The picture of the perfect factory is one that utilizes process line automation to achieve near 100% of promised delivery, and negligible unscheduled downtime. As market leaders, these model plants are highly efficient, productive, and profitable. New technology strategies now available will help most manufacturers to achieve these high levels of optimization and unrivalled ROI.
The Key to Cost Savings
Bringing process line functions online is the best path to achieve dramatic increases in productivity. Online services now monitor, analyze, control, and archive production data for easy retrieval, and introduce a comprehensive view of process line activity that is unprecedented in scope, detail, and accessibility. Determining which functions are aided most by universal online access is a rewarding challenge. Manufacturers must consider how collected information is most conveniently managed, where it is most safely stored, and which Internet technologies will enable access that is fast, reliable, and secure.
The Best Approach
Application hosting provides the best model for bringing process line functions online. ASPs (Application Service Providers) offer benefits of security, high-speed networking, and fault-tolerant server capacity to store and process data. A direct connection to the manufacturer''s machine controls provides 24-hour online technical support and real-time analysis to solve process line problems quickly from any location. In this way, the ASP becomes an extension of the manufacturing organization. Hosting also eliminates a significant capital investment in the hardware, software, and staff needed to support an internal solution, and eliminates upgrade risks. The ASP model is especially suited to harsh manufacturing environments where delicate computer equipment is at greater risk of damage, and remote plant locations where expertise is less accessible.
An ASP solution is more cost-effective, faster, and simpler to deploy than an equivalent installation of enterprise software.
The Foundation for Online Services
As the foundation of an online solution, remote monitoring saves manufacturers millions. The ability to monitor dozens of process line parameters such as temperature, pressure, and tension throughout a process line, and alert operators when conditions drift or suddenly change, can significantly cut downtime. It also provides an ASP''s online engineers with the insight to speed recoveries, and establishes the foundation for predictive maintenance, trending, and thorough analysis of process line activity.
Decreasing Downtime
Because downtime is one of the most costly conditions a manufacturer encounters, use of online technical support to prevent or more quickly solve process line problems can generate significant cost savings. The ASP must have a deep understanding of the entire process each manufacturing client relies upon, and end-customer applications in the markets its products serve. Most ASPs address a multitude of process line issues daily, so their knowledge base and problem-solving skills increase continuously.
Optimizing Traditional Process Line Functions
Control software can now be delivered as a hosted online service instead of expensive deployments of SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition). This approach yields immediate cost savings by avoiding capital investment in hardware, software, and specialized IT skills needed to implement SCADA. Total cost of ownership for hosted SCADA functionality typically saves 50% of the alternative investment.
Protecting Manufacturing Investments
Using an ASP to protect existing investments can also save manufacturers millions. By providing online services that back up system software and machine settings, manufacturers are protected against information loss due to electrical failure, disaster, or system lockup. Regular backup of machine data also provides version control to ensure that equipment is operating with the latest settings.
Leveraging the Value of Monitored Process Line Data
- Analysis Tools: Online productivity tools can identify optimum production benchmarks by monitoring and analyzing machine parameters that affect output quality. User-refined tables trigger alerts to designated staff when a metric falls outside of established standards.
An ASP''s senior engineering professionals also leverage monitored parameters by preparing precisely documented reports on how to reduce costs, improve quality, and increase measured productivity.
- Historical Database: The ability to cross-reference current process line data with past activity enables manufacturers to quickly identify and solve problems -- and eliminate recurrent causes.
- Automating Traditional Processes: Online services that incorporate traditional manual processes, such as quality assurance testing, into a centralized data repository, augment process line problem resolution and help production teams to maximize deliverable output. Hosted online services also enable rapid loading of product grade recipes for machine settings. In contrast, installed systems such as DCS, require advanced skills and experience to deploy.
The Expanding Picture
Online services also bring manufacturing operations into closer alignment with corporate headquarters. This ensures that business plans are in step with the needs and capabilities of each plant, and vice versa. Hosted services also pave the way for the future integration of enterprise applications. These synchronize manufacturing operations with customer and supplier actions.
Expanding use of ASP-hosted applications holds great potential to streamline and speed the entire manufacturing process from raw material to finished product. These gains will improve profit flows throughout each stream of manufactured value creation.