by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
MES applications are transforming the way production units operate, they are making factories more integrated, efficient and quality oriented. MES applications are basically software solutions that have the capability to provide seamless integration for a manufacturing facility, right from warehouse to the EOL or end of production line. An MES app helps you manage production in real-time and prevent formation of bottle-necks, monitor and control your process and above all improve the overall efficiency of production. The major advantage of having an MES app is the clarity you have about your process and how fast and accurate decision making becomes. The major contribution that such an app provides is towards the Quality of the end-product. An MES app can help you monitor every aspect of product quality and ensure that the end-product is compliant and perfect.
The heart of an MES app is an SPC tool, it is through this SPC tool that real-time data analysis and decision making is possible. An SPC application allows to enter and analyze all process and product related metrics. Such a tool can lead to not only 100% compliance but also help improve quality by removing assignable causes of errors. Companies that aim for a Six Sigma level process or the ones aiming to achieve Lean management in the true sense can hugely benefit from an SPC system embedded in their MES application. This saves not only cost but precious time that is otherwise wasted doing complex calculation, which is subject to human error or calculation error if performed manually. An SPC application also provides visual tools that help understand the Data better and achieve better process control. I believe an MES application is incomplete without an SPC application.
So the real question here is, how important is SPC in your Organization? Is your SPC application capable of delivering high class and potent decision making info? Do you need a better SPC application, embedded in your MES app? These questions are extremely critical if you are a manufacturing Organization that has highly complex processes and high quality standards for your final products. SPC application today requires being highly efficient and delivering much more than just basic trend charts. If your SPC application is delivering just Trend Charts you are not fully utilizing the power an SPC application can truly provide. A truly potent and capable SPC should be capable of applications like CpK Charts, Real-Time Process Data, Trends feedback, Tool Shutdown, SMS Text Capabilities, E-mail alerts and other process specific charts and reports.
At I2DS we realize the value a good SPC tool in your Organization’s system can add value to your entire operations. Our SPC solution is integrated in our MES system and it allows the above mentioned functionalities in real time. This makes your control function extremely powerful as you can monitor SPC data in real time and make decisions simultaneously, that too without having to use any other system/tool for analysis. Our SPC might appear magical to a common man but it’s a powerful tool for a manager who deals with issues like quality and cost of production. I2DS’ SPC has the capability to integrate and compare the process data from multiple factories of the Organization, providing you a comprehensive analysis tool. Our SPC is the perfect Quality and Equipment ‘Doctor’, because it helps you diagnose and cure every issue pertaining to them. The reports that our SPC generates helps you get a 360 degree view of the entire operation and this helps you make more accurate and profitable decisions. So for a live demo e-mail us at info@i2ds.com or request a Live Demo on this web page.
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
Operational excellence is highly desirable, and organizations strive to achieve it. But is it a static state of being or is it dynamic? Once operational excellence is achieved is it easy to sustain? Is the pursuit of operational excellence even worth the effort? Well let’s answer these questions one by one and try to gain clarity, achieving operational excellence and maintaining it is a dynamic process, you have attained operational excellence when your process is capable of meeting the requirements of external forces dynamically. Your operations has achieved excellence when your process knowledge is refined to state where you are aware of all parameters that potentially effect process performance and you are able to locate root cause of every performance related issue. A process that is excellent will achieve a state of equilibrium with market governed deliverables in real-time and without many grass root changes. An excellent process will deliver regularly on at least 3-4 of the 5 vital process performance parameters, which are Quality, Speed, Dependability, Flexibility and Cost.
Achieving process excellence needs an Organization wide commitment, starting from the very top. When the pursuit of excellence becomes a main focus area of the top management, achieving excellence will become a lot easier. The top management should understand the reasons for having an excellent operation and truly believe that through sustained and coordinated efforts achieving operational excellence is well within reach. Top management should remain pro-technology and understand that one of the key contributors to achieve increasingly better performance is through the application of end-to-end information systems, which have the capability of monitoring, controlling and executing the entire process on a single platform. Information solutions help operations gain clarity and makes coordinated efforts possible. Achieving operational excellence becomes less challenging when the process functions as a single entity, this integration is possible only through information solutions that have the capability of integrating the process right from, receipt of raw materials to dispatch of ready to ship products.
