By Thomas R. Cutler

The introduction of a system that keeps track of utilization and productivity for any production machine, tool, or process on a shop floor is a revolutionary development in the lean manufacturing toolbox. The ability to differentiate between running time and down time is critical in the elimination of waste. For the benefits of lean to be accomplished the solution must keep track of the real-time distribution of parts being produced. Plantnode, by Shoplogix (www.shoplogix.com) is the web browser-based lean solution selected by Benlan Inc., a medical device manufacturer specializing in disposable plastic products for the healthcare markets in Canada and the United States. The company operates a 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Oakville, Ontario, and manufactures molded and extruded medical components as well as offering custom manufacturing, private label packaging, and their own MED-RX® line of products.

Unknown machine capacity hindered planning

Benlan originally implemented the technology solution in Spring 2005 to assist in gathering information on the efficiency of one of their form-fill-seal packaging machines. According to Tom Enns, President of Benlan, “We needed a way to understand the capacity of our packaging equipment, particularly since new equipment has a lead time of six to eight months. Plantnode is already giving us good intelligence about how many of each type of product we can put through this machine in a given timeframe.

Real-time intelligent mining of shop floor data

This lean manufacturing mechanism is an intelligent embedded application that integrates with existing production equipment on the plant floor. Manufacturing gained the ability to perform multiple activities such as data capture and measurement, performance analysis, machine alerts and reporting on a machine-by-machine, job-by-job, plant-by-plant or multi-plant basis. The web-based browser has proven effective in improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), predictive and preventive maintenance, and quality initiatives across all industries.

Downtime and productivity have significantly improved

Benlan found that this technology selection has helped achieve quantifiable lean results in two key areas: reduction in machine downtime, which has lead to increased production throughput. Packaging equipment uses materials such as film, which must be regularly replenished, resulting in recurring machine downtime. Prior to implementing the system, the equipment could idle for 10 or even 15 minutes each replenishment period waiting for a mechanic to be located to perform the replenishment. With the automated alerting function, mechanics are notified by email or on their PDA when the machine is reaching near depletion of packaging materials. This has reduced replenishment downtime significantly — helping to increase production through this machine by between 20% and 25%.

Easy to justify

Enns noted the rapid return on investment: “It pays for itself within a few months, purely on the labor savings associated with the machine replenishment. When you factor in the increase in production, and our ability for improved capacity planning, it’s easy to see how valuable this is.”

According to Dave Cobbold, Process Development Manager, “We still haven’t finished exploring the product yet. It’s already giving us really good intelligence, but we know there is a lot more we can do with this product. The company plans to implement a second Plantnode on a sister packaging machine in the short term, and we’re already discussing standardizing with other processes and equipment on their plant floor.”

Business Goal

Benlan needed to understand the capacity of their packaging machine, and needed a tool that would acquire usage data. According to Tom Enns, “While we could have obtained a proprietary solution from the equipment manufacturer, we liked the fact that this technology is cost-effective, and can be used with our other plant equipment as well. We also liked the fact that it had a rich set of functionality that promised to provide a lot of value”

Main Issues

Packaging equipment was experiencing frequent and lengthy periods of downtime, due primarily to material replenishment, which could occur as often as every hour. Benlan needed to find a way to reduce the downtime to improve productivity of the equipment. They also wanted to be able to proactively prepare to replenish before the machine started to idle.

Solution

In addition to providing comprehensive usage data for capacity planning and productivity trending, Plantnode provided email, voice mail or PDA alerts to one or more individuals, identifying when the machine reaches a replenishment threshold. This allowed personnel to be on hand and immediately replenish supplies, significantly reducing downtime, and ensuring maximum productivity of both machine and people.

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Author Profile:

Thomas R. Cutler is the President & CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based TR Cutler, Inc., the largest manufacturing marketing firm worldwide – www.trcutlerinc.com. Cutler is the founder of the Manufacturing Media Consortium of twenty seven hundred journalists and editors writing about trends in manufacturing.   Cutler is the lead spokesperson for the ETO Institute (www.etoinstitute.org). Cutler is also the author of the Manufacturer's Public Relations and Media Guide. Cutler is a frequently published author within the manufacturing sector with more than 300 feature articles authored annually; he can be contacted at trcutler@trcutlerinc.com.