In my previous articles, I tried clearing up the issues such as; what is ERP, which ERP should be chosen based on what criteria, what to consider during selection and who to ask for input – both internally and externally. Also I emphasized that I believe that the most important member of a corporation is the information processing unit.
ERP systems, being able to oversee all the information flow of a business, sometimes need 3rd party programs.
You might need detailed data in a business via sources like manufacturing, HR, CRM and trade portal. You can also achieve this using ERP. However, you might want to avoid exhausting the ERP database since you’re keeping it busy using the lowest level data. By keeping it busy I mean processes that produce more than a million records over the course of an hour. ERP system alone may not be enough to track all the manufacturing processes in a company that put out 450-500K products a day. 3rd party software systems gather detailed data, break it down and summarize it for the ERP. This way it’s more efficient.
It also does not affect the data entry speed for users putting up numbers to the system.
External software systems transfer their data to ERP solutions using various methods, depending on the system infrastructure. The most common method is transferring the data in pre-determined intervals over external software.
There are essentially two ways to achieve this:
The most common external software application is field applications. Monitoring the performance of manufacturing devices in the production area forms the backbone of field applications. Similar to what I’ve emphasized in my first article, you can monitor production flows to the tune of every process and product serial number, all through the ERP. But this is not advised because of performance reasons. You’d be slowing down your users who might be preparing reports or entering records since you’d be keeping 10 times more records in stock transactions and capacity transactions tables.
Recommended approach for this situation is to keep all relevant data within the external software while having the main production steps in the ERP.
When I was working for Sek Sut, we took advantage of such MAS systems. Developed by a domestic company, this system is web based and can be used 24/7 via the cloud, essentially allowing managers access from anywhere.
After the installation, you can access the software from any production line using touchscreen panels and monitor manufacturing in real time. Data entry is handled by operators.
Daily production plans generated using the ERP system would be transferred to the MAS automatically. We could compare the actual production against the planned total based on line, product or operator, since the manufacturing data was being transferred to this program in real time. For instance, without having to ask production department, you could easily determine that something went wrong when you saw that a planned production of 1000 cases was actually put out as 600 cases. Otherwise, if you saw 1400 cases of production, you’d deduce that material left over was used this way.
Another monitoring approach would be based on the machine centers in production lines. Upon seeing an output of 400-500 cases of production from a machine that usually produces 1000 cases an hour, you’d deduce that either the personnel operated less, energy systems malfunctioned or the machine came to a halt somehow.
Having such a system that notifies you in the case of an anomaly in production numbers allows you to intervene immediately. Another benefit is that you find out about the problem not from other sources, but instantly and by yourself through the system.
MAS solutions offer you insight on the system efficiency by giving you monthly average production numbers against the system’s production capacity. It draws your attention to the losses by showing the number of products that failed quality approval. Because the operators handle data entry during production all system halts are indicated momentarily. You can inspect machine or material related losses on the stoppage report and develop ways to decrease them.
Due to the system being web based, you can monitor production related data 24/7 from any device.
Program supports Industry 4.0 through the usage of cloud as well as providing ease in Lean Turnaround activities.
We’ve blended our perceived value with the solutions we provide, while transforming our customers to our solution partners, and are working tirelessly to bring our services to every point of the globe.
