by I2DS | May 28, 2021 | Blogs
What makes an Operation Excellent? What are the means to achieve excellence, why is it so important? Is an excellent process highly profitable as well? These questions are relevant to all manufacturers irrespective of industry, type of production and the resultant end product. Taking it from the top, any operation that is excellent will have certain attributes that set it apart from the rest. An operation can become excellent only when it has a dedicated team of workers and has a process that is under control. What sets certain operations apart is the way in which they deal with issues, the foresight that they possess and the way they recover from issues that effect their operation. Excellent operations become excellent because they achieve a dynamic equilibrium with external environment factors by changing and controlling the internal capabilities accordingly.
Technology has a major role to play in the pursuit of manufacturing excellence, because a gifted and well trained workforce can only do so much without technological aid. Technology is the vehicle that drives the operational excellence endeavor, workforce is the fuel and management is the driver. Without technology the process will be walking and not motoring towards excellence. This answers the second question; the third however needs thought and analysis from a couple of perspectives. I believe that in business the profitability and ethics should go hand in hand. So when we talk about making more money, it should not mean a blatant disregard for society, environment and workforce. An excellent operation is the one that is excellent in process efficiency, which achieves higher throughput as well as is fully compliant with social, ethical and quality standards. Sometimes the management feels that the cost of being compliant is just a waste of money and cuts profitability, but an operation cannot be excellent if it is not safe and does not put quality before cost.
So, how do you achieve an operation that is excellent, an operation that saves money, generates higher throughput and still remains compliant with required standards? Well, you do what mankind has been doing since centuries, i.e. you employ better technology. Yes, if you are to achieve all the features that constitute an excellent process, you have to employ technology, that can integrate your process and help you remain compliant at a lower cost and achieve higher profitability. Manufacturing excellence solutions are helping Organizations reach the pinnacle of manufacturing in their industry. These solutions are integrated IT applications that allow you to monitor all parameters that are of providence in achieving excellence.
Let’s say that the top parameters that you might consider as pivotal for achieving manufacturing excellence are Safety, Quality, Personnel Performance and Preventive Maintenance. A manufacturing excellence solution will help you monitor, control and improve on these parameters in real-time. This means that the chances of you missing an event leading to a non-conformance, or a small issue becoming a major cost center are almost completely eliminated. However, it is important that you choose the partner for such applications with great care and analysis. You should know what parameters you consider vital for attaining and maintaining excellence. Once you know you can employ an IT expert organization to design and implement the application for your manufacturing operation. If you would like to know more about Manufacturing Excellence Solutions and how they can help your operation become the Best in your industry, feel free to get in touch with me at sumeet@i2ds.com, or info@i2ds.com , I am waiting to hear from you.
by I2DS | May 24, 2021 | Blogs
Throughput, Operational Expense and Inventory are three major concerns for any manufacturing Organization irrespective of their end product, process and environmental factors. An organization can attain the goal of Profit Maximization only when they are able to minimize the Operational Expense and Inventory costs and at the same time increase Throughput. Throughput can be described as the rate at which a system or a process attains its goal, in business the goal being profit maximization, through higher sales and lower inventory. A high throughput indicates that the sale of the produce is high and the inventory is low, which basically means that the profit is being realized faster per unit of product sold. A high throughput is extremely desirable especially in present industrial environment, where product preferences change in a fort night and a product that was hot yesterday becomes obsolete today.
Companies today strive to achieve a dynamic equilibrium between external market forces and internal operational capabilities. In order to enhance the throughput it is important to consider the impact of all external and internal factors on it. Besides the application of management theories, Quality management systems, Poka Yoke (fool proofing), 5S, 7S etc., it is extremely important to realize the nature of your production process and the role that technology plays in it. All management theories that have come up in recent times have emphasized two major pointers, one- Management by facts and two- Use of Technology for better information management. To increase your throughput you need to assess the technological requirements and capabilities of your process and understand the supposed increase in throughput that can result from a technology up gradation.
On of the major reasons for the ever-changing bottlenecks in a manufacturing plant is the lack of proper communication and lack of clarity. Bottlenecks are the main deterrents to achieving a high throughput, so as logic would suggest it is imperative to eliminate bottlenecks to attain a higher throughput. The question is how do we eliminate the root causes of these menacing bottlenecks? Well, the answer is quite simple it’s- MES. Yes, MES applications are those information technology applications that provide an integrated platform, which allows the execution of the entire production and QC process on a single system. The MES automates the entire facility and prevents the formation of bottlenecks. An MES application allows for real-time decision making and allows the operations manager to stay ahead of bottlenecks.
