce marketplace.
Asset efficiency is an overarching issue for manufacturing, which directly impacts on operating margin and ultimately revenue growth. This is a key area for financial loss within any plant and subsequently the area where the smallest changes can have the most significant impact on bottom-line results. Asset efficiency is defined by a core problem within manufacturing: ‘dead-time’. This might result from machine stoppages, reduced run rates or simply producing bad product; whatever the situation, you’re not maximising the value of your asset.
Manufacturers find it increasingly difficult to map out the production value of both their machinery and manpower. It is often the case that machinery is left powered on, but idle in between product run changes. Alternatively, there are frequent cases where pieces of equipment continually breakdown but, instead of upgrading or scheduling regular pre-emptive maintenance reviews, the company blindly loses money on reactive maintenance call-outs and product down-time as repairs are made.
Scheduling issues cause further problems, as plants are often required to produce a number of different batch products on a daily basis. This increases ‘dead-time’ on the asset due to the changeovers from product to product. The machine modifications and manpower needed to change a product run can create significant idle periods until the changeover is complete and the line becomes fully operational again.
In order to maximise asset efficiency manufacturers must first gain accurate measurement of their working assets; a detailed analysis needs to be made of what each asset is doing at specific times of the day including all downtime activity. By monitoring operating time, run rates and production quantities, the MES can create a complete OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) and downtime overview. This will highlight particular points within the manufacturing process which could be tightened, improved or upgraded to reduce financial loss caused by dead-time and production losses.
Currently, many companies rely on reactive maintenance procedures when monitoring equipment. Checks or repairs are not carried out until the machinery has malfunctioned and the process line has stopped. However, a process of preventative maintenance can be implemented using MES. The data capturing capabilities of the system can pinpoint ‘problem’ machinery and set up regular maintenance checks prior to expected malfunction time frames. If the machine needs to be taken offline for servicing or repairs the MES will also indicate available employees and time slots to carry out the necessary checks whilst minimising impact on production.
Such scheduling facilities also extend to production runs. Packaging lines can be scheduled to run a number of different batches simultaneously to satisfy demand. Instead of creating small batch runs on a ‘fit-to-order’ basis, companies can schedule batch campaigns of longer production runs in order to minimise changeover times and to react to expected surges in demand; these may even be linked to a top-floor advertising or marketing drive. Thus production can become more cost effective and efficient. The ability for a manufacturing plant to increase its operating margin is essential if a company wishes to sustain its business in a competitive market. Some key areas for concern include waste, energy consumption; man power and inventory control.
A MES can help with these issues. Wasted man-hours, for example, can be reduced by replacing a manual data entry system with an automatic communications link between the ERP system and the production plant. By providing more accurate data relating to material usage and reporting this information in real-time, the MES can also provide a more accurate raw materials inventory, allowing a reduction in warehouse stock. Scheduling tools reduce unnecessary product line changes and automatically reduce the amount of natural wastage from the plant. By monitoring the energy usage of machinery on the plant floor operators and engineers can to determine where energy is being unnecessarily wasted and adjust operating procedures, machine automation and scheduling to minimise consumption.
Revenue growth for a specific manufacturer is closely linked with asset efficiency and operating margin of their plant. The production capacity of a manufacturer must be at its most robust if the issues surrounding revenue growth are to be tackled. These issues can be broken down into four distinct categories: the cost of bringing a product to market; the ability to create a guaranteed supply; the ability to sell more of a product, and the ability to remain flexible in response to consumer demand.
The key to solving each of these issues is maintaining efficient and versatile production capabilities within the plant. An integrated MES system will provide the data analysis and tools needed to speed up R&D time when introducing a new product to the manufacturing plant and in turn bringing the new product to market, whilst at the same time increasing supply chain reliability through maximising production capacity. The lack of fully integrated top floor to shop floor systems within the manufacturing sector has historically left a missing link in terms of improving revenue growth by means of automation. The MES can fill this void and provide a framework capable of connecting the plant floor with the rest of the enterprise.
Mark Perry is with Siemens Automation & Drives Contact Details and Archive...Most Viewed Articles... |
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