FEATURE MANUFACTURING SOFTWARE MAKING YOUR MES FIT FOR YOUR SMART FACTORY
The ‘smart factory’ of the future will soon marry the world of production with an interconnected web of information in an Internet of Things (IoT) environment. It will be connected, intelligent and data will be its life-blood. It will facilitate the real- time interaction of production and management processes, aligning business strategy with what’s actually happening on the shop floor
W
ith the promise of turbo charging manufacturing performance, it
comes as no surprise that British manufacturers are already turning their attention to realising the benefits promised by the smart factory. According to global research by the Capgemini Digital Transformation Institute, 43 per cent of UK companies have already deployed a smart factory initiative and another 27 per cent are currently formulating for one. However, only 14 per cent of companies across the world are satisfied with their level of smart factory success, with Capgemini highlighting two key challenges to success, lack of coordination among different business units and lack of investment. To power the smart factory, technologies that integrate the entire manufacturing value chain, from design and planning to execution and beyond, will be critical. A manufacturing execution system (MES) is one of the tools necessary in this process. This has the potential to transform production into a ‘business centre of excellence’. With consistent, accurate metrics, MES identifies the systems that are operating below average and seamlessly optimises the use of machinery, enabling the manufacturer to avoid bottlenecks, raise production rates and boost profitability. MES provides manufacturers with a connected, holistic view of the entire production process, but the key to smart factory success will be linking factory floor events with business events, essentially connecting the shop floor with the top floor. Integrating an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, which provides an enterprise wide view of business processes, with the MES solution will achieve this. Manufacturers which invest in both technologies will have the most comprehensive real-time insight across the business, which will increase responsiveness, customer-centricity, capacity utilisation and on-time delivery capabilities. To draw maximum value
22 MAY 2018 | AUTOMATION
By Terri Hiskey, vice president, product marketing,
manufacturing at Epicor Software Corporation
“Those who take advantage of the opportunities
presented by Industry 4.0 will enjoy
competitive advantage, and ultimately drive their businesses towards growth.”
from the ERP-MES integration and enter the era of the smart, connected factory, businesses should consider the following three steps: 1. Education and collaboration across the business - According to Epicor research, 63 per cent of senior managers see IT investment as a moderate to very low business priority, which further highlights that investment in smart factory technologies is a significant hurdle to its success. To overcome this challenge, it is imperative that all key stakeholders in a manufacturing business are educated on the benefits and growth opportunities presented by systems such as MES and ERP. Even when buy-in from all parties has been achieved, it is critial that before investing in new technology the business agrees its objectives for doing so. This is particularly important before investing in MES and ERP systems, which may previously have been used as entirely separate entities, often owned and operated by different departments. All parties must collaborate during the integration, in order to understand the opportunities, goals and outcomes. 2. Evaluate the role of ERP and MES
in your smart factory initiative - MES and ERP have traditionally served different purposes within a manufacturing environment, but the fourth Industrial Revolution is redinfing the roles these technologies can play. There is no one-size-fits-all option, so
businesses considering technology change on their journey towards smart factory success must evaluate how MES and ERP are currently used, if at all, and carefully review what the business needs to achieve. If a successfully performing smart factory is important to a business’s future, the integration of both systems will deliver the critical real-time insight, and collaboration of production and management processes, needed to achieve this.
3. Are your systems smart factory
ready? - Prior to integrating ERP and MES systems it’s imperative to check that any existing systems can meet new requirements with respect to real-time data processing, analytics and business intelligence functions, as well as collaboration and role-based visualisation of information. There is little point in integrating a real-time MES, for example, if your ERP is unable to react at the same speed. The technology to bring the smart factory to life already exists within many organisations, but it is now the responsibility of manufacturers to carefully review what technology they’re using, invest in new technologies that will improve business processes, and manage the cultural change needed for the business-wide roll-out and adoption of these technologies.
Epicor
www.epicor.com/uk
Southco, a manufacturer of engineered access hardware solutions, such as entry door latches and locks, began its digital transformation journey over ten years ago. Facilities have been transformed into smart factories by connecting software with processes to improve operational effectiveness, reducing errors, downtime and waste. The company now benefits from its manufacturing
execution software, Epicor Mattec MES, being embedded right at the heart of its manufacturing facility, linking with other smart technologies and business systems to exchange information.
EPICOR MES SOFTWARE IS SMART SOLUTION FOR SOUTHCO With 85 per cent overall equipment effectiveness
(OEE) being the world-class standard, Southco, which is currently operating at 75 percent OEE, has seen a marked improvement to its performance since implementing the Mattec system. Mattec is linked to the enterprise resource
planning (ERP) system, the tool room, the maintenance team, quality, planning and production teams, visualising the factory for Southco through an easy to use interface, making critical data for decision making available anytime, anywhere, from any screen.
/AUTOMATION T: 01344 468468
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