by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
Big Data analytics has become one of the most, if not the most, popular topics of conversation around the world. Industry leaders and top bosses of almost every industry have proclaimed that Big-Data and its analysis are going to be the game changers in most industries. But, just fancy talk will not lead to any fruition unless we understand what challenges lie in harnessing the true power of Big-Data Analytics. The first challenge is to understand what you want to achieve from Big-Data analytics, yes, you need to know exactly what info do you need and where does it impact your strategy. Then the second challenge is to determine the source of the required information, which can be generated both within and beyond the realms of the organization. The third challenge according to me is the need to have knowledgeable staff or partners capable of providing the analytics solutions, which would help you, get the most out of the data you are analyzing.
In my experience, organizations which claim data analytics is useless seem to neglect the third challenge and fail to understand the gravity of the entire analytics endeavor. Data Analytics, besides being a buzz word, is actually a quite complex task which requires extremely proficient Mathematical and Modeling ability. To have a pile of data and not knowing what to do with it is the reason why data analytics fails for organizations. To be able to draw most value out of the analytics exercise, it should be conducted in a systematic, synchronized and phased manner. First and foremost attention should be paid to a thorough internal and external examination, to determine status quo and the apparent deficiencies of the strategy vis-à-vis the competition. Once all the possible pain-points are determined, the second phase kicks into motion, to determine, where the right place to look for data is and how this data would directly contribute to the strategic position. The third phase would be to design analytics solutions to provide real-time and decision rich information, to start carving out the new strategy.
When these three phases are repeated over time, data analytics starts to add value to the business. If you have been under the impression that data-analytics would be a one-time installation of a magical application and will continue to deliver value ever after, consider this article your wake-up call. The data-analytics architecture has to be agile and such that it can accommodate new metrics and variables as and when the business strategy demands them. The analytics activity has to be a 24X7 activity and touch all value adding activities and operations, both internal and external to the organization.
To finish-up, the most challenging and yet most reassuring thing about analytics is that it is a complex activity. It is challenging because it requires a certain level of expertise, but it is also reassuring because, if you find the right partner or talent to develop the application, you would truly be on the path of becoming the proverbial- Winner.
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
All Operations professional know and would agree that no matter how fool proof a process might be there is always a possibility of an excursion. The later an excursion is detected the more loss it causes. Detecting an excursion becomes even more important in discreet manufacturing as every product is different and tailor made. Even in an HMV production line an excursion can cause a massive loss if it remains undetected, thereby causing both financial and non financial loss. The financial loss caused by an excursion can be calculated, but the non financial loss, such as loss of customer goodwill, loss to the brand value, product replacement and product recall can permanently damage the image of an Organization.
Each Lot that is produced is of great value to the factory and any excursion during production process is a definite loss. It is imperative to be proactive in checking all production requirements are appropriately filled even before the material leaves the Ware-house. Being reactive will only lead to analysis of the loss that has already occurred rather than preventing it. Today most Factories are employing standard ERP systems that give material traceability to and from the warehouse, but what if the excursion occurs during production or when the material has already gone through the first stage of processing? Most systems lack the capability of tracking material through the production line; this may lead to a major loss in material and production time. The chances of an excursion occurring during the production process is higher as the material under processing changes hands a number of times and even in a completely automated process non conformities may occur at any stage of processing.
So what is required is a better information system that allows us to monitor the material during and after the production process. When we have a system that is capable of recording and reporting all the metrics relevant to a production lot, the chances of detecting and preventing an excursion are increased. Employing an integrated system that can track material throughout the production process is very important. I2DS is a pioneer in design and application of such innovative and cutting edge information systems. We have developed a unique Inventory Management Solution, which allows you to track your material even after it leaves the Ware-house. Our system gives you the ability to track the exact location of material, anywhere and everywhere in the production line, right up to the finished goods stage.
Our system is capable of collaborating with your existing ERP system to give you better control and complete traceability for your material. Our system is in-line with JIT theory and helps you monitor the inventory at each and every step of production and insures you not only detect but prevent any excursion that might happen. Our system allows you to detect excursions faster and thereby helps you to prevent losses which might have otherwise occurred. So if you are interested in cutting your losses and improve traceability of your material, contact us right now and get a free demo of our path breaking solutions, e-mail us at info@i2ds.com
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
What are the true metrics of Manufacturing Excellence? Is it merely a phrase or has a deeper more palpable meaning? Why is excellence in Manufacturing desired? Are the Manufacturing Excellence packages available today capable of achieving their namesake? Let’s try and understand and answer these questions from an organizational and operations point of view. Quality, Cost, Speed, Dependability and Flexibility are the top five competitive priorities for any Organization. It was always thought that to achieve excellence in one of the above priorities another one has to be traded off. This school of thought still exists, but another theory advocates that the pursuit of attaining process excellence can help attain excellence in most of the priorities above mentioned. These competitive priorities in my opinion are the true metrics of excellence of any manufacturing operation. For Organizations that rely heavily on manufacturing, discreet or process, achieving manufacturing excellence is the only way to be more competitive and gain a larger market share.
