Lean manufacturing systems typically focus on reducing

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1 Photo courtesy Global Shop Solutions Inc. Software for Lean manufacturing With the Global Shop Solutions ERP, users get shop-floor data collection, quality tracking and other lean manufacturing elements. Manufacturing Software Helps Shops Map Lean Journeys With scheduling, monitoring and quality analysis software, manufacturers visualize the factory floor to help reduce waste and reach their lean manufacturing goals Patrick Waurzyniak Senior Editor Lean manufacturing systems typically focus on reducing waste and controlling inventory. The goal of lean manufacturing is continuous improvement of production processes, while eliminating waste and cutting costs. Many manufacturing software systems that schedule jobs and track shop-floor metrics like overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) in real time can give manufacturers the necessary tools to help achieve many lean manufacturing objectives. Software that helps manufacturing operations with their lean goals spans a very wide range of programs, from shop-floor data collection and monitoring packages to manufacturing execution systems (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Other options include the software used for flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) and quality-focused packages like statistical process control (SPC). Many software systems track what s happening in the plant in real time, giving executives and plant-floor management the data analysis tools to respond quickly to address issues as the arise on the factory floor. November 2015 AdvancedManufacturing.org 87

2 Image courtesy Memex Inc. Memex s MERLIN manufacturing execution systems feature real-time data monitoring, collection and analysis capabilities that advance lean manufacturing initiatives. Monitoring the Shop Floor Without collecting and analyzing factory data, manufacturing managers are blind to problems occurring on the plant floor. Factory data systems can contain a wealth of information about the health of the factory, but many operations simply haven t invested in data collection and monitoring systems even though those systems are becoming more available and cost-effective (see Why Manufacturing Needs Real-Time Data Collection, in the October 2015 issue of Manufacturing Engineering). Lean manufacturing techniques applied to traditional manufacturing require the identification and reduction of waste throughout the entire enterprise, noted David McPhail, president and CEO, Memex Inc. (Burlington, ON), an MES software developer. This requires complete visibility of all facets of the manufacturing process to identify and eliminate all forms of waste, from inefficient use of equipment or personnel, reduction of Work in Process, through to minimization of finished goods inventory, ultimately leading to JIT delivery. The journey begins with the real-time monitoring of the equipment, and the human capital that operate it, McPhail added. Accurate part and reject counts, by product and shift, lead to further waste reduction opportunities. Software and hardware that can connect all equipment and operators in real time, and calculating an Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) metric, is a good place to start, McPhail said. OEE is a distillation of the six-sigma principle of waste, and as such creates a universally understood formula representation of how the manufacturing process is presently performing. This rich data set highlights areas to concentrate continuous improvement efforts on, leading to relatively quick ROI periods. 88 AdvancedManufacturing.org November 2015

3 With Memex s MERLIN MES software, manufacturers get a lean-focused shop-floor data-collection program that connects any machine tool, including older equipment and newer MTConnectcapable machines, to plant-wide data networks. MERLIN stands for Manufacturing Execution Realtime Lean Information Network, so Lean is baked right into the product s DNA, McPhail said. MERLIN calculates OEE from all types and vintages of manufacturing equipment, via MT- Connect, OPC, FANUC FOCAS, or our Ax760 MTConnect-compliant hardware. Essentially our MTConnect hardware turns a legacy piece of equipment into a web server, which allows it to speak intelligently to management s information systems, he said. The system has three data streams that converge together to The Makino Machine Productivity Maximizer (MPmax) software features real-time shop-floor data collection and analysis, as shown with these machine utilization performance stats. track OEE in real time, by shift, work order, operator, product, connector to ERP systems, and an operator portal that allows downtime, rejects, etc., to be tracked and input by the and by the second. The system includes a bidirectional operator, for greater root-cause analysis. Image courtesy Makino Inc. Sharpen your cutting tools with a Darex sharpener. We ve been in business for over 40 years, manufacturing drill and end mill sharpeners for tool cribs across the globe. We Know The Drill. Get in touch now! XT-3000A x 9509 Easy to use everyone in your shop can operate it. Precision results. Automates the sharpening See us at FABTECH Booth #S3307 The Pull of Lean Productivity In manufacturing operations today, many companies are using commercially available software packages for two distinct reasons, said James Brown, controls software development manager, Makino Inc. (Mason, OH). The first reason is to collect status and utilization data from individual production equipment. Collection and analysis of this data provides companies with several key benefits, Brown said, such as improved prediction of individual order completion and measured time required to perform a specific machining operation on a specific part number. This allows for more accurate delivery date estimates and provides a better way to determine the cost to produce specific parts or combinations of part numbers. These predictive capabilities are particularly beneficial in lean manufacturing environments. Another reason is to ensure that the resources NC programs, tools, fixtures that are required by the machine to make a specific part number are readily identified to the operator in a lean manufacturing environment, Brown said. This capability reduces the time required to prepare the machine and fixturing for a part number change, he said. In a lean manufacturing environment, alternating between different part numbers is often required. Reducing the preparation time of these processes is essential for productivity gains. 90 AdvancedManufacturing.org November 2015

