Up to now I’ve written few articles on environment friendly course of monitoring, making the case that third-party monitoring is basically essentially the most sturdy alternative for endeavor this. That said, I’m not sure if I’ve conveyed how important it is to also have a real-time production-monitoring system. Ideally, it must be a producing execution system (MES) that may be utilized together with course of monitoring.
At a earlier agency, I was part of a bunch tasked with determining and effectively integrating such a system into the operation. This column will hopefully make clear my thought course of, and what I was looking for within the type of system to every deal with manufacturing and provide environment friendly course of monitoring. I’ll moreover share a variety of the roadblocks you could face with the type of mission, or not lower than what I and my group had been able to current choices for.
Discovering the Biggest Match
Whereas working as technical shared service supervisor inside the medical aspect of our enterprise, I was tasked with determining a real-time manufacturing monitoring system—the aforementioned MES. This job had been tried many events over time at this facility and had recurrently hit roadblocks because of packages falling wanting providing what everyone inside the facility wanted. Many packages had been proposed to the administration staff, and each one was shot down because of none of them met everyone’s expectations or requirements.
I didn’t want this mission to stall within the equivalent methodology earlier makes an try to introduce monitoring to this facility had petered out.
The very very first thing I observed was that no out-of-the-box system would be good for everyone, however after we could set up a system that could be custom-made, we could finally get there. The intention of the mission must be to allow all departments to produce enter on the deliberate system. That said, you’ll’t allow pushback from others to stall the mission each. When this happens, you want to be eager to determine which is probably not in fashion with everyone nonetheless is important to take care of the mission going.
The Intouch production-monitoring program offers a dashboard view of a plant for a quick overview of a facility.
Perception me, I had my share of those selections to make, and I knew the intention may be to each modify the system or modify our manufacturing procedures, as needed, to most interesting profit from its capabilities. So, not exactly ignoring my colleagues’ desires or concerns, nonetheless considerably understanding that the system or the company could evolve to meet them ultimately. I didn’t want this mission to stall within the equivalent methodology earlier makes an try to introduce monitoring to this facility had petered out.
Course of Monitoring as an Afterthought
A majority of the packages that had already been considered at this facility had been predominantly production-monitoring packages that occurred to have some process-monitoring capabilities. Considering that my background has practically solely been in scientific injection molding, I actually prioritized course of monitoring as a essential system requirement.
The problem I had with a majority of the production-monitoring packages within the market was that their process-monitoring capabilities had been practically an afterthought. It’s a good time to degree out that the system that was required for this particular molder needed to have the flexibility to current environment friendly third-party course of monitoring to carry out one in every of many basic targets I had set for the mission.
Given that injection molding course of itself is part of the medical molding qualification, verification of the tactic is required all by means of a producing run. The current apply on the time was for a course of technician to doc the licensed course of outputs 4 events a day on a cycle pointers. This meant that one amongst our extraordinarily educated technical sources was spending time doing fill-in-the-blank paperwork in its place of utilizing his capability set in further value-added actions. On prime of this, typographical errors could finish in important waste. If the tactic technician accidently wrote down a 9 in its place of a six on this cycle pointers, it could merely finish in elements being scrapped going once more to the sooner accepted entry.
Throughout the medical molding enterprise, we couldn’t rely solely on verification of the half’s sort, match and efficiency to launch product. We wanted to point out we had produced the elements all through the verified course of limits. To eradicate what lean manufacturing would seek advice from as “Means Waste,” the process-monitoring system needs to be able to independently seize these outputs. In addition to, it needs to be able to segregate a shot that didn’t fall all through the permitted administration limits and have the ability to interrupting the machine cycle if the number of segregated photos exceeded a predetermined threshold limit.
Manufacturing-monitoring firms are consultants in MES packages nonetheless not often consultants in injection molding.
An enormous lesson I noticed was the importance of rising essential requirements for the system upfront collectively along with your group based on the operation’s current procedures sooner than starting to contemplate potential monitoring packages. That’s when it pays off to have mission group members who actually perform the job. They will current particulars which may be often ignored by these which are often not hands-on. As far as system requirements go, do not forget that in case your purchaser doesn’t require the type of course of verification, the process-monitoring requirements couldn’t must be totally neutral of the machine’s native process-monitoring capabilities.
If that is the case, requirements in your operation could be decreased to a system that makes use of the machine’s monitoring capabilities and permits for the presses to be networked into the system. That said, remember the fact that environment friendly process-monitoring packages are superior packages that require course of, machine and mold expertise to develop. Manufacturing-monitoring firms are consultants in MES packages nonetheless not often consultants in injection molding.
This was evident when reviewing each system’s capabilities. Firms that tried to produce a “jack of all trades” product, often fell wanting being most interesting at school in one thing. That’s my opinion, and I am going to say that there are packages within the market which have launched inside the essential capability set to boost course of monitoring, nonetheless they’re miles behind enterprise leaders in environment friendly course of monitoring.
