Enabling the link between the shop floor and the top floor.
It is not to say that some attempts were not made to connect the factory with the enterprise. But past efforts forced manufacturers to take an 'all or nothing approach'.
Manufacturing execution systems (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems were intended to serve as liaison between the plant and the enterprise. These mid-level systems have always had great potential but were available only to those with the money, staff, and problems great enough to justify the implementation (AMR, January 2000). While many manufacturers invested in MES-type solutions, they often found they did not truly fulfil the needs for information integration. Similarly, although ERP systems are popular with large manufacturers, few are successfully linked to plant floor information systems. Shop floor-top floor integration.
Werner Ladder
To reduce plant floor paperwork and facilitate information transactions between the shop floor and management systems, Werner Ladder, a world leader in manufacturing and distributing climbing equipment, integrated plant-floor production facilities with the business systems that run Werner's corporate enterprise. Werner began looking for a new system after struggling with an outdated production monitoring process that required operators to manually record all plant floor information on paper, and ultimately increased costs. Werner's IS/IT people, internal auditors, production managers, accounting staff, and procurement managers gathered to discuss options for a system to help efficiently and effectively run the business. They crystallized the types of information they needed from the plant floor in order to make the decisions that made the company more profitable. Everyone involved discussed the benefits and ramifications of tying all of their information together. As a result, Werner was able to match technology to its strategic business processes and manufacturing environment.
With Rockwell Automation's Manufacturing BusinessWare initiative, Werner Ladder combined a tailored mix of value-added services, software integration tools and manufacturing software applications to provide a complete solution for tightly integrating plant floor production facilities with the business systems that run the corporate enterprise. It touches all areas, from management of raw materials to factory views in human resources to help capture data for the company's employee incentive program. As a software integration tool under the Manufacturing BusinessWare solution, Rockwell Software RSSql transaction manager software was the ideal tool for Werner. RSSql could successfully integrate information from the Allen-Bradley PLC 5 controllers, and Allen-Bradley 6180 industrial computers running RSView32 as the human-machine interface on the fibreglass pultrusion equipment with Werner's AS400 databases at the enterprise level. And, RSSql served as a transaction manager of the information already being stored in the programmable controllers - not changing it. Werner went virtually paperless in their fibreglass department by using RSSql and integrating it between the plant floor systems and its AS400 systems. RSSql allows Werner to create transaction-based links between relational database management systems (RDBMS) and shop floor control systems. Through a simple point-and-click interface, the user defines transactions that bind data points in plant floor controllers to fields in database tables.
Transactions can then be triggered either on pre-determined schedules or as the result of events taking place on the plant floor. With the integration of this system, each machine that operators access is equipped with an Allen-Bradley 6180 industrial computer with Rockwell Software RSView HMI software. Operators use identification cards to log on to machines, allowing Werner front office staff to identify each user. After logging on, operators can download production schedules from Werner's AS400 systems and select the product they need to make. At the time of this writing, Werner was in the early stages of implementing a JD Edwards ERP system. Because the current processes and software in use at Werner allow for forward migration, Werner doesn't need to purchase or implement new modules to obtain connectivity to the plant floor with the JD Edwards system - they're already in place. With this integration process, Werner has enjoyed these and other results:
* Reduced paper inventory by 90% in the fibreglass pultrusion department. Improved inventory accuracy by two to three percentage points.
* Reduced error in recording scrap - employees now automatically track the amount of raw materials used.
* Portability and re-usability - Werner can use this software in its other facilities, which will ultimately give management direct access to realtime production information.
Currently, a multitude of manufacturing execution systems (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) suppliers are working with manufacturers in an effort to integrate information throughout various parts of the enterprise. However, the crucial link between MES and ERP systems is hindered by the lack of integration between these systems and the information coming from and flowing to control systems on the plant floor.
Thankfully, in the era of e-manufacturing, opportunities exist to use modular, scalable applications that are easy to install and integrate with existing systems - both on the plant floor, as well as MES and ERP levels. Driven by industry standards such as ISA's S95 and improved technology such as XML, it is now possible for end-users to select the best of breed applications that fit their needs.
Complementing these applications should be a complete set of services that revolve around industry-specific integration knowledge, control level expertise and an ongoing support infrastructure for necessary modifications and upgrades. Such services ensure that manufacturers receive the required support to integrate these new business systems to the manufacturing sectors of their enterprises in order to achieve the information transparency required to help meet the targeted return on investment.
By combining modular application software with industry-specific deployment services, it is possible to cost-effectively build and deploy tailored solutions. These 'customised' solutions are now available for most industries and can be implemented successfully at a lower average cost than traditional monolithic solutions.
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