Because of the low cost and simplicity of Thin Clients, many customers install them when they need a terminal to gather data (via bar codes or operator entry) and run inventory management and quality type screens, which are often a very important part of an overall e-manufacturing strategy. With a Thin Client, the customer can put a very low cost ($450) piece of equipment at the point of data collection, and not only receive the data but also display any full Windows programs just like they would be shown on a PC.
An Enterprise Resource Planning system (or ERP) provides a process view of an entire organization. Usually a packaged software solution, it requires the integration of all of the functions of the enterprise before it can be effective. ERP implementations have been successful in a wide range of industries -- manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, mining, financial services, transportation, retail, etc. An effective ERP system can bring tremendous order to a manufacturing plant, taking care of many of the necessary functional and coordination details in a way that no human ever could. But moving from the shop floor to the top floor requires that accurate real-time data be collected from the manufacturing floor. Put another way, collection of manufacturing data is critical to the success of any ERP system.
Many companies that haven't yet implemented an ERP system have one on the horizon, as their management sees ERP as the next step in increasing productivity. Plant managers are increasingly finding themselves in the position of having to collect data from the manufacturing process that they haven't been asked for before. This usually means the deployment of data collection equipment, which today results in the addition of PCs to the plant floor. This is where the PC choice comes in, and this is where the Thin Client becomes such an attractive alternative.
While the actual data being collected isn't usually that complex, it still needs to be run into the data collection package. The operator also needs to have immediate feedback when the data is entered, whether it is entered by hand, through bar codes, or via a serial port. And before the advent of Thin Clients, that necessitated the installation of another PC.
To execute successful data collection, each station will have to have the connection for the data entry (keyboard, scanner, I/O), a platform for the data collection software, an operator interface, and a method of transmitting that data back to the managing portions of the network. A PC does provide all of that, but it also brings with it a great deal of baggage in the form of system complexity and increased maintenance requirements. Then there is also the purchase price of the unit itself, and the cost to upgrade it a year or two down the road.
It is now possible, however, to meet all of the needs of a data collection station directly from an industrial Thin Client. The beauty of this is that while the collection software package actually runs on a server within the IT department, the user interface and data collection take place out on the floor at the Thin Client. Operators cannot tell the difference between the software running on a full PC and the software running on a Thin Client.
A Thin Client meets all of the needs for gathering data directly from the plant floor, but in a package that is a commodity item. Just like a bar code reader, the Thin Client is cheap, rugged, and easily replaceable. In fact, unlike a PC, a Thin Client can fail completely during a product run and be changed out for a brand new one without any data being lost. There is no configuration required for the new unit, and the application continues to run back on the server.
These days, it seems that every time you put a new PC onto the company network you are giving a computer "hobbyist" a new distraction -- breaking into the PC. There is no such concern with Thin Clients, as the client is no more than a terminal. There is no point during power-up when the operator can gain access to DOS, and no disk drive to be used as a boot disk or virus entry portal. Security features are updated and enforced back on the server, under the watchful eye of the computer management staff.
Thin Clients used for data collection also simplify data consolidation, as all data retrieved through any of the clients is immediately available on the server. While all of the different applications for each client run on the server (or servers), they can all access the same database, even over a local network if desired. This keeps the overhead of potentially large data queries and updates off of the entire network.
Customers don't need a computer on the factory floor to gather and display data from the manufacturing process; what they need is a data portal -- and that is exactly what is provided by any of ACP's enabled Thin Client computers.
