In today’s competitive manufacturing environment, many companies are faced with increased production costs, tougher competition, and reduction in staff. Now manufacturers are forced to dive deeper into their operations and processes to find new ways of increasing production and lowering costs with the same or reduced staffing resources.

Therefore, it is not enough just to have large amounts of collected data. Data must be accurate, complete, and intelligently analyzed. Not only do manufacturers need to have the right set of information, they need it clearly communicated at the right time in order to drive change and improvements as management often finds out about inefficiencies and problems after it is too late.

Work Order Tracking & Product Genealogy

Work order tracking and product traceability systems provide companies the ability to monitor WIP in real-time and record all the process variables and lot information related to manufacturing or processing of the finished product. By tracking product work orders and lot/serial numbers, a company has the ability to single out quality related issues, improve inventory accountability, distinguish product for individual customers, and maintain inventory control. When a quality defect is discovered, the system allows the manufacturer to determine the cause of the issue, identify affected products by serial number, take the necessary corrective actions.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is an analysis tool that enables manufacturers to increase production, reduce costs and downtime, and improve quality using existing equipment and labor more effectively. This is accomplished through accurate reporting of real-time machine performance throughout the plant to understanding the real causes of inefficiency, waste, and lost capacity. By utilizing OEE to drive and prioritize process improvement initiatives, manufacturers can gain measurable results of reduced downtime, decreased cycle time, and increased overall production plus deferred capital expenditures on new equipment.

Custom Data Collection Systems

Collecting, reporting, and analyzing data has long been an important function for manufacturers as it provides the information to make decisions. The traditional approach to data collection provides limited and often inaccurate information due to manual collection, human error, reporting delays, the difficulty to analyze, and the inability to scale. Manufacturers need a solution that provides actionable, real-time information in order to effectively improve operational efficiencies and lower costs. They need the strategic implementation of an automated data collection and analysis system with web based reporting that provides current, accurate pictures of their manufacturing plants.