December - 201919MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSModern Factory IntegrationBy Christopher Murphy, Vice President, Jervis B. Webb Company InnovationModern control systems strive to achieve more complex goals than ever. Production systems aim for higher levels of production diversity, product quality, traceability, and visibility. Producers want to produce customized product on a single assembly line. Each produced unit has a different set of features. The target is build-to-order for instant customer gratification.The tooling, work cells, logistics systems, and material handling systems all produce data that the manufacturer is using to control the quality of the product. In addition, the data supports the processes that remediate quality problems expeditiously. For example, a tooling sensor may detect an error, and, based on the error, the product can quickly be routed to the appropriate rework cell.Traceability supports regulatory compliance, post production support, and product documentation. A complete record of the product production process, down to fastener torque, is accumulated. The data feeds back to design refinement, manufacturing process refinement, and augments warranty support.Visibility into the manufacturing process promotes production efficiency. The modern factory needs see all the measurable parameters of quantity, quality, efficiency, and rework. Workers need to see the factors that are affecting them now and what factors, such as parts shortage, will be affecting them in the future. When a line stoppage happens, the plant needs instant visibility of the issue for rapid response. Modern SCADA systems are a typical part of the integration to support visibility.The technologies that support the modern production process include intelligent sensors, programmable controllers (PLCs), field bus networks, data networks, SCADA systems, ANDON systems, logistics systems, tooling, safety systems, and material handling systems. These systems need to be coordinated with the production planning system to produce the choreography of a well running system.Sensor evolution is approaching an Internet of Things level of implementation. Field bus architectures make extended data available to the higher-level consumers of data. Integrators are moving away from proprietary network technologies to ethernet for cost and simplicity of implementation.A complex integration project requires rigorous planning for success. In a common model, the companies MRP system evaluates the materials and orders to produce a production schedule. The schedule drives the flow of materials through the system.Christopher MurphyCXO INSIGHTS
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