CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, AUGUST 23, 2007 - GE Fanuc Automation announced the availability of a new version of Proficy Tracker software that helps companies increase productivity and decrease costs by monitoring and managing the execution of production orders. Proficy Tracker is in use in companies all over the world, managing the tracking and traceability of consumer products from Automotive to Electronics. Tracker allows each item that moves through the production or packaging process to be tracked providing the detailed, continuous information users need to:
optimize manufacturing processes
manage inventory levels and locations
schedule resources and routing materials effectively
Proficy Tracker provides the ability to not only track the real time location of jobs on the production floor, but can also be configured to perform routing logic on the movement of jobs through the facility. This unique capability allows manufacturers to manage the manufacturing routing and delivery of multiple product components into complex product assemblies.
“The trend in manufacturing today is a shift from build to stock to build to order,” said Rich Breuning, Global Industry Manager for GE Fanuc. “In many operations, suppliers have to pay a penalty if sequence is not achieved. If the right components are not available, that job will need to be set out of the production line until the parts arrive. This can then have an impact on all subsequent operations if the situation is not properly managed.”
Order Execution Management can be used in conjunction with Tracker to handle the ever-changing real world conditions of the production floor. It provides production order management, broadcast, and sequencing, substitution, and hold management of production orders. Order Execution Management releases orders and maintains the production build sequence throughout the manufacturing process through routing control and order substitution management. It transmits the option build information to process equipment, manual assembly stations, suppliers, and printed manifests used to ensure products are built right the first time. Genealogy and Traceability data is collected to create Birth Certificates, key information to drive Early Warning analysis and contain Warranty Exposure.
Proficy Tracker works with a variety of production processes, making it easy for users to implement and operate a comprehensive work-in-progress tracking system. Features include:
Collects data from automated sensors and readers including bar codes, RF tags and mechanical tag systems.
Provides graphic screens to display tracking paths and item information, and reflect production control commands.
Maintains detail data for all jobs in the system, including content, status, location and production process counts.
Keeps cycle counts, repair information and carrier status online. It accommodates different types of carriers within a system, allowing manufacturers to track products even when the process transforms them.
Provides routing control of work orders through the production facility.
Collects and tracks product genealogy information.
In addition, Proficy Tracker accommodates a variety of production flow adjustments, from minor modifications to major system redesign. The solution’s automation of tracking and routing can significantly increase the return on existing equipment by automatically sending defective materials to a rework area and scrapped materials to a recycling area; grouping batches of products to be painted the same color improving efficiency, reducing set up and eliminating rework; monitoring carriers that are due for adjustment or inspection and automatically routing carriers in need of additional work to a repair center; and providing line balancing during production start up.
“The value of any software product is its ability to improve business performance,” concluded GE Fanuc’s Breuning. “Tracker, with its order execution management capabilities, is unique in the industry and offers a solution that manages and adapts to the real time situations that occur on a production floor.”
About GE Fanuc Automation
GE Fanuc Automation Corporation, a joint venture between General Electric (NYSE: GE) and FANUC LTD of Japan, delivers automation hardware and software designed to help users reduce costs, increase efficiency and enhance profitability. With solutions and services for virtually every industrial segment, GE Fanuc Automation provides a diverse array of capabilities and products, including controllers, embedded systems, advanced software, motion control, CNCs, operator interfaces, industrial computers, and lasers. Headquartered in Charlottesville, VA, GE Fanuc Automation is a part of GE Enterprise Solutions and combines the diverse global strengths of the GE family with the local presence customers need to design, develop and maintain their automation investments.
