Work In Progress

Equipment communication in Shop-floor WIP is very much needed for real-time traceability. MES-WIP Module collects information such as equipment Id, operator Id, material code, Recipe Id, etc. and controls the equipment based on the data. By directly communicating with Equipment in each process step, MES makes sure the right material is placed, operator has valid certification to operate and right machine settings are used. With the help of Equipment Connectivity and Automation, production cycle time is tremendously improved. Real-time visibility of the Shop-floor is helpful for managers to make right decision at right time.

Quality Data Collection

During the manufacturing operations, Both in-process and metrology quality data collection are happening to apply Statistical Process Control (SP) to monitor and control the process. When there are out of controls based on the SPC rules, MES System with automation capability should even stop the machines or provide necessary alerts and holds the lot. This is only possible if there is a real-time communication is established between MES System and Equipment and measurement tools. Connectivity and Automation in Quality Management help to minimize the defects and improve the Sigma level in the factory.

Maintenance Management

Proper Maintenance Management and Monitoring is crucial to improve utilization of the factory assets and thus increase the productivity. By connecting equipment using SCADA or IIoT Gateway, we can collect information such as Machine Status, Down time and Downtime Reasons. We can also collect equipment parameters and usage details to establish predictive maintenance to avoid break downs. With the historical maintenance data and knowledge base, future maintenance can be much easier. Equipment Automation coupled with CMMS capabilities eliminate the wastes in the factory and thus create a lean production.

Recipe Management

Recipe Management maintain a centralized Library of recipes (Equipment Setup Parameters and Values) needed to run the machines to produce a particular product. By establishing a communication between Equipment and Recipe Management System (RMS), we can avoid manual equipment configuration and minimize set-up time when there is a change in new product. RMS also validates if right recipe is used before starting the production and this is helpful to minimize the defective products. By correlating the Recipe Parameters (input parameters) with the corresponding Output Parameters, we can establish a trend to monitor and minimize the production losses.

OEE

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a key metric to measure the productivity in the shop-floor and it becomes a manufacturing best practice. Real-time data collection becomes essential to come up with the accurate OEE. With help of IIoT Gateway, we can connect the equipment and tools for real-time data collection. By accurately measuring OEE, companies can quickly see how effectively a manufacturing operation is utilized and thereby establishing continuous improvements in the factory by eliminating wastes (i.e., Lean Manufacturing).