Excellence can be achieved when simplicity in decision making and the subsequent action, results from monitoring and control of complex processes. Integration of the entire plant, process and personnel is vital for achieving manufacturing excellence. This integration can result only with the help of an information system that provides a seamless and holistic view of the vital process and personnel related parameters. This system should allow effective monitoring and efficient control for the entire process and aid real time decision making and action. There are many packages available in the market for Manufacturing Excellence, but is just any package the right package?
I believe every manufacturing process is unique; this is because of the fact that each organization has an inherent set of resources and unique environmental conditions. Thus a Manufacturing Excellence application should be process specific and not general. Every Operations manager gives importance to certain parameters, for the sake of this discussion lets say Quality, Safety, Equipment and Factory Communication. If the package available cannot capture the details of the parameters above mentioned, it is rendered useless for this particular Organization.
I2DS has devised a Manufacturing Excellence solution that can fit to your process and give you the power of monitoring and controlling the process parameters you consider vital. So if you believe that Safety, Quality, Factory Communication and Equipment issues are important cost centers and need to be monitored and controlled effectively, I2DS’ Manufacturing Excellence allows you to do exactly that. You have the capability to assign priorities and owners to each issue, see the real time actions and judge the performance of the entire process or the performance of individual parameters. With I2DS as your Excellence partner, you will never miss a vital issue and will be able to reduce the operating costs drastically, thereby achieving better profitability. With I2DS you can gain process excellence and this would help you become the Best-In-Class Operation. So open your doors to Manufacturing Excellence and I2DS, write into us at info@i2ds.com, and give us the opportunity to help you achieve excellence in all your competitive priorities.
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
Process control, is a derivative of the school of thought that believes that management should be treated as more of a Science and should be based on hardcore evidence and facts, rather than managerial whims. I am an ardent believer of the same truly believe that what can be measured can definitely be managed when it comes to a process that has certain parameters and metrics. However, I do believe that when is comes to leading a team or converting a sales call a certain degree of personal charisma is required and that is a bit of an art, but when we talk about managing a process it is a pure science and should be subjected to strict and clearly defined process control measures.
All modern theories of management such as TQM, Lean, Six Sigma and others state the importance of SPC or Statistical Process Control in process management. SPC enables accurate process control and ensures quality parameters are achieved. SPC can be applied universally to any process where the required output can be measured. Some key tools used in SPC include control charts; a focus on continuous improvement; and the design of experiments. In simpler words SPC is a tool for Quality control that aims to achieve following objectives 1) Objective analysis of any variation 2) Increasing Productivity 3) Early detection of quality and performance related issues. If applied properly SPC can provide your Organization the competitive edge it requires.
If your factory requires better process control you need to consider the possibility of applying an SPC application that has the capability to collect, measure and analyze all process metrics and provide the desired information to facilitate better decision making. The ideal scenario is when your MES application has an in-built feature that incorporates an SPC. However most MES systems lack the effective implementation of SPC and that’s where I2DS comes in the picture. We have been able to incorporate one of the most revered SPC modules in our MES application, thereby providing our clients a seamless integration of their process functioning and process control.
We as an Organization truly believe that to achieve six sigma levels of production an effective SPC is mandatory. We specialize in the design and application of industry and process specific SPC applications. You can choose to apply our SPC separately or along with our MES application, we always recommend that SPC be employed with an MES for better functionality. If you need an SPC application and would like to understand how employing it can aid better process control, faster decision making, better quality and higher profitability, then you need to see our SPC application in action. To know more about SPC applications for your industry, e-mail us right away at info@i2ds.com or just hit the Request Live Demo Tab on this webpage.
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
It has been a common belief amongst top officials around that excellence in any operation can be achieved only by a paradigm shift in business outlook and through reengineering of the processes. I believe that although the above perspective is one way of looking at improvement, it is very disruptive and should be used only when the business needs disruptive innovation or is in dire need of a complete and comprehensive turnaround. A successful business would consider pursuing excellence in diverse ways depending on the extent of uncertainty of the external environment and the ability of the internal capabilities to meet or exceed the expectations from the external players.
Our focus today will be more on the manufacturing part of business and the pursuit of excellence in manufacturing through product and process improvement. Manufacturing in present times has become very different from the way it was perceived and operated in the previous century. It is still a strong sector and continues to be the driving force behind innovation and R&D efforts. However, manufacturing has transformed from a provider of mass employment to being the seeker of technically skilled and specialized executives and workers. The volumes of workforce have reduced and the influence of Technology and IT is on the rise, even in developed countries. This means that both the definition and the means to achieve excellence in manufacturing have changed. Now, excellence goes beyond achieving supreme quality and customer satisfaction, it is more about the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the entire manufacturing endeavor of the organization.