Besides management commitment and technology, there are other key contributors to the pursuit of excellence; they are- employee training/participation, Quality means 0 defects philosophy and management by common sense. These factors are equally important and can mean the difference between success and failure of the entire endeavor. However, for this article my major area of concern remains the importance of technology and even more so the role of IT in the pursuit of Operational Excellence. So coming back to the area of focus, I believe information solutions can help reduce cycle time, operational expense, inventory and operational errors greatly. IT should be considered the foundation for building a strong and profitable process. Top management should consider developing either in-house IT capabilities or if they want to concentrate on core competencies they should consider outsourcing IT, but only to a capable and well equipped partner, with relevant industrial experience and expertise. The major benefit of employing an IT expert is that the resources of the organization could be used to improve issues related to the core competency and an expert can design a process specific solution and provide change management and employee training as well.
To sum up, let me revisit the topic again and reemphasize my thoughts on it. According to me operational excellence is well within reach if planned for and pursued sincerely. Once achieved operational excellence can be sustained if the process is equipped with the right technology and has the will and training to sustain it. It becomes worthwhile to achieve operational excellence simply because it shows that the organization would never settle for anything less than the best. If you achieve excellence you become best-in-class operation, which is a direct boost to your reputation and which would inevitably lead to better business. Please share your thoughts and suggestions with us about this blog, write into us at info@i2ds.com or just leave a comment on this web-page and we will get back to you.
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
Is Safety the first priority in your Organization? Is worker safety and a hazard free working environment really what you strive for? It is seen that many organizations have fancy policies and documents portraying the concern they have for the safety of their workforce, but the reality is very different. Safety is the most basic and primary need for any individual and the duty of the management of any organization to fulfill this need is implied. As per Maslow’s theory about ‘Hierarchy of needs’, Safety, at the workplace is the most first and foremost need of any worker. So when we say Safety First, we should mean it and work towards achieving it, because no one would like to work in an unsafe working environment.
Today there are various industrial safety standards around the world that are helping Organizations better understand and develop safety related policies and procedures, OSHA Act 1970 USA- Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act, is one such example, where a clearly defined set of rules have to be adhered to for Safety and Health. Almost every country has similar rules for the minimum safety requirements for industrial establishments. Companies around the world need to better monitor and achieve these safety standards, but the problem that they face is that the efforts made for safety management are not fully integrated, there is a need for a system that would provide a greater insight on what is happening and what needs to be done for safety across the entire Organization.
At I2DS we truly believe in the Mantra- ‘Safety First.’, we have developed the most comprehensive Safety Management Solution for Organizations like yours. Our system has the ability to integrate the safety efforts of your entire organization on a single platform; it will ensure that safety is not just a priority on paper, but in practice. Our system gives you amazing functionalities such as, the ability to plan and organize safety events, provide trainings, assign owners to safety tasks, view safety events such as Audits as they happen, prioritize safety issues and so much more. If you really believe Safety is your prime concern, then don’t wait, get in touch with us right now and help us make your working environment safer than ever before. Our e-mail id is- info@i2ds.com, or you can also hit the Request Live Demo link and we will get back to you.
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
The importance of Quality can never be under estimated. Quality is the most important competitive priority for every Organization, achieving better quality than competitors, is imperative to stay in the race to become the Best-In-Class today. Cost and Quality were considered to be at two different ends of the same continuum i.e. to improve quality meant increasing cost, but over time this view has changed drastically. Improved Quality, achieved through continuous improvement of process has been able to reduce the total Cost function in the long run.
Doing things right the first time, managing operations by facts and applying statistical process controls has led to better Quality for Organizations and have reduced costs such as rework, rejection, reverse logistics, labor costs, materials cost and many other costs that contribute to the overall cost function. Practices like Kaizen, Poka Yoke, TQM, Lean Management, JIT management etc. have contributed towards the Quality revolution and have become a part of day-to-day operations for firms world-wide. But there is much more to Quality Management than just theories that emphasize on Quality improvement. Quality management should be viewed as the number 1 priority and a proper quality management system should be put in place to achieve the desired quality conformance.
Information Technology plays a vital role in monitoring and maintaining Quality, doing things right the first time is possible only when the facility has the capability of analyzing quality in real time as the process is performed. Using IT to implement a Quality management system is a novel idea, because of the inherent features of IT applications. An IT application not only automates a factory, it also integrates all the processes that would otherwise remain separated. IT applications allow Quality to become a part of the entire production process and helps develop the ‘Quality Culture’ within the Organization. There is an evident need for achieving a high Quality standard and also there is a need for comprehensive IT systems that can help monitor and improve the overall quality of products and process.
