Is automated process control with precise material control at odds with "lean manufacturing"? Only to the extent that the automation and data collection systems adhere to outmoded technologies and procedures. The "PC + SCADA Software" is going out; the "Wearable Computer," Embedded System, and radio-badge are coming in.
What operation could be more lean than a supermarket or discount retailer? Yet, by use of scanners, inventory is counted as it is sold at ergonomic workstations where the hand-over-hand motion is not much different than simple bagging. Data collection requires not a keystroke, stock clerks prowl the aisles with non-contact laser scanners and measure shelf stock far faster than they could count, much less enter the data. Inventory of five dollar items is protected by non-contact radio badges that activate alarms.
At National Manufacturing Week [2001] we saw the change to lean and also precise manufacturing beginning. Most SCADA and HMI companies were offering projections down into wireless PDAs that will get the operator off the seat in front of the PC and out on the floor where he belongs. The next step, and one where Applied Data is providing technology to industry leaders, will be to belt mount the computer and supply a heads up display and voice recognition to leave hands free for work. Once again, operators will be free to operate, not just to watch. Also at NMW we saw first stages of the next step -- embedded computing everywhere: for example, a system of shelves and cabinets that, via sensors, not only recorded removal and replacement of tools and raw material, but even, by a system of flashing lights, directed the user to the item he needed. Also at NMW we could see controllers and machine tools that contained fully functional data servers, presenting machine status to ERP and other systems.
Wireless communication and open communication standards will allow a confluence of these technologies. Soon, the machine will advise the operator (via a message to his wearable computer) that it needs adjustment or setup. MRP and shop floor schedule will be adjusted for the downtime without intervention. When the operator enters the tool crib, his wearable will signal the crib what it needs, and the crib will flash lights to show him where to get it. Back at the machine, the operator can request, by spoken command (in his favorite language), a full motion video of the setup or adjustment he must make.
Not a bit of this requires development: this is off the shelf equipment, ready for integration today. Pity the company that tries to compete with the lean, and also precise, manufacturer.
Applied Data Systems supplies board level systems to a company that has dynamic price tags, on the shelf, to price goods according to time of day, inventory, and promotions. Our systems are built into several "wearable" computers
