Picking Data Off The Plant Floor

Computerworld - It takes about 1,300 parts to assemble one of Intuitive Surgical Inc.'s surgical robots. To comply with federal regulations governing the manufacture of such equipment, Mountain View, Calif.-based Intuitive must keep track of every part and process that goes into the assembly.
So far, Intuitive has used what's known as paper "travelers" to manually record the required information at various stages of the manufacturing process.
That's about to change. Intuitive is implementing new technology that will allow assembly workers to enter details of products being assembled, as well as to store work instructions and to test records on PCs installed on the plant floor.
Bar-code labels slapped onto every component used in the assembly process will allow Intuitive to keep track of each part from the time it arrives on the receiving docks to the time it ships.
If it works the way it should, Intuitive's Web-enabled manufacturing execution system (MES) will simplify the record-keeping process and provide the company with a wealth of real-time, unit-level data that it can use for analysis, forecasting and even collaborative manufacturing in the future, says Don Chamberlain, a senior analyst at the company.
"We expect we'll have much more efficient manufacturing once the system is implemented," he says.
Intuitive isn't alone. A growing number of manufacturers are looking at MES with renewed interest in their efforts to extract manufacturing data and use it in planning and forecasting applications that extend far beyond the factory floor, says David Monroe, an analyst at Plant-Wide Research Group, a Billerica, Mass.-based consultancy.
Most of the interest in MES is coming from companies with global manufacturing operations and those with multiple locations within the U.S., Monroe adds.
Wide Appeal
The push among manufacturers to leverage plant-floor data for strategic planning is being driven by a trend toward Web-based buying and selling, configured-to-order products, global outsourcing and a continuing push for better operational efficiencies, says David Krauthamer, MIS manager at Advanced Fibre Communications Inc., a Petaluma, Calif.-based maker of telecommunications equipment.
Having access to real-time shop-floor data makes it easier for companies to track production schedules, forecast materials requirements, provide customers with order-tracking information and make changes later in the production cycle if needed, he says.
"Almost everyone is focused on improving operational margins" by providing more enterprisewide visibility into the plant floor, Krauthamer says.
For example, a recent survey of 50 global manufacturing managers by Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc. found that 38% cited poor visibility into plant operations as their greatest challenge to expanding manufacturing operations overseas.