It turned apparent early on inside the mission that if the system was going to look at an injection molding course of efficiently and deal with manufacturing efficiently, we needed to look proper right into a system for each, in its place of an all-in-one methodology. After I first advisable this concept, it was fairly controversial. Fellow managers launched up concerns about getting group members to make use of 1 system, to not point out two, which is a good concern. It does not matter what system you resolve on, if it is not used, it is worthless to you.
A robust production-monitoring platform will current an in depth overview of current and scheduled jobs and the best way they’re performing. ({Photograph}: Intouch Monitoring.)
In truth, worth was a precedence, along with managing a variety of packages’ infrastructures; nonetheless I felt strongly adequate about this methodology that I decided to focus the mission on making use of a variety of packages, each providing the most effective choices for our plant’s requirements. As quickly as I focused the mission on this course, it shortly turned clear which process-monitoring system would meet our desires.
From the process-monitoring potential, RJG had been optimizing third-party course of monitoring for years and supplied a variety of ranges of process-monitoring software program program and {{hardware}}. I invited them to present their eDart system to the group, and whereas wrapping up this presentation they occurred to say a company in England that developed production-monitoring software program program that may run on the RJG’s eDart {{hardware}}.
Customization as Key
Intouch Monitoring offers user-interface software program program that will run on the RJG’s eDart HMI (human-machine interface). At first I was concerned that this could be my argument in reverse, with regard to course of monitoring on production-monitoring packages—the polar reverse of we had been evaluating.
We invited Intouch Monitoring (intouchmonitoring.com) to our facility to present its system, and the variations between its product and the other production-monitoring packages had been manifestly obvious. This was a robust system with a singular methodology.
It supplied a variety of devices like job scheduler, Gantt charts, and OEE selections, along with bidirectional communication with many ERP packages, along with the large names inside the enterprise. Up until this degree, I had grow to be considerably disenchanted with the production-monitoring packages we had reviewed.
Particularly, I was turning into more and more extra concerned that there was practically no customization on the market with these packages. That would indicate that procedures should change at our facility to go well with all through the system, and alter might be problematic when producing elements for the medical enterprise. It’s not just because people don’t like change (as most don’t), nonetheless there could be a price or a purchaser approval required, or further seemingly every.
It does not matter what system you resolve on, if it is not used, it is worthless to you.
Intouch’s methodology was to customize tales to mimic the tales that we wanted to take care of, and to work all through the procedures that had been required by our purchaser. This, as so much as a result of the software program program’s functionality to run on the RJG eDart {{hardware}}, provided us on the system. So now we had acknowledged the packages that we thought equipped our best different for achievement, and I was excited that we found two packages that each specialised in a single type of monitoring. Because of they share {{hardware}}, this would possibly alleviate just a few of those concerns talked about by totally different members of the administration group.
Course of and Manufacturing Integration
There have been no further worries in regards to the value of HMIs for each system, nonetheless as quickly as I started to be taught further regarding the Intouch software program program’s integration with the RJG eDart {{hardware}}, I observed there would nonetheless be a problem with getting group members to utilize two packages. To start a model new job, the operator should begin on the Intouch software program program after which return to the eDart aspect and start the job as soon as extra. Even if the Intouch Monitoring software program program was put in on the eDart, the Intouch software program program had no idea it was on an eDart, and the eDart had no communication with the Intouch software program program.
So, after I said I was concerned regarding the integration of the two packages, that’s actually because they weren’t built-in the least bit. In the midst of the primary meeting with every firms, I made it very clear that for us to proceed, the packages wanted to be built-in, and that’s when this mission obtained thrilling. It was surreal working with every teams, arising with ideas and rising what would finally grow to be an award-winning, best-in-class system.
A production-monitoring system is solely worthwhile if people use it. If everyone is simply not eager to utilize the system, then it turns into a very pricey seen illustration of your plant floor format.
The mixture on the machine was seamless. An operator would uncover the next job on the Intouch user-interface software program program, and as quickly as the start button was chosen, that job would load up in every packages. Course of templates and administration limits would autopopulate on the eDart aspect, and cycle necessities would populate on the Intouch aspect. As the blending superior, the need to manually start a job was modified with RJG’s mold-tag {{hardware}}. As quickly because the eDart was associated to the mould’s pressure transducer or mould tag, Intouch would mechanically load the job in every packages—a high-tech handshake of two principal monitoring firms. The system was finally upgraded to the aim that the machine would not start if the job wasn’t started inside the monitoring system or if the water temperature wasn’t set appropriately. There could also be so much further these packages could do, and I’ll go on with out finish, nonetheless I need to concentrate on a bit on the launch course of that we used to help promote the utilization of the system.
The Key to Success
A producing monitoring system is solely worthwhile if people use it. Full stop, end of sentence. If everyone in your facility is simply not eager to utilize the system, then it turns into a very pricey seen illustration of your plant floor format. These enormous screens all by means of your plant look good, however when that’s all you want, it could be accomplished inexpensive.
Intouch’s platform offers detailed OEE analysis and Pareto charts of key metrics like downtime and scrap.
