When the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Most industrial producers would be familiar with technologies like supervisory control and data acquisition (scada) and manufacturing execution systems (MES). Many companies, particularly those competing in global markets, have adopted some level of these technologies, but they are still being pushed to do more with less. The drive to continually increase productivity and profitability, as well as meet market challenges such as skills shortages, is relentless. So what can these companies do next? The answer is in integration.
The benefits of integration
Realtime automation and control systems, like CitectSCADA, enable organisations to know what is happening on the plant floor at all times and respond immediately to any issues, thus improving quality control and minimising downtime.
An MES, such as Citect Ampla, provides realtime access to plant and business information, helping C-suite executives to plan business strategies and to measure plant information against company objectives. An MES can reveal opportunities to increase throughput, eliminate downtime, reduce wastage, improve quality levels and track resource genealogy, which can improve overall business performance and increase profit margins.
When these systems are integrated they allow an organisation to feed realtime production information into its ERP (enterprise resource planning) system and so receive advance warning when a problem with a production line might impact, for example, the company’s delivery schedule and regulation compliance. An integrated system can deliver additional benefits such as reducing implementation costs, improving scheduling capabilities, enhancing reliability and maximising safety.
A practical example
Drink can manufacturer Amcor wanted to drive a series of process improvement initiatives across its Australian operations. The company implemented CitectSCADA and Ampla in all its Australian plants, with the exception of the Rocklea facility where it is currently being rolled-out, and has since reduced plant reporting time from one day to a few minutes per month. Plant management can now identify and solve the causes of plant downtime, and subsequently increase productivity.
In Australia, Amcor now has the ability to record realtime operational data at the plant, work area and machine levels, and to generate metrics that can be meaningfully compared with other can-making plants both within Amcor, and externally.
Additional advantages
In addition, the scada and MES software can help organisations address two specific issues challenging businesses around the globe today – skills shortages and protection of the environment.
Thanks to the automation capabilities organisations can increase their productivity with existing staff levels and, if they use a mobile solution, such as that offered within CitectSCADA, they can free up staff to patrol a plant and perform maintenance and production checks as necessary, while still being notified of any alarms triggered at the control area.
Also, as organisations come under increasing pressure to reduce their energy usage and greenhouse emissions, the monitoring systems can help them increase efficiency, reduce wastage and measure emissions.
The importance of these wider business issues is impacting the selection and purchase of technology. Citect was established in 1973 and since then we have seen the decision to purchase manufacturing systems move from the plant floor to senior management and we have seen an extension from product-only purchases to the inclusion of managed services.
Current global economic and business pressures have seen companies reduce their full-time workforce to improve their bottom line. When this happens, businesses are looking to their technology suppliers to provide the services that will help them maximise the potential benefits offered by systems such as scada and MES.
Collaboration
The move to this collaboration approach is growing. Clients are increasingly coming to us looking for ongoing solutions to their business problems – not just a new product. They might have a problem with productivity, efficiency or downtime and they want a partner who is not just going to drop off a box and run, but actually ensure that the product is integrated properly into the operation so that it ultimately contributes to not only the current operation of the business but also to plans for future development.
We are told by clients that a good supplier is one that worries more about their business than they do; one who comes to them with suggestions on how to address problems before the client is even aware the problem exists. Collaboration between clients and suppliers is now a must for most businesses. Customers insist that their suppliers transform themselves to become more business partners attending quarterly business reviews, and strategic planning sessions so they can draw on our expertise and our familiarity with their businesses.
From pit to port, or production line to shop door, integrated scada and MES software can better help organisations meet their business challenges and objectives.
For more information contact Niconette du Toit, Citect Africa, +27 (0)11 699 6600, [email protected], www.citect.com
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