I make the above arguments based on recent researches which show that the percentage of services offered by manufacturing companies has increased to 40% in the USA alone and an organization pursuing excellence in manufacturing has to consider all aspects of the business and not just manufacturing. This means that an organization which wants to become excellent has to view/control its entire process in an integrated manner and use information technology and Big Data Analytics to improve all aspects of its business. Companies, whose core competence lies in manufacturing innovative products faster and cheaper than their competition, achieve excellence through IT applications such as Manufacturing Excellence which are capable of providing information based on process metrics that are valued by the market. Such IT applications provide end-to-end visibility to process owners and reduce the need of drastic measures to achieve excellence. Manufacturing Excellence applications perform tasks that range from Quality Management to Training and Appraisal.
I strongly believe that IT has truly empowered organization and due to its flexible nature it provides organizations with the opportunity to achieve excellence. Manufacturing Excellence applications work well when they are modeled to the process and cover all important metrics. Such applications lead to excellence and make the process more agile, this agility is a requisite for survival in modern markets. An organization that is able to implement process specific excellence applications will be able to use its internal capabilities better and be able to match the ever-changing expectations of the market. I do not mean to undermine the importance of disruptive innovations, but want to stress the fact that it should be pursued when required and not as the only mean to achieve excellence. Process based excellence is sustainable and since it is achieved using IT applications it is also flexible and proactive. Organizations of the world who wish to be excellent in their business, should seriously consider Manufacturing Excellence as a way to achieve it.Excellence is a myth only for organizations which do not realize the true potential of their capabilities and remain indifferent to IT applications.
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
What makes an Organization a Leader, is it better management, better machines, better leadership, better resources, better technology? What exactly does a company do better than others to become a leader? Well, all the above mentioned factors play a vital role in any organization’s success, especially its leadership and employees, but that’s not all. Organizations that become leaders have one factor in common above all others; this is their unrelenting and uncompromising pursuit of Excellence, this pursuit of excellence keeps them alert, keeps the hungry for success and drives them to outperform themselves every single day. The pursuit of excellence is not just a plan that these leaders try and execute; it is a way of life. Such feverish dedication and lust for success, comes from strong values, leader’s vision and continuous cycle of strategic planning, execution and review.
To become a leader this passion to achieve excellence needs to be coupled with carefully planned actions, which ensure that you achieve and maintain your competitive edge. It is easier said than done, to become a leader, you need to look at issues like strategy, operations, management, planning and above all technology, in a proactive and positive way. Rather than trying to reengineer your entire process, I suggest that you try and understand the present flaws of your process and pursue excellence through careful application of planning and proficient execution. Technology should be a major player in your pursuit for excellence, and should be the main consideration in your strategic planning along with other proposed management practices that may be looked at such as TQM, Benchmarking, Lean or JIT.
Technology will play a vital role in achieving excellence; IT will be at the forefront of your leadership pursuit. Yes, IT applications are making manufacturing processes more efficient by providing better process control, higher throughput, lower costs, real-time decision making and thereby greater profitability. Even for industries at the pinnacle of technology in terms of equipment and process capability, IT applications can still lead to better process performance, faster cycle time and a boost in profitability.
The need of having better information processing and higher level of transparency coupled with the desire to achieve better quality and control are the key drivers of the proliferation of Information systems in manufacturing. The level of excellence that you desire and crave from your process is only possible through the application of IT solutions. You will be amazed to see how IT has influenced every aspect of production right from design to dispatch of the end products. Now that we have established the necessity of IT applications and justified that they are the future of manufacturing, let me introduce to you the premium provider of these innovative and efficient IT application, I2DS.
I2DS has realized the need of the futuristic organizations to manage and retain their knowledge and has developed Information solutions to meet these needs of future, today. We offer a seamless integration for the entire Organization, our services and solutions range from Database Management to Manufacturing Excellence. We can achieve the level of integration desired by the Organization as we have developed solutions that are aimed at automation of Information Processing and better Knowledge Management. Let’s have a brief glance at all our verticals; they are, Data Management, Factory Automation, Factory MES, Manufacturing Excellence and IT/Software services.
Our verticals have been designed specially to provide integrated platforms, which have the functionality of converting raw data to information and providing seamless information to achieve smooth learning resulting in an Organization wide Knowledge Base. We have experts in all verticals mentioned above, which gives us the ability to empathize with Organizations and realize their pain points better, our solutions are aimed at resolving present information problems and better dealing with the future ones. So if you are an Organization that aspires to be a market leader through effective and efficient Information Management, I2DS is the right partner for you. If you want to get a glimpse of our world class product line e-mail us at info@i2ds.com or hit the Request Live Demo button on this page.
