Intelligent software used to boost quality of shop floor data
management tools with shop floor data to boost productivity by up
to 27 per cent, according to new research.
About 44 per cent of companies in the Aberdeen Group study said the pressure to reduce costs anddo more with less was the main reasons behind their implemention of manufacturing intelligence (MI)software. About 38 per cent said implementation was a response to pricing pressure from customersand competitors, while 34 per cent said it would help them maintain or sustain a competitive advantage.
"MI" describes software and related technology used by companies in a bid to automate theaggregation of plant to enterprise data so management can make faster, more informed decisions. For the survey, the research firm examined how US companies used MI to bridge the gap between theEnterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools used by management and the Manufacturing Execution Systems(MES) employed on the shop floor.
Traditionally the approach to getting useful data has been to connect ERP directly with MESsystems. Aberdeen found the best-in-class manufacturers used MI to boost the quality of analysis gained fromusing both ERP and MES.
"Best-in-class manufacturers are leveraging intelligent solutions that can also providereal-time visibility, event management and analytical tools that enhance proactive and predictivecontrol to drive execution, instead of only operating as another data collection system,"Aberdeen stated.
Companies employing MI software effectively gained an average of 27 per cent improvements in yield anda 12 per cent increase in capacity use, Aberdeen found.
"Manufacturing Intelligence sits squarely between the topdown approach of ERP and the bottom-up approach ofMES," the research firm stated. "Aberdeen found best-in-class companies reaping significant benefits by inserting this layer between the two,thereby aggregating data from disparate sources, enabling actionable intelligence."
Aberdeen conducted the benchmark research from September to October 2006 on 440 manufacturers,which included some of the biggest companies in the food sector, such as Kraft.
Manufacturers in the study were all at different levels of maturity with either MES or MI. Best inclass performers found to be more mature in their adoption of MES were additionally 10 per cent more likely than laggard and average companiesin the survey to have also invested in MI.
"Through this enhanced layer of intelligence, the best in class are placing a priority on quality measures, providing portal capabilities from operators to decision-makers and enabling root cause analysis, due to the priority placed on reducingvariability," the report stated.
Their gains exceed competitors, with yield in particular 20 per cent higher than laggard and average companies, which is due largely to68 per cent of the best in class companies in turn placing a priority on using MI to reducevariability in their analysis, the survey found.
Aberdeen recommends that companies should follow the examples of the best in class companies and also evaluate theirprocesses to ensure they effectively make gains. The evaluations should identify the data that is critical to success, to ensure the appropriatemetrics are being monitored in real-time, the firm stated.
Companies should also use existing standards like information from organizations like the Manufacturing Interoperability Guideline WorkingGroup to ease integration efforts.
They should also evaluate how manufacturing intelligence solutions can help deliver actionable data, to complement existingsoftware execution systems, the firm stated.
