The market for IT systems used in manufacturing companies is constantly growing. More and more companies are joining the group of companies implementing Industry 4.0 technologies and solutions. The reason is most often the desire to automate certain processes, increase production efficiency and minimize costs. Investment in Industry 4.0 technologies, like any investment, should bring the highest possible return on investment.
Implementing several different systems responsible for production planning and scheduling, supporting the maintenance department, downloading data from machines and implementing production is not an optimal decision both financially and time-wise.
Wouldn't it be better to implement one complete system that, in combination with the ERP system, would enable management of all areas related to production?
There are many classes of systems whose task is to improve production and production-related processes. The most popular of them are:
- APS (Advanced planning and scheduling) – a class of IT systems that enable automatic production planning using advanced algorithms and objective functions, e.g. optimization of operations to minimize changeovers on a given group of machines.
- CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) – a class of IT systems whose task is to support the maintenance department. They enable, among other things, automatic failure notifications, creation of machine inspection and repair plans, and collection and visualization of data on failures and micro-downtimes.
- MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) – is an IT tool used for broadly understood production management. It enables the collection of production data in real time, which facilitates the response to errors and undesirable situations.
Each of the above-mentioned systems undoubtedly brings added value to the company and enables continuous improvement of production in line with the Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing philosophy. However, by implementing these solutions as separate software, we simply make life difficult for production employees and, above all, IT staff. It is also undoubtedly not the optimal choice in terms of finances.
Wouldn't it be simpler to implement one tool that allows for proper planning, optimization, monitoring and settlement of production?
The proprietary Lean Manufacturing System platform, operating on the basis of the proven SCADA-MES system that has been in operation for many years, includes modules that improve communication between employees of the following departments:
- production,
- planning,
- maintenance,
- quality control,
- human resources,
- management.
Aplixcom SCADA – MES connects to the ERP system to exchange data on issued production orders. This data can also be entered into the system manually or imported from an xml file.
On the Gantt chart, the planner can arrange the production plan accordingly, using optimization functions such as minimizing changeovers, optimization for available material or minimizing breaks between operations. If machines are connected to the system, the planner sees the current progress of the operations being performed and the forecast of their execution, which helps him make the best decisions.
Information about planned production orders is transferred to operator panels (tablets, industrial computers), where they record their work. The panels can display documentation in electronic form, which helps reduce the paper circulation of documents in the company. Using the panel, the operator can, among other things:
- generate a call (SMS/e-mail) to any employee,
- register quality control results,
- report a failure,
- material demand.
Maintenance department employees record the takeover of failure handling and the time of completion of its repair, thanks to which we have full data regarding their work. The planning calendar also displays planned repairs and inspections of machines, as well as occurring failures. The maintenance module also provides a number of functionalities related to tool management. Employee management is also an extremely important issue. The Employee Matrix module allows defining employee skills and required competencies to perform individual operations. Then the foreman can assign employees to the operations they are to perform. Thanks to this, it is possible to view the employee load and visualize the planned availability of employees.
For management staff and the board, the most important modules are Dashboards and Analyses and Reports.
Efficiency dashboards show the current situation in production, taking into account the status of the station (work/failure/changeover/free), production progress, production quality and other data. The Order Dashboard is particularly useful for the sales department, which shows the degree of completion of currently executed production orders. Thanks to this, sales representatives, receiving a query from a customer about the stage of their order, can independently check the progress of implementation without involving other people.
The Aplixcom SCADA-MES system has many more functions that cannot be listed in 1 article.
The biggest advantage is not the system itself and its extensive functionality, but the experienced Aplixcom consultants, who have been implementing ERP and SCADA-MES systems in production for over 20 years. In addition, Aplixcom is the creator of the offered solution, which makes it possible to modify it and adapt it to the specific requirements of customers. We are aware that each industry and each production plant has its own specifics. For this reason, there are no two identical implementations of our system.
Summary
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