by Gary Mintchell | Apr 29, 2013 | Software
Here is a wrap up of some sessions I attended at the MESA International North American 2013 Conference. Several people who had implemented an MES/MOM solution spoke to the lessons learned and benefits gained from the technology.
I’ll be posting some podcast interviews I recorded there shortly.
Mike Yost, MESA president, discussed how his first MES project several years ago yielded many benefits that were never documented, so they never received credit for them. He challenged members, suppliers and manufacturers alike, to harness all the information that justifies applications. They need to educate the market.
I was able to attend two sessions presented by manufacturers who had recently implemented an MES/MOM solution. The first used the Workflow application from Savigent as part of a continuous program specifically targeted at improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) numbers. The second implemented a solution from Rockwell Software also as part of a continuous improvement effort saying he was “pursuing previously hidden information” to aid the effort.
In the first application, the speaker noted that it’s not so much that what gets measured can get managed. Rather, the saying should be “what gets managed gets improved.” He had been looking for a platform to automate data collection. The company needed to reduce the need for additional capital while reducing costs and improving OEE. The company was able to track metrics and manage accountability. By gaining increased visibility into manufacturing processes, gap analysis could be employed to improve manufacturing metrics.
Manual data entry gave false OEE reads. Better data gave insight that led to scrap reduction of 6%. It then gave information that led to better decision making on machinery.
The second speaker, from a major automotive manufacturing company, spoke of using a holistic approach to pursuing previously hidden knowledge and value. Much of the project involved plant visualization. They made the line status and problems visual. The idea is that no problems are hidden.
When the project was begun, there were either no or only a legacy plant visualization system. This included a lack of data for problem identification. The program unlocked machine data providing visualization into the process. One of the most important things they discovered is to have a unified data model.
Environmental reporting improved greatly by having access to more information than ever before. Critical process checks were made reliably and automatically, where previously they had people wandering around checking instruments and writing the data. The plant moved five dispatchers to more critical areas thus saving money in the operation.
Both of these projects were IT projects made in cooperation with process engineering showing that it is possible for the two groups to collaborate.
Watch for the launch of The Manufacturing Connection coming soon. “Connecting things, data and people in a digital world promoting manufacturing excellence.”
by Gary Mintchell | Apr 29, 2013 | Operations Management
I was sorry to miss the PAS User Conference last week. Just could not be in three places at the same time. But I had a chance to chat with CEO Eddie Habibi over the weekend, watched a few tweets from David Greenfield of Automation World who was there, and received this release.
The comments and direction discussed in this release shows PAS going in exactly the right direction. We just keep building on the shoulders of those who came before. The tremendous generation of engineers who paved the way for digital control. Then came intelligent devices and controllers that became information servers–automation.
Now is the stage in manufacturing/production for looking at the plant–and even the enterprise–more holistically. Despite doom and gloom in some quarters about automation driving people out of jobs, this also shows the exact opposite. We are now entering the era of empowering people.
PAS declared itself “The Human Reliability Company” reflecting the company’s commitment to developing products to empower the human factor at the plant facility–the operator.
Making PAS “The Human Reliability Company” represents the vision of PAS CEO and Founder, Eddie Habibi, and was revealed at the PAS Technology Conference in Houston, Texas.
This direction reflects the vision of Habibi who noted in his keynote address, the increasingly advanced complexity and interdependency of the systems necessary to run a process plant, and pointed out that the most common cause of accidents now is not failure of the automation system or plant equipment but rather human error.
“Human Reliability is the practice and process of preventing human error,” Habibi said, “and Situation Awareness is the embodiment of Human Reliability.”
“The time has come to focus on preventing human error,” Habibi said. “The goal is to address human reliability with the same vigor as asset reliability. Think of it this way: a pump failure is to asset reliability as human error is to human reliability. Preventing human error requires focus on the human element.”
Habibi noted that our cultures and our plant operations have been all about “faster, better, more.” Human Reliability, he said, “is the next big opportunity for improved ROI, but we need to do it faster, better, more…and safer,” he said.
PAS’ development of the Automation Genome and its products such as Integrity and PlantState Suite help simplify access to critical information and the management of the industrial automation infrastructure. PAS’ technology vision supports the movement toward Human Reliability by focusing on Situation Awareness for the plant operator, engineer, and maintenance and production staffs.
