How confident are you that you have your facility running at optimal efficiency? Perhaps you’re considering using IoT technologies to improve the efficiency of your assembly processes but you’re not sure where to start. Or maybe you’ve already implemented a trial project but left disappointed with the lack of tangible gains to your business.
Every exploration that results in actionable outcomes starts with a solid plan. Key to improving the productivity of your facility is to understand your takt time, a concept that is often misunderstood.
The Challenge
The most common mistake is to think takt time relates to the pace of your production process. Your takt time is your available time divided by your required output – in very simple terms, your customer demand rate. In other words it’s the amount of time you have to complete production if your customer order demand is to be fulfilled.
The Solution
This is where IIoT solutions come into play – the use of smart devices and networked sensors directly on your assembly line, collecting data to convert into actionable insights through artificial intelligence and predictive analytics.
IIoT is at the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT). With manufacturing companies moving away from a push to a pull production process, highly flexible, on demand assembly lines are required.
IIoT technologies can transform the way your products are manufactured, improve the efficiency of your supply chain and improve the efficiency of your production facility and ensure better safety for your human operators.
Key Data You Must Mine
Often the biggest motivator for businesses is the demonstrable cost savings, allowing you to increase your margins, improve your competitive position in the market – or both. So, here’s the key data that should be mined to improve takt time using IIoT.
- Predictive maintenance data points
The downtime of your manufacturing and product assembly equipment can be limited by use of predictive maintenance data points. Changes in vibrational noise are an indicator of weaknesses and potential failures. By monitoring these changes, early intervention and proactive fixing can occur to avoid unscheduled downtimes.
- Identification of Process Bottlenecks
People and equipment can be tracked to monitor previously unacknowledged bottlenecks in your assembly process that have an impact on the time to complete a customer order.
- Location tracking data points
Components can be tracked to ensure that assembly is not held up by wasted time taken to locate a component and also to ensure that the component is always available at your facility. Similarly, inventory tracking will enable production to move to a pull rather than a push model for customer demand.
- Worker Safety
Last but not least, use of IoT data to monitor worker safety is a critical factor in ensuring that workers are well looked after but also that manpower shortages do not impact production. The most efficient processes in the world are of little value to your business if you don’t put your people’s safety first.
In summary, IIoT is a powerful tool for improving the efficiency of your assembly and production processes. IoT data mining is key to identifying demonstrable cost savings and ultimately improving your competitiveness in a fast moving market.