Smart Factory to Launch MES Data Entry Stations
Post Provided by Smart Factory.
Smart Factory is to launch a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) range of mobile and fixed data entry stations with various screen options and full keyboard options during the first quarter of 2017 The stations are rated IP65, which means that they are protected against dust ingress and against low pressure water jets from any direction. Made for use in the lifesciences and food & beverage industries, the products are designed for cleanroom and wash down areas.
The Smart Factory Solution is a non-invasive retrofit system that captures process data in real-time, giving actionable intelligence to optimise operational performance. The Smart Factory team have developed a robust and well-engineered solution that converges manufacturing 4.0 and lean digitalisation, driving efficiency through innovation and bridging the IT/OT convergence in manufacturing.
Over the past 12 months, while promoting data visualisation, Smart Factory had numerous site visits to some of the top manufacturing companies in Ireland. Coming from a data-centric background, some of the team were very surprised to discover that, although many potential customers were very impressed with their data visualisation software, they didn’t have automated data acquisition systems. Even some of the most successful multinational companies believed that the costs and effort to implement a data gathering system on legacy or stand-alone machines are prohibitive or won’t provide them with the information they require. Therefore, Smart Factory developed a solution to wirelessly gather production information from any type of equipment, using low-cost IIoT devices.
These smart solutions reduce the amount of resources required to gather and communicate critical information across an organisation and dynamically translate this data into actionable intelligence. These are built on the industry proven technology of Smart Factory’s hardware partners Siemens and Turk Banner, and their data acquisition, analytics and visualisation tools are considered best-in-class. These help identify hidden losses, thus reducing planned and unplanned downtime, increasing productivity and maximising efficiency.
Smart Factory have also developed a solution specifically for discrete/medical device manufacturers which includes tough tablet PC’s and wireless buttons, sensors and light stacks. The manumatic (part-manual, part-automatic) system captures the number of units, rework and scrap produced and provides a visual indication when the semi-automatic production process is running at the required cycle speed. The operator logs in to the “work-cell” using the barcode or RFID reader on the tablet. The system reports equipment efficiency (OEE) in real-time, per work-cell and can also be used to report the output per operator. If the cycle-time of a given process exceeds a pre-set target, the operator is prompted to add a comment/explanation via a pop-up on the tablet.
Smart Factory’s modular solutions also include downtime video analysis, maintenance (CMMS) and MES/MOM software and business process automation and workflow digitisation.
Read more at www.smartfactory.ie