“Improving Human Reliability maximizes profitability and safety,” Habibi said.
by Gary Mintchell | Apr 26, 2013 | Education, Software
I am still catching up with news from the MESA International North America Conference this week. All living organisms and organizations seem to have periods of growth and then periods of consolidation. MESA International seems to have renewed leadership energy, focus and new growth potential.
Arguably its most significant achievement over the past couple of years has been the Global Education Program. I’ll have a podcast interview posted by the first of the week with Mike James who led the development of the program. It has been successful–but mostly in Asia followed by Europe and Africa. The uptake in the US has been less than other places. We need to evangelize more over here the benefits of implementing MES/MOM solutions.
The new announcement is that the new B2MML & Integration Fundamentals training is ready to launch, as are online classes, which will allow students easier access to classes and offer them two options for earning a MESA Certificate of Awareness (CoA) online.
The B2MML & Integration Fundamentals program is a significant new education product and the result of the 2012 merger between MESA and WBF. It will detail the fundamentals in plant-to-enterprise integration and the fundamentals and methodologies of using the MESA B2MML (Business-to-Manufacturing Markup Language) and ISA-95 standard. The IACET-accredited program will be available in both classroom and online settings and offer a MESA Certificate of Competency (CoC) for successful completion in either format.
MESA is also preparing to release a schedule of online classes for nine existing GEP courses. All such courses will be instructor-led (known as synchronous online training) to allow for student interaction with a MESA-authorized instructor and will offer IACET Continuing Education Units (CEU). Online courses can be taken as an individual class, based on topic and timing, or as part of a bundle or certificate program. The Business Awareness CoA will now be available completely online, and a new certificate, the MES/MOM Foundation CoA, will also be offered.
The announced enhancements build on MESA’s success of the last two and a half years. Over this time, MESA started the Global Education Program from scratch, educated hundreds of professionals across five continents, translated the program for German-speaking countries, and earned IACET accreditation. The B2MML offering now adds integration fundamentals education to the pool of available training. Making it, and existing courses, available online will make the training easier to access for students, and give MESA more options for providing subject-specific bundles of classes and new certificates.
MESA believes strongly in the need for this education and remains committed to its role as a leader. MESA’s president Mike Yost commented, “These enhancements to the MESA GEP show our continued commitment to establishing a worldwide baseline of knowledge for the MES/MOM space. When we get educated buyers working with educated solution providers, everyone will win, and the value of these solutions will be globally understood.”
by Gary Mintchell | Apr 25, 2013 | Software
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched its first Plant in a Box (PIB) offering during the MESA 2013 North American Conference. MESA’s community focuses on best practices for successful software implementation and TCS states that this new offering leverages such models as MESA’s B2MML and ISA 95. TCS says this offering is intended to help manufacturers rapidly set up, operate, optimize, and replicate lean manufacturing plant business systems.
For companies moving production facilities close to their target markets, enabling quick and effective ramp-up of new facilities is critical to success. The offering will initially focus on the Automotive Industry – both OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, with the intention to extend the solution to other discrete and process industries down the road.
“We are delighted that TCS has chosen MESA’s North American Conference as the venue to launch this new offering,” said MESA President Michael Yost. “Our members need to see new and evolving solutions as they come to market and understand how they can most successfully and reliably leverage them. MESA encourages companies to contribute to the conversations shaping how modern Information Technologies enhance production operations, and that’s what TCS has done here today.”
The PIB offering includes both commercial enterprise software and Process Framework that rests on a set of models specific to automotive needs. The intention of the models is to help optimize the plant and supply chain and better ensure the enterprise software implementation results in the desired business outcomes.
“Implementing the TCS PIB solution will provide customers with better opportunities to enable a performance-driven plant with visibility to performance driven by key performance indicators (KPIs). With that advantage, they can improve on the key metrics that MESA identifies in its Metrics and Performance Management research: time to market, market share, costs, and return on investment,” said Sanjay Karve, Head of the Innovation and Transformation Group at TCS.
At the core of PIB are a plant management model, detailed business processes and KPIs for lean operations realized on an enterprise software platform. PIB also includes interface models for effective interaction with supplier, customer and shop-floor systems. The software included has pre-configured processes, scenarios, reports, collaboration, and integration to select MES and PLM systems. PIB combined with TCS’ Manufacturing Operations Transformation (MOT) methodology is intended to allow customers to rapidly deploy standardized processes and systems in a plant and enable quick value creation.