4 With Makino s Machine Productivity Maximizer (MPmax) software, users can monitor each connected machine for the current machine status and provide a real-time view of up to 20 machines in one display. The display indicates the running status, the status of the overrides, the part number being ran and more. This data is stored for historical analysis in the future, Brown said. The MPmax software provides charting and historical data collection for the utilization of each machine. Not only is machine cycle time captured and displayed, but machine spindle cut time is uniquely identified within the cycle time display, Brown added. All machine states are captured and displayed in the machine utilization display. OEE relative to machine availability and machine utilization can be displayed. Machine operators are also able to enter a reason for why the machine stopped, which can help eliminate outliers among data trends. The journey begins with the real-time monitoring of the equipment, and the human capital that operate it. MPmax provides functions for machine scheduling and cutting tool monitoring that are consistent with lean manufacturing, Brown said, noting that Makino s MPmax customers have seen productivity improvements in their lean manufacturing operations, some as high as a 30% increase. real time could be made to shut down the manufacturing operation and adjust the equipment back within spec, thereby addressing the root cause of reject waste. In MERLIN, the real-time due date of parts produced can be visualized, based on the history of all of the work orders previously produced, he added. This gives operational management a heads up to a potential delivery issue, in some cases weeks in advance, which in turn affords the lean coordinator a much greater degree of flexibility with respect to the appropriate degree of corrective actions to be taken to bring present actual results back in line with intended overall plans. OEE, and more specifically its components of Availability, Quality, and Performance, gives the operational management team, at all levels, the ability to work on the reduction of waste across the entire value stream of manufacturing, McPhail stated. We have over 100 customers using MER- LIN, with the average IRR [internal rate of return] between %. Translated, this IRR rate equates to a three to four-month average payback. Memex customers includ- PR0TECT PARTS Tracking Shop Metrics Understanding the capacity utilization of the factory is key to uncovering inefficiencies and waste, which is also key to a successful lean implementation, McPhail noted. As an example, looking at the Availability portion of the OEE calculation, defined as runtime/total time (including downtime), affords the continuous improvement team an accurate measurement of how much downtime was collected, he said. An analysis of the root cause of this downtime, properly categorized, should point out many opportunities to improve the manufacturing process, thereby eliminating waste. Another example is the quality component of the OEE calculation, he said, which is defined as good parts/total parts produced (including rejects). If the quality of the manufacturing process is below an acceptable threshold [world class is 95%], McPhail said, and the rejects are being classified as to their root cause at the time they were made, a decision in from scratches and corrosion Replace fluid soaked cardboard with reusable plastic mesh. Breathable plastic sheets and sleeves cut to your sizes in one business day! See a demo at /IndustrialNetting November 2015 AdvancedManufacturing.org 91

5 ing Magellan, Rise Integration, and Mazak, McPhail said, are examples of companies that have embraced lean and OEE together to realize dramatic, lasting results. Paperless Flow with ERP Shop-floor data collection is at the core of the ERP system developed by Global Shop Solutions (The Woodlands, TX), said Mike Melzer, vice president, Operations. The majority of Global Shop ERP users employ the system s data-collection system to clock jobs in and out. We have our document control The Toyoda Integrated Management System (TIMS) software shown at ToyoTech program, and everything is tied to that, aims to reduce manufacturing costs with advanced scheduling capabilities for Melzer said. When they clock into that, they flexible manufacturing systems. see their drawing. Customers are using paperless documents now, ensuring print my ticket, it s got the instructions on it, with the machine that every document is current. Using Global Shop s Move information on the label, he said. It s a paperless flow. From ticket is a key aspect of the software, Melzer added. When I a lean standpoint, that s crucial because then they know they re following the right instructions, and our basic goal is to get lean. Global Shop s data collection also includes tracking part quality. Why did we scrap a part? Do we have to rework it? We definitely are tracking quality, Melzer said. We also have a module called Global Application Builder, where once they make the first part and know it s good, it locks that job until all the parts are done. Scheduling in real time is key to the system operating in a lean environment, he said. Good data is the only thing that you can schedule with. If you ve got bad data, it doesn t work. We do not have an MRP bill that runs every night, Melzer said. We can adjust the schedule. ERP software is often viewed as more of a push system rather than using the pull advocated for lean systems. But Melzer said Global Shop s ERP operates more like the lean model with real-time data access. I would consider it more real-time, he said. A push system is hard to make adjustments with on the fly. About 80% of our customers are lean manufacturers. Everybody s trying to cut costs, and when you re trying to cut costs, you have to be lean. Photo courtesy James D. Sawyer Targeting Lean with FMS The goals of lean manufacturing, if you look at the five or six major outcomes, one is to build product every day and build to order, said John Lenz, president of CMS Research Inc. (Oshkosh, WI), developer of the SAIL flexible manufactur- 92 AdvancedManufacturing.org November 2015