MES applications are being employed by the best-in-class organizations to increase their throughput and ultimately their profitability. However the level of throughput you are able to attain for your plant depends on the partner you choose for the design and application of MES at your facility. At this point I would recommend that you consider I2DS as your MES design and application partner continue reading and you will know why.
I2DS has the most respected, Factory automation and MES implementation team in the industry. Our experts specialize in MES, Factory Automation, PLC, APC, SPC, Data Tapping, Database Management and RFID Implementation. Our approach to automation is highly professional and customer centric. We believe that every process is unique and the level of automation required varies for each organization. Our experts provide automation solution that is not only leading edge but also highly efficient, there by assisting your team to make your process the Best-In-Class process in your industry. I2DS’ customers have experienced a higher throughput, better flexibility and greater profitability ever since they chose I2DS as their automation partner. Our goal is to provide process specific automation and manage the resultant change; this makes us a preferred partner in the industry today. So if you are in need of Leading Edge automation for your production plant, look no further, I2DS is here to assist you in this endeavor. For getting a better idea of how automation can improve your process and achieve a greater profitability, e-mail us right away at info@i2ds.com or just drop your inquiry in the comment box and we will get back to you.
by I2DS | May 18, 2021 | Blogs
Do you really consider Safety and Quality vital parameters for your Organization? Continue reading if your answer is, Yes. I believe that both Safety and Quality are major contributors to an Organization’s long term success and profitability. Both these parameters should not be considered mutually exclusive, I will tell you why. A safe work environment enables workers to better concentrate on their tasks, which would improve work Quality and Productivity. A boost in work Quality and Productivity will contribute to the over all Quality of the end product. Given a fixed process, an improvement in overall safety of the factory premises will inevitably lead to better Quality.
This theory applies even in highly automated manufacturing environments; it is because to a certain extent human interference still exists in the process execution. There are many theories/standards that act as guidelines for quality and safety improvements in industries such as TQM, Lean Manufacturing, QBD, ISO, OSHA Standards etc. These theories and standards provide a good framework to build a solid Safety and Quality Management System. However, it is very important to remember that every Organization has a unique set of Environmental conditions and inherent Process capabilities.
Information Systems can be used in a very profitable way to monitor and control Safety and Quality issues. Once the parameters and metrics relevant to Safety and Quality are known, IT can be used to devise systems that can help manage these critical issues. Most Organizations tend to outsource the design and application of these systems to third parties, as IT is not their core competency. In such cases it is important to remember that a standard solution which is bought Off-The-Shelf can prove to be detrimental to your goal. Changing your process to better suit a software application has never made sense to me. I believe that a process should be changed only when it is a strategic requirement and not in any other case.
This complicates the choice of the right partner as most ‘Software Solution Providers’, lack experience in factory operations. This makes I2DS a much better choice as we understand manufacturing and our team is an excellent mix of IT and Operations professionals. We have designed some of the most advance and adaptable products in the manufacturing space, which include solutions for Safety and Quality Management. A high level introduction of our Safety and Quality Management product will allow you to better gauge its supreme functionality. Our solutions are tailor made to your operations, capable of real-time reporting of all vital issues, issue prioritization is possible, issue ownership is possible and they have the capability of measuring, analyzing and reporting the vital parameters pertaining to Safety and Quality. If you would like to see a demo of our products for your Organization, just e-mail us at info@i2ds.com and you will be amazed by the results our systems can produce for you.
by I2DS | May 13, 2021 | Blogs
We live in a highly technology driven world, information is what brings us together and it is information that has become the difference between success and failure in business today. An Organization that does not have the information about the external environment, that constitutes the customers, competitors and the market on the whole, and its internal environment that constitutes process capabilities, suppliers and personnel, is destined to fail in the future. Leading organizations around the world have realized the importance of data management and knowledge development, they have used Information Technology as a weapon to fight competition and attain a higher market share.
Companies lay great stress on finding out the information related to the customers, supply chain partners and competitors. Almost all FMCG companies today drive their operations based on point of sale data obtained from various retail stores. However concentrating only on outside information although important can be fatal if the internal operations are ignored. Organizations have to realize that the most important source of information is the internal operations itself. Data Management should be more holistic and cover all aspects of an Organization’s operations. For firms in the manufacturing industry that face strict compliance standards, being able to harness and process the operational data is crucial for survival itself. Best-in-class Organizations lay great emphasis on data management of internal processes as it helps achieve a higher degree of control and flexibility.
Today there are a myriad of Database Management products and so called ‘solution’ providers, who claim to provide a tailor made solution for your requirements. But, if you are an Organization facing trouble managing data and don’t want to go for a standard package with limited functionality, then what should you do? The answer is you need to gauge your requirement and ask your self these questions- 1) Do we need a real time database management and data processing capabilities? 2) Do we require to Tap Data directly from tools to our MES or present System? 3) Do we require features Like SPC, APC, RFID integration, Inventory & Ops Management? 4) Do we need to monitor Safety, Quality and Equipment issues in real time? If the answer to all or majority of these questions is ‘YES’, then you need to consider I2DS as your strategic partner.