I2DS realized this need to monitor and detect quality issues on the go and came up with a unique Manufacturing Excellence solution. This system has the ability to track Quality related issues in real time, assign priority to Quality issues etc. along with many other attributes that make it impossible to miss any Quality Issue. Experts at I2DS have the experience of managing Quality of Product and Process for many global giants, and they understand the importance of Quality, for you. According to Deming ‘85% Quality problems are related to the Process and 15% related to other issues’, our solution helps you monitor all key functional areas of your process and thus achieve better Quality control and improvement. I2DS’ Quality Management system gives you complete control of your entire process and will ensure that you not only improve Quality but you also reduce Costs effectively. If Quality is your number one priority get in touch with us at info@i2ds.com and we will help you achieve Quality Excellence.
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
Information is considered the biggest asset of an Organization, all management theories stress on improving Information processing and knowledge management to be more successful. Information which becomes a part of our cognition over a period of time through experience and education becomes Knowledge. In our daily work routine we come across a lot of Data, but this data needs to be presented in a meaningful form to become information and make sense, then analyzing this information will result in learning and eventually in knowledge. Knowledge management and retention has become the prime concern for process specific Organizations, especially those which require highly skilled and well groomed workforce. Employee turnover, Intra organizational politics, improper managerial practices and lack of constant training are some of the major reasons for loss of knowledge in any Organization. But the biggest reason for the loss of inherent knowledge is the absence of a system to manage and retain it.
Information Technology has changed the way Organizations manage their Data, process their information and manage their knowledge. Today there are systems that process raw data and present potent information to the users, this saves time and helps avoid lengthy calculations and paperwork. For a truly modern organization data processing and database management are not the major concerns, it is the integration of all their operations and free flow of knowledge that has become the major area of concern. Also a critical is the decision to outsource the knowledge management or keep it in-house? Most modern theories of management greatly stress that Organizations need to concentrate on their core competence and outsource any other activity that is inherently not their strength. I concur with this belief and strongly advocate the outsourcing of Knowledge management for your Organization if it is not your core competence. This way you can employ an Organization whose core competence is providing Knowledge management and you can concentrate on doing what you do best. But who do you outsource you knowledge management to?
I2DS has realized the need of the futuristic organizations to manage and retain their knowledge and has developed a true Knowledge Management solution 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 Knowledge 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.
by | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs
All modern management theories and systems such as TQM, Six Sigma, Lean and JIT, lay a lot of stress on management by facts. Many management theorists have stated and concurred the belief that what can be measured can be managed. The school of thought that advocates the use of facts and figures in management makes a very strong case, this is because it gives a factual and analysis based perspective to management and does away with managerial whims and fancies. But to be able to manage any process by facts and figures, it is imperative to have these facts and figures. Any process irrespective of its type, functionality or end product always has parameters that define it; every process generates data that can be measured to ascertain its performance. The use of standards, metrics and process generated data, for improving the process and better controlling it is what SPC or Statistical Process Control is all about.
TQM theorists and practitioners believe that SPC is the best way to manage and improve a process and that without SPC; a TQM effort can never be fully achieved. In the early 1980’s managers found the use of SPC very difficult as it required them to possess a very good command on statistical tools. This scenario has changed for good in the present SPC modules available for managerial decision making. Today there are SPC applications that can perform all the required calculations and provide the required information, this means that it’s the application that processes the raw data and the manager is saved from performing lengthy and time consuming calculations.
Most futuristic organizations of the world are moving towards the use of SPC applications for improving the over all process efficiency of their production units. Similarly to perform the production process they are using MES applications. MES applications are being used to automate and integrate the entire manufacturing operation, thereby providing a much better picture of the entire production process and facilitating better management. Ideally an MES application should have an SPC module in the core application, this further improves the functionality of the entire operation and facilitates faster and better decision making. But most companies that are in the MES space lack the ability to design and integrate an SPC module that would provide their customer the desired functionality. In such a scenario should an SPC application should be used separately from an MES or are there any other options available?
Well, there is always I2DS, Yes; we have been able to design various process specific MES applications for different industries, which have an in-built SPC module. We believe that an MES application should be a comprehensive management system that allows you to operate, manage and control your entire facility using just the one system and SPC is an integral part of it. We have a team of renowned experts in the field of SPC, Automation and MES applications and this makes our solutions the most advanced and user friendly applications in the industry today. So if you are Operations Manager or a COO reading this blog and you think that SPC is important for your Organization, don’t wait, get in touch with us right away and experience our superior applications. E-mail us at info@i2ds.com or just hit the Request Live Demo, Tab and prepare to be amazed.
