6 ways MES can help you improve manufacturing Productivity

World is moving towards a sustainable era in manufacturing. Every country is devising norms to ensure that the natural resources are consumed lesser and lesser for the same amount of products we manufacture today. Industrial sector alone consumes more than 40% of the power that is being produced across the globe. Manufacturing productivity has a direct impact on the power consumed. Improving efficiency will decrease the power consumed and hence the cost of the inventory used for manufacturing, improving the overall profit of the company.

What is manufacturing productivity and How is it calculated (Formula)?

Manufacturing productivity is the ratio of the products produced (outcome) to the amount of raw materials used in the production. The raw materials include Machines, Human Resources, power, water, etc. The output metrics also vary from factory to factory. For instance, a power plant will measure in terms of tons of produce; a component or car company will measure in terms of the count of parts/cars produced; An Oil and Gas will measure in terms of gallons or litters of crude or the distilled oil produced. However the common metrics of the output can be ascertained to the value produced ie. in terms of the Dollars or the currency of the country.

Manufacturing productivity = —————————————————————————————— Total Value of the produced and shipped Total Cost incurred (Man + Machine + Material )

Most of the time, management misses to accommodate hidden costs like the waste we have created out of quality or due to the production process and machine depreciation. Ensure that you add all this in the denominator of this formula to have the right measure.

Following are the six essential keys that will boost your productivity:

1. Improve Utilization

The Utilization of the machine is the measure of how much time the machine is in the running state (producing parts). There are multiple factors that affect the Machine Capacity Utilization including No Raw Material, No Plan, Machine break down, Waiting for Quality Check, operator break, etc., The Uptime of the machine contributes the maximum to the production and the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Smart Factory applications help you track the uptime of the machine by automatically pulling out the live machine status every minute (or second) from the PLCs or relays to understand what is really happening at the shop floor. These automated data collection helps take instant decisions if in case there is a machine stoppage and also keeps maintenance and the production team on a common page to take swift action.

One of the major advantages of Digital transformation and automated data collection is Predictive maintenance. Predictive maintenance applications help understand the machine wear and tear over time and predict the next maintenance schedule. These predicted ones will be in addition to your actual schedules and times; the actual ones can be skipped based on the timing of the predicted ones. Shop floors will be able to maximize capacity utilization by avoiding all the unplanned maintenance using predictions.

2. Enhance your Production Planning with AI

Most companies still use disconnected data and disconnected teams to do the planning. Production planning and control will do the planning based on the delivery timeline driving by the Sales and shipment. The planning and rescheduling will be done every fortnight or in a month. Without the digitized production data, the shop floor loose track of what they have produced, and planning works based on the data the shop floor has shared with them.

Some of how the planning can be improved is :

• Understand the capacity of the machines and the operator - History of the Data.
• Assess the Raw material availability in real time.
• Automate planning with the right software to create a proper schedule that optimizes the downtime.
• Re-assess the plan outcome with our Machine Twin Plan Insight.

The fact is that the rigid planning cannot be done for zero downtime. If we try to do that, we will get into a complete stop. We need optimal schedules that runs and keeps the required WIP all across providing necessary flexibility for the execution and re-scheduling at the shop floor.

3. Optimize Processes

Process optimization is essential as there will be multiple operations like Material handling, machining, tool handling, maintenance, quality control, etc, that intercept the delivery from orthogonal directions. Limited shop-floor operations that follow assembly or single product manufacturing will have a glassy flow where the process is optimized 100%. Even these processes fail in some extreme cases. Most of the factories work based on orders. The orders may be limited to a few or may have diversified orders where they need to re arrange machines and flow to cope up with productivity. There should be well-defined process like Six Sigma, Kaizen, TPM, TQM, etc. customized for the factory operation and followed religiously.

4. Monitor WIP & Raw material Planning

Inventory is a major overhead cost in the manufacturing process. Raw Material and the material movement inside the shop floor will determine the over head value. Just In Time (JIT) helps optimize the material availability needed for the operations. Material requirements planning (MRP) with Vendor management helps streamline the ordering of the Raw Material based on the delivery timelines with optimal shipments.

WIP Management and material movement should be automated or made manual with stringent process to ensure that the right quantity of material is available all the time for each process. All the digital tools available with the right integration will help in managing the inventory cost to be the minimal possible level without affecting the production.

5. Upskill your workforce

Today's workforce is well-versed in pre-Industry 4.0 operations and traditional shop floor processes. While many are proficient in using digital tools in their personal lives, such as social media, there is a significant gap when it comes to embracing digital technologies at the industrial level. This digital transformation is crucial for the success of Industry 4.0, which requires active cooperation from all levels of the organization.

To achieve the full potential of digital transformation and smart factory initiatives, specialized training programs must be implemented across the shop floor—from top management to frontline operators. These programs are essential to ensure a seamless adoption of technologies like Manufacturing Execution Systems and to drive the desired outcomes in efficiency, productivity, and innovation

6. Digitize & Improve Communication

Last but not least, communication is something that needs to be improved. We live in the era of dynamic data. The current MES systems can show the trend how the production is happening every hour. When we take the case of process or quality information, we will be able to gain insight within a minute of deviation or in seconds when it is a mission critical process. Having said that, the decision makers have the data in near real time of the shop floor.

Data is of no use if the decisions are not made on time. When the data and the decision are very dynamic, everyone in the department, the dependent processes, the maintenance, the tool rooms, and the product owner should be well-informed of these changes that happen. So, an integral communication tool should be part of the MES that closely integrates with all kinds of productivity tools needed for the manufacturing or Manufacturing Execution system, and the ERP should be closely integrated.

We are in the verge of a major transition, and it is crucial that the manufacturing companies adopt these changes to be more productive and profitable.