Who: One of the world's largest automotive Tier 1 Suppliers

Problem:

• to understand specifically what their labor/unit/production costs were in real-time and for any specific amount of history (by using a combination of automated and operator-entered data acquisition)


• to know at any point what real inventory levels are on the plant floor -- again in real-time


• to reduce their scrap by identifying scrap quantity and reason codes, by product ID


• to account for and reduce machine setup and changeover time

Action: VisualPlant™ was implemented as both an automated and manual data collection system. They interfaced directly to the PLCs controlling their machinery and placed a VPTerminal™ (operator terminal) at each appropriate line or machine.

VisualPlant was configured to collect the number of good parts, cycle times, machine state information, machine fault codes, operator codes, scrap quantity, scrap reason code, scrap Part ID, etc. Production, scrap, downtime, and inventory numbers are collected and presented in terms of the appropriate shift schedule as well as by part numbers.

All of this data is uploaded in real-time to their ERP system for the purpose of labor tracking and reporting, inventory control, scheduling, and production monitoring.

Results: This Tier 1 manufacturer saw immediate benefits from the VisualPlant implementation. In addition to identifying their non-producing machine capacity and scrap, their ERP system now has valid, objective and real-time data from the plant floor that is being used for accurate production costing, labor and production planning, and inventory control.

This tight integration between plant and business operations has provided them with a much more accurate and timely perspective on their production capabilities and production costs. They've identified and reduced the most significant source of scrap and are able to respond much more rapidly and accurately to their customers and suppliers. They have achieved true Manufacturing Intelligence™, with an end-to-end view of their production process, from raw material to finished goods -- and every step in between. The plant floor is no longer a black hole.