HOW MANUFACTURERS IN CHINA ARE ACHIEVING MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE: READ THE JOURNEY
Efficient and uninterrupted business operations are vital supplements for the growth of a manufacturing company.
Day on day, companies are facing huge pressure to achieve production targets. On the other hand, they are losing track on proper utilization of inventory, leading to surging business losses.
As a recognized IoT Solutions company, ShopWorx has helped companies grow their business by increasing productivity & efficiency on the manufacturing shop floor.
We have a brilliant example of KH Unikun, an international top systems supplier of plastic components & how ShopWorx helped it in refining their production process.
This company is involved in the manufacturing of high-end products for world-class automotive & medical companies.
PROBLEMS DIAGNOSED:
KH Unikun had a bulk of orders lined up from global markets & needed a smart solution to optimize & increase production swiftly.
The only challenge was that this had to be done without any further increase in manpower & manufacturing costs.
A DIGITAL MANAGEMENT SOLUTION SEEMED THE SMART OPTION FOR THE SOLUTION.
PROPOSED SOLUTION:
ShopWorx team visited KH Unikun manufacturing plants to observe the entire production process and diagnosed the important issues.
- No real-time visibility on the manufacturing operations (no real-time monitoring)
- No visibility in Critical-to-Quality parameters (ensure quality adherence)
- No data for defect traceability (Knowing root cause analysis)
ShopWorx proposed the following solution for the problems:
- Monitoring of critical to Quality painting process parameters
In an ideal painting environment, different variables control the painting quality parameters like:
Optimum temperature, humidity, cleanliness, mixing rate of paint, paint flow rate, air pressure, air supply flow temperature etc.
The live data for these variables are sensed and collected by respective IoT sensors. All of which are connected online through the signal cabinet. This is responsible for collecting data from sensors and pushing data for processing.
The collated sensor data is transferred online to a ShopWorx server for data storage. Live data for critical to quality parameters is available anytime on compatible devices for company employees.
So, a company employee is not needed physically to collect & monitor data.
- Count & Material Traceability
To trace the consumption of raw materials in paint sections like the weight of raw paint and diluent, a touch panel with scanner & card reader are used.
The scanner captures the details of raw paint including item number, expiry date and displays the details on-screen for easy traceability of inventory.
This step monitors the consumption of raw materials and prevents wastage. Also, it aids in higher inventory control.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SHOPWORX SOLUTION
ShopWorx IoT solutions improved the bottom line by increasing the performance efficiency of manufacturing shop floors. It was done by ensuring
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- IoT connectivity to machines achieved by installing sensors that collect machine data reflecting machine uptime
- ShopWorx connectivity to existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition(SCADA) System for easy online communication with the machines
- Real-Time Monitoring Dashboards that show the latest machine data
- Web-based management platform easily accessible on smart devices
- Receiving alerts & reminders through SMS & Email whenever IoT sensors sense a breach of process parameters
- Touch panel (ShopWorx OAS (operator assistance system)) – Installed with a scanner and card reader at the loading area of painting line for tracking raw materials usage and avoiding wastage
HOW KH UNIKUN EMPLOYEES ACCESSED AND USED SHOPWORX IOT SOLUTIONS
Step 1: Master data management
The first step is to manage collected data for inspection, analysis, and performance monitoring.
Step 2: User and Authorization Management
This step involved creating valid user-profiles and authorizing them to access relevant tasks and information like
- Display of main parameters
- Visualization of key reports
- Master data maintenance
- Login anywhere through internet
- Provide report according to demand
- Easy to lookup data in any time period
- Analytics & forecasting of KPI parameters
Step 3: Scanning barcode of raw paint when mixing
A scanner helps in scanning details of raw paint that are being used for mixing it with other agents. Paint barcode reveals all relevant details like manufacturing date, expiry date etc.
Step 4: System continuously monitors all parameters
The ShopWorx system helps in continuous monitoring of all parameters in a painting environment like paint mix, airflow, temperature etc.
Step 5: Display real-time charts on dashboards, browser, and Tablets
Information collected by smart sensors displays the real-time status of the machine with uptime, key performance indicators (KPI) to check if production is happening efficiently.
Step 6: Storing all data for analytics
Every day collated data is stored and utilized for analysis as well as future predictions.