6 ing software. Another one is to reduce waste and eliminate work in process levels, so FMS, flexible manufacturing systems, are applications that fit into lean and support the lean agenda. Reducing waste, and manufacturing costs, are primary goals for both lean practitioners and proponents of flexible automation. The SAIL (Scheduling for Automated and Integrated Lines) software was developed about 10 years ago by Lenz at CMS (Computerized Manufacturing Systems), which also created its MAST (MAnufacturing Simulation Tool) software for analyzing production flow in manufacturing facilities. SAIL focuses on three major areas: flexible capacity, daily order scheduling, and a part serialization-based quality plan. SAIL and MAST have been implemented in a wide variety of high-mix manufacturing settings, noted Lenz, from contract machine houses to major corporations, with outcomes ranging from a 10 40% reduction in manufacturing costs. In any high-mix manufacturing environment, like job shops, an FMS system fits all those agendas or strategies, Lenz said. We don t market under the lean name, he said, because many times we re focused on automation. SAIL offers a highly accurate view of factory-floor scheduling for running a variety-mix environment, while MAST features two levels of modeling, at the factory level to monitor factory flow and to target an inventory level or flow time. That s been useful for lean, Lenz said. The CMS software simulates cell layouts and has been highly successful in reducing costs, Lenz said. Implementations include Caterpillar, Parker Hannifin, and Charles Machining Works, maker of the Ditch Witch ditch-digging machines. Lenz developed a version of the software that is being used for the new Toyoda Information Management System (TIMS), which was shown at the recent open house at Toyoda Machinery USA (Arlington Heights, IL). Flexible capacity is key to lean goals, Lenz noted. Most machine cells are planned with flexibility using alternative paths, but this is a benefit to reducing cost only when the flexibility is realized in daily decisions. MAST/SAIL software uses modeling to configure the minimum implementation cost that attains 25% flexible hours, and then uses this model to generate daily schedules. The combination of planning for flexibility and daily management is what delivers reduction in manufacturing cost. Building to daily demand is a lean technique proven to minimize waste and reduce manufacturing cost, Lenz stated. The difficulty comes in its implementation. MAST/ SAIL software provides automatic data flow/sharing from the ERP system directly to cell controls, Lenz noted. Orders automatically appear in the SAIL Order list via data sharing or Kanban scans. An allocation process customized in SAIL generates a daily schedule and transfers these instructions to cell control computers. Lean Quality Software Lean initiatives stretch across many aspects of manufacturing operations and can employ many tools to facilitate overall lean principles, noted Eric Weisbrod, technical services manager, InfinityQS International Inc. (Fairfax, VA), developer of the ProFicient enterprise quality hub and SPC The biggest challenge I see with high-level roll-up numbers like OEE is the amount of detail that is lost. November 2015 AdvancedManufacturing.org 93

7 software. The principles that focus on elimination of waste, waste created through overburden and waste created through unevenness in workloads, can be facilitated with a quality management system powered by SPC. The primary focus of SPC is reducing variation, which is quite similar to lean manufacturing s initiative of reducing waste, Weisbrod added. The tools used in SPC to reduce variation, when used properly, will have the desired effect of reducing/ eliminating waste. At the core of InfinityQS software InfinityQS SPC software shows a Pareto chart with analysis of a manufacturer s shop-floor process variations. is a centralized data repository that allows for the comparison variations within these data, Weisbrod said lean manufacturing of data across a variety of criteria, plant locations and even professionals can use many of the same functionalities within suppliers. Though SPC typically looks at ways to reduce InfinityQS software to extend those findings to reduce waste across operations. Fewer out-of-specification products result in less waste. The biggest benefit software can provide is to help manufacturers understand what affects the quality of the products they deliver, Weisbrod said. For lean shops, OEE and other metrics are only one way to measure performance, he added. The biggest challenge I see with high-level roll-up numbers like OEE is the amount of detail that is lost, Weisbrod said. These types of metrics are a way of providing a highlevel summary, but people should use caution when going solely by such overview metrics. This applies to all metrics like OEE, including C p, C pk, scrap counts, etc. When looking at a lean shop-floor environment, it s important to look at some level of detail to make sure that inconsistencies aren t lost in the data-aggregation process. Image courtesy InfinityQS International Inc.?CMS Research Inc / Global Shop Solutions Inc / InfinityQS International Inc / Makino Inc / Memex Inc / 94 AdvancedManufacturing.org November 2015