The aim of the digital factory is clear: “Produce better, in the shortest time, at the lowest cost”.

But how can these results be reached? 

The reduction of “process times” must take into account different production characteristics: the production model adopted (continuous or discrete production); make and buy portion; minimum workpiece quantity in the batch; etc.

In a discontinuous flow production, typical of mechanical production workshops working with tool machines and with outside machining phases, to achieve lead time reduction it is absolutely necessary:

• Full control over the real machining progress to correctly coordinate the passage between the different machining phases and reduce queue times to a minimum: “the right material, at the right place, at the right time”. The direct interconnection of all machines is essential, as well as the use of factory management systems able to track the logistic flow of materials in real time. The real competitive advantage derives from highly developed systems for production data analysis, able to calculate real process times between the single phases and relevant material waiting times and predictively suggest the best production models.

APPS  Monitoring; Tracking Manager; FMS; Analysis

• Optimum exploitation of production resources, by applying the correct production planning rules based on real efficiency and resource availability. The production planning system, to be efficient, must directly communicate with the production resources (machines and people) by directly conveying tasks (production orders) and receiving progress information in real time. Traditional MES systems provide scheduling programs that often generate complicated operating plans in the office, which reveal inapplicable in the workshop, since they are completely detached from the real production progress.

APPS Job Manager; Scheduler; FMS; Factory Logistics

• Reduction of setup times, for example by minimizing tool change times, whose data can be automatically acquired by machines depending on the type of machining to be performed. There is much information to be processed for efficient tool management: the type of tools required for machining execution; useful lifetime of the tools in the machine; availability of tools in stock; geometric tool data; loading and unloading lists; lists of the tools to be checked; etc. The digital factory guarantees the automated management of all information that can be processed and directly conveyed to the resources when needed.

APPS Tools Manager

• Reduction of downtimes caused by manual operations. For example, by automatically checking in advance the arriving of the material in the storage areas without the risk of assigning operators to other activities. In the digital factory, the manual activity scheduling system must manage in real time the information relevant to all machining and supplying phases, which, for example, precede manual assembly phases.

APPS  MDO; Scheduler assembly

• The scheduling system of the digital factory must be able to adjust planning to the real progress of the current activities (coming directly from the machines or the manual working stations); it must also be equipped with analytical capabilities able to assess with extreme rapidity and precision any variation in the work program, for example in the event of an unexpected urgent order.

APPS  Scheduler; Analysis

Production data collection is essential to objectively measure work performances, while the direct interconnection of all machines is essential to collect useful information to improve efficiency.

The digital factory foresees the use of data analysis technologies for predictive purposes: based on the data collected (time of the single machining phases, setup times, material queue times, etc.), the predictive analysis allows for the suggestion of optimum production models able to minimize any wastage and allocate resources more efficiently.

APPS  Analysis; Digital intelligence