Watch for the launch of The Manufacturing Connection coming soon. “Connecting things, data and people in a digital world promoting manufacturing excellence.”
by Gary Mintchell | Apr 25, 2013 | Operations Management
I took some time away from the Industry Week Best Plants / MESA North America Conference this week to attend a press conference with Dr. Helmuth Ludwig, CEO, Siemens Industry Sector, North America. Ludwig has been consistently on message in my last several conversations about the “manufacturing renaissance” in America.
In the press conference, he pointed to Tuesday’s (April 23) Siemens-sponsored Washington Post Live forum. Here government officials and leading executives gathered to discuss “America’s New Manufacturing.” Topics included re-shoring, new regional manufacturing hubs within the U.S., trends in manufacturing, training a new workforce and innovations in advanced technology.
Siemens, quite frankly unusual for it in the US, is taking a bold approach to evangelizing manufacturing in the US. On April 30, at 2:00 p.m. (EDT), Siemens, in partnership with IndustryWeek, will announce the results of a research study about manufacturing in America via live webcast.
Siemens will also host several more thought leadership events. On May 17, Siemens and MAPI (Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation) will bring you “The Future of Manufacturing Innovation” from Chicago. In June, Siemens hosts its end user Automation Summit in New Orleans, followed with additional events in Los Angeles and New York.
Briefing Overview
During the briefing, Ludwig stated, “Innovation and manufacturing must be aligned, but it is often not the best strategy to ‘design it here – make it there.’ Only a close connection of innovation and manufacturing allows manufacturers to ‘drive’ product and process innovation.”
Following are a few quotes lifted from the presentations.
According to Ron Bloom, Senior Advisor, Lazard; Former Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy, the manufacturing sector should find a means to combine the innovation power of Silicon Valley, with the efficiency of the Detroit automotive sector.
Additionally, statistics provided by James Manyika, Director, McKinsey Global Institute, show that while the manufacturing sector only represents 9% of jobs, it represents 61% of exports and 69% of privately funded research and development.
Bill Krueger, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management for Nissan North America stated, “We want to be fast, frugal and flexible,” which they can only be if they are close to their customers.
The crossroads of the virtual and real worlds are upon us in the manufacturing sector, as evidenced by Michael Gazarik, Director, Space Technology Program, NASA, who described how software ensured the success of the Mars Rover program through flight and landing simulation.
Expanding upon this concept, Ludwig told the press, “The transformation taking place in the U.S. manufacturing sector is highly based on software. Organizations, like NASA and JPL using Siemens PLM software for design and simulation; Daimler using Siemens CAD software NX; or BMW using Siemens TIA Portal, among others, have embraced this concept and are experiencing a shorter time-to-market through efficient innovation cycles and enhanced flexibility using more data to “individualize” mass production.”
According to Airbus Americas Chairman, Allan McArtor, there will always be a necessary balance between automation and human functions with highly-skilled workers. There are places in manufacturing for both humans and automation.
“Siemens manufacturing plant in Charlotte is an excellent example of how gas turbines with the highest efficiency can be produced in the US at the highest level of competiveness, based on automation technology from Siemens and skilled workers trained in partnership with Piedmont Community College,” noted Ludwig.
In his keynote address at the forum, Siemens Corp. President and CEO, Eric Spiegel, noted that the notion of a skills gap in the manufacturing sector has to be transferred to a “training gap.” Only by moving the responsibility from the trained to the trainer, and from the individual to the companies and educational institutions, are we addressing this challenge in the right manner. Companies like Siemens, as well as educational institutions, must facilitate the development of industry’s current and future workers. Spiegel highlighted Siemens apprenticeship program for students studying mechatronics, whereby after successful completion of the program, students are offered employment with a starting salary of $50,000 – especially remarkable if we compare this with the average starting salary of $43,000 for liberal arts graduates.
According to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, government’s role is to allocate capital in the right places for where the jobs are, and support the training necessary to fill those jobs. Tennessee has allocated funds to support technology centers, resulting in a 90% graduation rate and 90% job placement rate.
In closing, Siemens expects 4% cumulative growth through 2018. Fred Hochberg, Chairman and President, Export-Import Bank of the United States also expressed optimism about growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector, citing a tremendous upside, particularly with regards to our export potential.
Watch for the launch of The Manufacturing Connection coming soon. “Connecting things, data and people in a digital world promoting manufacturing excellence.”
