Thomas R. Cutler

Making Headway with Work-In-Process (WIP); Shoplogix – Real-time Performance Improvements

According to Steve Celestini, Shoplogix VP Strategy and Chief Technical Officer, “Monitoring work-in-progress increases real-time visibility with automated status notifications on semi-finished goods throughout the production process. Plantnode reduces the likelihood of material shortages, minimizes routing time, and allows for reductions in total inventory.”

Without Plantnode

• Best estimates of real-time material consumption rather than actual based on manual inputs
• Purchasing and material handling become aware of material consumption when the supervisor notices stock levels are below the ‘re-order point’
• Large buffers of inventory in place to minimize stock outs (ex. Increase re-order point)

RESULT:

• Greater probability of unplanned downtime and idle time from stock outs or material shortages
• Dependency on manual processes to increase reporting accuracy

With Plantnode

• Improved Workflow: Minimizes waste between stations or work cells due to better coordination of processes with a clearer understanding of pace and completion times at each independent operation. 
• Accurate Production Counts due to real-time monitoring at the machine level allows tracking for ‘actual’ production rather than best estimates.
• Increased Machine Availability: Accurate monitoring coupled with a clear understanding of the pace of production ensures machine availability for the next stage in production.
• Increased Lead Times: Email alerts are sent to material handling and purchasing to provide advanced notice of material consumption.  Reorders are just in time to reduce inventory and eliminate material shortages.
• Accurate Re-ordering: Automated notifications provide the purchasing department with specific re-order requirements and material consumption rates to increase accuracy of re-fill orders with suppliers with the ability to gauge reorders based on anticipated needs.

RESULT:

• Less Probability of Down time and Idle time:  Dramatic decrease in lag time between processes for material handling, ordering, and delivery with less chance of line stoppages through email alerts and warnings generated real-time based on actual production.
• Decreased Inventory Carrying Costs due to better inventory management – reduced inventory buffers because of more accurate consumption monitoring and automatic email notifications to increase response times

President and CEO Kevin Dwyer asserts, “Plantnode streamlines work-in-progress and increases efficiency because production no longer stops due to material shortages, less supervision time is required due to automated task monitoring, and total carrying costs are decreased as a result of lower levels of inventory.”

ABOUT SHOPLOGIX

Shoplogix develops intelligent performance management software that optimizes plant floor operations.   Shoplogix solutions improve productivity, efficiency, and total operational performance by allowing companies to make real-time decisions that impact profitability while actively engaging employees in the process.

PLANTNODE

Plantnode is a hybrid web-based software application designed on an open platform to integrate with existing production equipment, analyze real-time performance, and evaluate machine productivity.  Plantnode’s built-in intelligence goes beyond raw data collection to provide a fully integrated production and performance management application; differentiated by the ability to compare real-time data against planned estimates.  Plantnode is proven to increase Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and enables machine level visibility on a 24x7 basis with automatic escalations and interactive processes to drive higher levels of operational efficiency, quality, and performance.

PLANTNODE NETWORK

Plantnode Network is an enterprise web-based software application that consolidates and analyzes operational data for all Plantnode enabled equipment providing a complete and accurate view of production performance.   Plantnode Network’s distributed design provides true enterprise scalability to evaluate real-time performance on a plant-wide, multi-site, or global basis.

Shoplogix

www.shoplogix.com

Hellen Budaya Pileski

hbudaya-pileski@shoplogix.com

Manager, Marketing Communications

905-469-9994 Ext.120

Article Tags: Real-time Performance, Material Consumption

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