Page 44 - MetalForming-Apr-2018-issue

Fabrication: IoT
Accountability Learning Communication
People
Process
Data Driven
Value Stream Mapping Continuous Improvement
Technology
Industrial Automation Software Application Information Management
Fig. 3—“A ‘smart-manufacturing roadmap,’ says Connected Factory Global CEO Scott Phillips, “focuses on people, process and technology.”
says. “Then create mitigation plans for each risk that carries potentially severe consequences.
As a final tip, Phillips recommends that companies use the Smart Industry Readiness Index, a tool available online from the Singapore Economic Devel- opment Board. Connected Factory Global has converted the assessment tool into an online survey. Respondents receive free feedback on how they com- pare to others, and guidance on how to create their own roadmaps.
Meanwhile, Back on the Shop Floor
Finally, we look at the plant-floor technology that collects the data that the ERP/MES systems need to enable the benefits described above.
“Getting data off of the machines is not a new concept, and the meaning of connectivity has changed signifi- cantly through the years,” says Win- triss’s Finnerty. “Beginning in the 1980s, customer demand pushed industrial- controls manufacturers to provide some means to automatically collect production data. Data flowed over RS- 232 serial communications to a dedi- cated DOS computer, which stored production-count data on floppy disks for later analysis.
“Now, metalformers can employ controllers that communicate over high-speed wireless networks,” Finner- ty continues, “to servers capable of making different types of information available to ERP and MES systems, real-time displays (And on displays) that provide live information on the status of important sections of your manufacturing line, and business-ana- lytics software.”
The three most important functions of a modern data-collection system:
• The ability to communicate, in real time, the status of every machine and process;
• The accurate tracking of KPIs that enable real measurable process improvements; and
• The ability to notify specific trou- bleshooters to the existence of produc- tion issues quickly and automatically.
decisions on their own and to per- form their tasks as autonomously as possible.
“Leveraging these four principles as the guardrails for a company’s invest- ments in people, process and technol- ogy,” Phillips says, “will help executives future-proof their businesses and real- ize the best possible ROI.”
Manufacturing executives, says Phillips, spend almost every minute of every day thinking about three things:
1) Appraisal assessment—“How are we doing?”
2) Problem solving—“Why did this happen?”
3) Decision analysis—“What action should we take?”
“They need to analyze the bottle- necks restricting the flow of informa- tion,” he explains, “and then release those bottlenecks, using Industry 4.0 principles, to impact KPIs such as OEE, lead time and on-time delivery.”
To start down this road, Phillips sup- ports the ideology preached by Colum- bus: Take the time to develop a roadmap, rather than jumping in and implementing piecemeal solutions.
Phillips lays out his seven-step process for creating a ‘smart-manu- facturing roadmap’:
1) Assess the current-state organi- zational capabilities of your people, processes and technology.
2) Prioritize improvement oppor- tunities according to KPIs such as OEE, lead-time reduction and on-time delivery.
3) Analyze information value loops. 4) Identify information value drivers. 5) Define organizational constraints. 6) Create an implementation
roadmap.
7) Develop a risk-mitigation plan.
“Consider what may not go according to plan and assign a likelihood and consequence level to each risk,” Phillips
IoT Permeates the Metalforming/Fabricating Industry
Among the equipment suppliers spied at FABTECH 2017 touting IoT technology (apologies to any suppliers left off of this list):
• Amada
• Balluff
• Beckhoff Automation • Bosch Rexroth
• Bystronic
• Cosen Saws
• Eagle Press
• Esab
• Genesis Systems • Komatsu
• Lincoln Electric
• Mazak
• Miller Electric • Minster
• Trumpf
• Wintriss
42 MetalForming/April 2018
www.metalformingmagazine.com