We at I2DS understand the prevalent issues pertaining to Data Management and Data Architecture and we are committed to work out the best solutions for our customers, our aim is to provide world class Information Solutions at reasonable prices. If you want your Data Management problems to disappear you should mail us right away at info@i2ds.com or Click on the Request Live Demo button on our web site. We assure you that with our solutions applied in your Organization today, you will become the leader of tomorrow.
by I2DS | May 12, 2021 | Blogs
Quality has become the most sought after competitive priority to excel at, for organizations around the world. Consumers are willing to pay top dollar for products that claim to be of superior quality and can prove to be the quality leader in their category. There are nine facets of quality, 1) Aesthetics, 2) Conformance, 3) Durability, 4) Features, 5) Response, 6) Reliability, 7) Service, 8) Performance and 9) Reputation. Most of these facets depend on the process of production and to the extent the process can be controlled and modified. When a process can be controlled, its Quality can be improved as all possible causes of variances can be detected and successfully removed.
Customer satisfaction largely depends on the Quality of product, thus we can safely say that Quality management is vital for any organization that wishes to be competitive and achieve a higher market share. Quality control can be performed effectively when the vital process metrics can be measured and controlled effectively. To be able to make better use of the process metrics an SPC system or Statistical Process Control System is extremely useful. An SPC system becomes mandatory for products that have a complex process and face a high level of technological turbulence.
An SPC system if used should be process specific and be able to provide information that is highly refined and helps efficient and real time decision making. Nowadays there are systems that can perform complex calculations in fractions of seconds and provide valuable process specific information. However just any SPC application will not be able to benefit your Organization. An SPC system performs best when it is used with an MES application; this helps better Quality control and more transparency. So which application is required for your Organization and who are the guys you should use to implement it?
I2DS is the best choice, if you want the Best-In-Class SPC application at a reasonable price. At I2DS we realize the value a good SPC tool in your Organization’s system can add value to your entire operations and how it can improve your Quality control substantially. Our highly potent and capable SPC is capable of generating real time information like Cp & CpK Charts, Real-Time Process Data, Trends feedback, Tool Shutdown, Trend Charts, SMS Text Capabilities, E-mail alerts and other process specific charts and reports. Our SPC application is modeled as per your process and includes the metrics that you and your end customer consider vital. So if you have the desire to use Statistical tools to generate higher Quality, look no further, I2DS is right here to take care of Quality control endeavor. E-mail us at info@i2ds.com we welcome your comments and suggestions as well, please leave a comment if you find the content useful or just want to know more about our products.
by I2DS | May 10, 2021 | Blogs
Do you believe in prevention or inspection? Does Getting it right the first time matter to your? Is your Factory Operation as profitable and Productive as it can be? These questions are very important if you have a complex operation that has a huge capital investment and you desire optimal quality at minimal price. All great management philosophies advocate the concept of ‘Getting it Right the First Time’, so let us ask why? Getting it right first time means that you have a process that has been optimally designed and is working efficiently. This shows the level of process control you have achieved and that your process is capable of delivering the requisite Quality. Getting it right the first time also means, low rework, repair, rejection and inspection costs. Now that we have established the need of getting it right the first time, the next question is how? To get things right the first time a great emphasis has to be given on process and product design and production control and monitoring. Design can be improved by techniques such as Quality Function Deployment, Failure Modes and Effect Analysis, Quality by Design and Design of Experiment. But even if the process is designed to perfection in practice it is vital to have a system to control, monitor and change the process as required. Environmental factors that govern production are highly complex and no matter how good the design is accounting for all contingencies is impossible. There is a need for a comprehensive and user friendly system that can help perform and control the process and all its vital parameters simultaneously. You need the help of Information technology for integrating your operation and making it visible to all key personnel. I2DS has been striving to provide such a platform to its diverse customer base is various genres of the manufacturing industry. We have developed arguably the best MES, Factory Automation and Manufacturing Excellence applications in the industry today. Issues like Vendor Engagement, System Integration, Process Automation and Flow Management become a problem for all companies specially those who are starting up. I2DS helps its clients deal with such matters and thereby insure that you get it right the first time itself. We believe in Total Customer Service i.e. we realize the diverse need that our customers have and we make our products and services adapt accordingly. So if you are a setting up a new plant or want to make your existing factory operations better, I2DS is the best choice for you. If you would like to get a glimpse of our products and services e-mail us at info@i2ds.com and get it right the first time.
