by Gary Mintchell | Apr 10, 2014 | Operations Management
One of the top benefits of membership in MESA International is a look into the full report of the “Metrics That Matter” research. MESA along with LNS Research just completed the latest edition of the survey. They are now ready to present some of the results in a Webcast live at 11 am EDT on April 16. Go to the MESA Website to register.
In a recent LNS blog post, the metrics that plant management most monitored were presented and discussed.
From the blog, “As a plant manager, you’re responsible for the day-to-day management and coordination of production, logistics, and maintenance in your assigned facility. Your position is one that’s hands-on and focuses on using all the resources at your disposal to maximize production accuracy and profitability while ensuring worker safety and government compliance in a particular unit of the manufacturing organization.”
2013-2014 Metrics that Matter Research Survey
As we’ve written about before at LNS Research, there are 28 top metrics that have been identified across eight key categories that are utilized the most for driving value for manufacturers today. These eight categories are as follows:
- Financial
- Inventory
- Innovation
- Responsiveness
- Efficiency
- Quality
- Maintenance
- Compliance
In one question, we asked over 200 respondents to identify at which level these eight categories were measured at their companies.
According to the survey, the metrics categories that were viewed most at the plant level were:
- Innovation: At 53%
- Maintenance: At 43%
- Efficiency: At 40%
These three categories contain eight top metrics that the research shows plant managers are keeping a close eye upon.
Innovation Metrics
The top two metrics in the Innovation category that plant managers are monitoring are:
- Rate of New Product Introduction: As this requires an analysis and ramp-up times between design, development, manufacturing and customer support groups in order to determine how rapidly new products can be introduced to the marketplace, it requires the leadership and expertise at the plant level in determining the logistics of these factors and setting expectations.
- Engineering Change Order Cycle Time: This measures how rapidly design changes or modifications can be made to existing products and implemented all the way through documentation processes and volume production.
As both of these metrics look at innovation through the lens of manufacturing operations’ role of production, it’s not surprising to see that they are being monitored more at the plant level than other areas of the business.
Maintenance Metrics
This category includes:
- Percentage Planned vs. Emergency Maintenance Work Orders: A ratio metric that’s an indicator of how often scheduled maintenance takes place, versus more disruptive, unplanned maintenance.
- Downtime in Proportion to Operating Time: This metric is a direct indicator of asset availability for production, as it’s the ratio of downtime to operating time.
As unplanned/emergency events tend occur in a localized manner and ripple outward with their effects, these metrics that look at direct asset availability and performance are being viewed primarily at the plant level. It’s interesting to note that survey respondents reported viewing Maintenance metrics second-most at the Corporate level, at 33%. Therfore, asset utilization and return is also a key business concern.
Efficiency Metrics
This category includes the following top metrics that go to the heart of a plant’s ability to produce efficiently and with quality to meet customer expectations:
by Gary Mintchell | Aug 1, 2013 | Operations Management, Software
I’ve received some manufacturing software news recently. The products continue trends toward packaged solutions and emphasis on workflow automation. Plus a little guide to the acronym thicket.
20 Manufacturing Software Acronyms
We in the editorial community always get a chuckle from writers in the analyst community because of their use of acronyms, letterisms, and the like. Our good friends at LNS Research have written a little glossary of the 20 acronyms you need to know to navigate the MOM (see glossary) ecosystem.
GE Intelligent Platforms News
GE Intelligent Platforms has announced the immediate availability of Proficy OEE, a software solution that provides a critical link between measurement and improvement of manufacturing processes. This scalable solution is designed to continuously monitor and improve equipment performance, providing manufacturers an analysis tool which can increase efficiency and productivity on the shop floor. And, because Proficy OEE is completely turnkey, companies can implement it quickly so as to maximize its return on investment and minimize total cost of ownership (TCO).
“Manufacturers are being asked to do more with fewer resources,” said Don Busiek, General Manager Manufacturing Software for GE Intelligent Platforms. “Overall equipment effectiveness, OEE, provides a way for these manufacturers to make the most of what they already have by ensuring their equipment is running at top levels of performance.”
Rockwell Automation News
Rockwell Software Arena v14.5 software extends the 3-D animation capabilities of the software to include material-handling components, such as conveyors and transporters.
The 3-D capabilities of Arena software enable users to better visualize the results of their business simulations in a realistic environment. These new capabilities extend this powerful visualization into the materials-handling area. Implemented within the Arena Visual Designer framework, 3-D animation components can be easily dragged and dropped into the simulation environment without the need for programming or coding.
“Businesses cannot afford to make costly mistakes when making changes to their business processes,” said Rob Kranz, director and general manager, Arena Software, Rockwell Automation. “The addition of 3‑D animation capabilities to material handling is one of the many ways that Arena software continues to provide companies with the means to quickly test and evaluate changes before making them in the actual process.”
Users also can import content from popular 3-D modeling programs, such as SketchUp, AutoDesk or Blender. Like the previous version, the Arena v14.5 Visual Designer tool runs on the Microsoft .NET framework to provide common functionality with Windows applications. The .NET framework provides access to charts and graphics available from Microsoft to create customized, impactful graphic dashboards for business presentations.
Rockwell Automation released Rockwell Software PharmaSuite v5.0 for pharmaceutical and biotech production. The new version delivers a single MES solution with the agility to integrate and streamline production not only across multiple production areas and product lines, but also from line to site level.
“With improved automation-layer integration, equipment modeling and nonorder work-flow management, the PharmaSuite v5.0 system helps manufacturers deploy systems more rapidly with greater production flexibility,” said Martin Dittmer, PharmaSuite product manager, Rockwell Automation. “We’re working to set new standards in performance, usability and deployment time with every new PharmaSuite release. Version 5.0 provides a core solution poised to dramatically compress the time from deployment to return on investment regardless of the application.”
Automation-layer integration – The PharmaSuite v5.0 system includes improved integration with production equipment and automated batch processing using the PharmaSuite Recipe Designer. The system automatically collects data directly from production equipment, provides automation set points, monitors automation events, and integrates process information into the electronic batch record to reduce the risk for human error that can result from manual data collection.
Equipment modeling – The PharmaSuite v5.0 system uses a new equipment modeler to define the underlying model and optimize integration across the range of manufacturing types, including biological, secondary, active, discrete assembly, weigh and dispense, and packaging. This allows users to define the automation interface, maintain equipment descriptions and specifications, and use the new equipment modeler as the foundation for GMP-compliance tracking and automation-integration scenarios. The user interface provides quick access to production information and is optimized to maintain and analyze massive amounts of equipment-related data.
Nonorder work-flow management – The PharmaSuite v5.0 system redefines assembling and supporting nonorder-related work flows that traditionally require custom programming by a systems integrator. Using ISA88-recipe design principles, the PharmaSuite v5.0 system enables the on-site end user or recipe author to create new work flows on their own, in just minutes, by re-using existing building blocks. By creating and managing these back-end tasks on their own, manufacturers can reduce overall production costs to help accelerate the return on investment.
