Manufacturing Intelligence: Powered by Industry 4.0

Knowing how to solve production issues quickly and efficiently is a skill all manufacturing managers should possess. Though there are many strategies that exist to identify and fix problems, the starting point for eliminating the most severe shop floor issues is having an infrastructure in place to support the automated collection and standardization of production data. With accurate, real-time data, managers can identify what problems are occurring, the root cause of the...

Quality is perhaps best understood and enforced in high precision component industries such as aerospace and defense, as well as medical device manufacturing. With that said, all manufacturers take into consideration defects, rework, scrap, and their associated costs. On the forefront of quality metrics, First Pass Yield is a helpful KPI to monitor as it answers a key question for managers: How effective are we at manufacturing quality parts? What is First Pass Yield? First...

What is Machine Operator Efficiency? Machine Operator Efficiency, or MOE, measures the performance of industrial machinery operators. Represented in the form of a percentage, it takes into consideration time, parts created, and part quality to effectively measure shop floor employee performance. Shop floor supervisors and plant managers can use MOE to evaluate the performance of their employees, just as they would use Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) to evaluate...

Customizing Operator Dashboards With the latest MachineMetrics feature release, manufacturers can now customize the tabs that appear on the Operator Dashboard and adjust the order in which the tabs appear. There are several reasons why operators and managers may choose to customize the tabs on Operator Dashboards: Remove Distractions: Not interested in seeing the Alarms or Cycle Time tab on the Operator Dashboard? Interested in only seeing Utilization metrics? Not a problem;...

Manufacturing industry production software has been around for many decades. As it has evolved, it has revolutionized production processes across different industries. And it is used in process, discrete, and mixed-mode production to manage, track, and improve production. Companies that use manufacturing software can grow their businesses by enabling greater control of processes and resources to drive optimal output. These manufacturers can better control and manage costs...

The most significant contributor to inefficiency in a production environment is equipment downtime. To manage this issue, manufacturing companies use downtime tracking software to categorize types of equipment downtime and develop procedures and strategies to reduce or eliminate the problem. In today’s high-speed and hyper-competitive market, manufacturers need every advantage they can to maintain market share. And software is a critical component of those strategies. What...

With the arrival of Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), a digital transformation is currently underway. The manufacturing industry is beginning to use analytics driven by real-time production data, not only to make better, faster decisions, but also to enable automation across the organization. Equipment connected through sensors and edge devices feeds massive volumes of data to cloud-based analytics platforms that can analyze and understand data...

Finding the Source of Problems on the Shop Floor Manufacturing can be a chaotic, fast-paced, and complex endeavor, forcing manufacturers to not only identify but also solve unique challenges. These problems can slow production, creating bottlenecks or stoppages when they are least expected. When such problems arise, many turn to root cause analysis (RCA) to help implement a solution. Here’s what we will cover in this in-depth guide on identifying root causes. Feel free to...

Empowering Operator Communication On the factory floor, Operators have historically been siloed at the machine, unable to successfully communicate with other functions without leaving their equipment. This leaves them in a difficult position when it comes to situations that require coordination such as loading more material, placing maintenance requests, or simply asking the shop floor manager for help. Whenever operators require support from crucial functions such as...

Wichita-based Trinity Precision has long served the aerospace industry. With deep roots among some of the country's most prominent names, their commitment to quality and precision is critical for maintaining safety in a highly regulated industry where part specification and safety are paramount. Trinity serves aerospace companies in need of high-quality parts and requiring complex machine parts and assemblies. [Source] Commitment to Technology Technology is a core component...