So the large downside was: How can we get everyone eager to utilize this methodology? First off, choosing the proper group helps. One amongst my largest takeaways from my lean teaching was the utilization of SMEs—topic materials consultants—as part of each problem-solving or continuous-improvement duties. Involving the group members that actually do the work not solely helps set up true root causes, it offers these group members possession of the choices. Choices that they will then help preserve totally different group members accountable for adhering to. Guaranteeing this mission had group members that may use the system as part of their every day duties was key.
The next idea was to aim to have an effect on the current procedures as little as attainable, notably within the occasion that they’d been environment friendly. It is a good suggestion for the system to be used together with procedures and tales that you just’re already using. That’s an infinite one, by the easiest way. What if the tales the system generates had been to look associated, if not comparable, to the tales that group members have been producing by hand?
This system-generated report subsequently is one factor everybody appears to be already acquainted and comfortable with, nonetheless we’re able to generate it in a lot much less time, with a lot much less sources, and often it’s real-time information, so that you just don’t need to attend 12 hours to hunt out out you ran 10% scrap expenses. Don’t get me fallacious: Finally, we made many enhancements that required changes, nonetheless we made them in ranges, and we had been able to take motion because of the system was so versatile.
We moreover tried to make changes that had as minimal an have an effect on as attainable on what the consumer required. The best occasion for this was the cycle checklists that the tactic techs had been ending 4 events a day. We went as far as doing arrange qualification on each machine when the system was put in to confirm the knowledge was reliable, that an out-of-process shot was mechanically rejected, and that excessive rejects would instant a cycle interruption.
Even if we had been now able to current proof that every half packaged off the machine was all through the validated course of limits, the consumer nonetheless required the four-times-a-day cycle pointers. So, I challenged the Intouch group to produce us this equivalent pointers using the eDart information that could be printed and despatched out with each purchaser cargo.
Since we had now completely built-in every packages, we had been able to full this movement merchandise and unencumber skilled technical sources to provide consideration to value-added actions. This was the gratifying aspect of the mission, nonetheless the true success of this methodology was nonetheless inside the fingers of the group members that needed to utilize it each single day. So how did we do it? I’ve to say it was a plan established by one in every of many founders of Intouch Monitoring. His background in manufacturing and launching the system represented a crawl-before-you-walk plan.
That seems obvious, correct? We use that phrase regularly, nonetheless in case you spend 1,000,000 {{dollars}} of your boss’s funds, see how eager they’re to have a look at this methodology crawl to movement. It’s positively considerably more durable everytime you think about it that methodology, isn’t it? It wasn’t pretty that dramatic for us, nonetheless there was an extreme quantity of pressure to get it utilized, as there must have been.
First step was merely asking the group to enter a downtime code. That’s it. Enter a downtime code every time the HMI requests one. Every morning we would observe the overall downtime and the coded downtime and discuss the outcomes to the group members. We might spend further time teaching group members with elevated deltas, and we developed a course of flow into and course of. These course of flows and course of would finally be blended to create the system handbook for our plant. We then obtained mould setters and course of technicians entering into their very personal downtime. Coming into the fitting downtime turned second nature.
A machine may be stopped by a course of technician for a mould change, and so they would possibly immediately select down for “supplies.” A cloth handler would change the material and immediately change the downtime to “changeover.” The mould setter would finish the mould change and alter the downtime to “course of technician,” and so forth.
Take into account the knowledge this equipped us to help reduce changeover events. We had been able to shortly set up areas of waste all through a changeover and make enhancements. As quickly as downtime was completely mastered, we started on scrap entry classification. Each new job may be mastered quite extra shortly than the earlier one, and although it might have taken considerably further time than merely flipping a change, the outcomes had been proving to be properly worth it.
I can say with zero doubt that caring in a mission like this has been one in every of many highlights of my career. Pushing your full group to resolve factors in order so as to add efficiency to this methodology—which in the intervening time hadn’t been accomplished sooner than—after which seeing it work was very rewarding. I’m sure there is a degree the place the Intouch group was sick of listening to me say, “I would like it to (insert unreasonable request proper right here)—when can you’ve got it ready?” Or having the RJG group take a look at me like a madman after I requested them to point out {{that a}} brand-new cavity-pressure transducer may be right, nonetheless then have them shock me just some weeks later with transducer verification instruments. These packages might be tremendously worthwhile and would possibly current arduous buck monetary financial savings. The most important downside might be getting everyone to agree on a system, and usually you merely have to thank everyone for his or her enter—and then making a choice.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Robert Gattshall has higher than 22 years’ experience inside the injection molding enterprise and holds a variety of certifications in Scientific Injection Molding and the devices of Lean Six Sigma. Gattshall has developed a variety of “Biggest in Class” Poka Yoke packages with third-party manufacturing and course of monitoring akin to Intouch Monitoring Ltd. and RJG Inc. He has held a variety of administration and engineering positions all by means of the enterprise in automotive, medical, electrical and packaging manufacturing. Gattshall can be a member of the Plastics Enterprise Affiliation’s Public Protection Committee. In January 2018, he joined IPL Plastics as course of engineering supervisor. Contact: (262) 909-5648; rgattshall@gmail.com.