SOLUTION OVERVIEW

Intelligent Performance Management Solutions

Intelligent Performance Management solutions are critical to the success of today’s manufacturers in the face of increasing competition, dynamic market conditions, and changing customer needs. The primary focus of Shoplogix’s Real-time Performance Management (RPM) solutions is increasing manufacturing efficiencies to reduce operational costs, increase profitability, and provide the basis for better resource allocation and decision making. Shoplogix RPM solutions measure operational performance in real-time and allows manufacturers to continuously monitor and evaluate key performance factors to keep manufacturers focused on the right things at the right time. RPM integrates real-time visibility, speed, and agility into performance management to extend operational excellence throughout the enterprise.

The Shoplogix Plantnode solution provides the quickest and most direct path to acquiring critical production information and provides the tools to automate the flow of communication and feedback on the plant floor with integration to business systems.

Manufacturing Efficiency

Manufacturers are always under pressure to reduce operational and capital expenditure, bring products to market faster and more efficiently, and increase profit margins.

As a leading provider of Intelligent Performance Management Solutions, Shoplogix drives manufacturing efficiency to reduce costs and increase profitability for discrete and hybrid manufacturers across industries. With an integrated approach to the market and a foundation built on lean principles, Shoplogix solutions accelerate Time-to-Value and maximize ROI at every step in the production process.

Taking a Lean approach to performance management, Shoplogix eliminates inefficiencies in production activity, the decision making flow, as well as the process flow, to offer comprehensive solutions that help manufacturers establish a sustainable competitive advantage.

Real-Time Operational Visibility

Increasing real-time visibility into operations allows companies to respond quickly to dynamic manufacturing environments. The Shoplogix RPM solution provides multiple levels of visibility to create opportunities to improve operational efficiencies based on real-time reliable and accurate information. With increased visibility, Shoplogix enables the efficient collection, presentation, and analysis of critical, real-time production information to operators and decision makers throughout the enterprise.

Value Proposition

Our key value proposition is an accelerated path to manufacturing efficiency. Offering the most direct approach to performance management, Shoplogix is focused on delivering results that impact profitability.

SHOPLOGIX SOLUTION

Shoplogix Plantnode

Shoplogix Plantnode is an intelligent performance management solution designed to maximize manufacturing efficiencies by automating the collection, analysis, and flow of real-time information as a basis for better decision making and optimizing operational resources.

Plantnode provides the tools and the techniques to improve production efficiency, quality, and operational visibility on the plant and management level to provide real-time information fast enough to be actionable, with the accuracy and reliability to facilitate strategic planning and tactical execution.

Shoplogix Plantnode Network

Shoplogix Plantnode Network is a scalable enterprise solution that consolidates and analyzes performance metrics for all Plantnode enabled equipment. Plantnode Network provides a complete, reliable and accurate view of total operational performance on a plant-wide, multi-site, or global basis.

Addressing The Needs Of Today's Manufacturers

Shoplogix Plantnode addresses manufacturer's need to:

• Reduce costs and increase profitability through Continuous Improvement, Lean, or Six Sigma initiatives
• Increase visibility into operations
• Drive accountability in the production process
• Optimize manufacturing efficiencies
• Reduce production and process variability
• Engage employees to drive higher levels of performance

Plantnode Product Brochure

3 STEPS TO EFFICIENCY

STEP 1 - ELIMINATION OF MANUAL PROCESSES

Manual processes leave manufacturers vulnerable to inaccuracies and human error. Automation is critically important to achieving manufacturing efficiency and is a vital aspect of any performance management solution. Shoplogix Plantnode automates manual processes to streamline communication, make the best use of resources, and prevent inefficiencies throughout the manufacturing process. Through automation, Plantnode increases the speed, accuracy, and reliability of data collection, analysis, reporting, and communication; establishing accountability at every level of production.

The Shoplogix solution increases process efficiencies by eliminating manual recording of job specific data, downtime reporting, scrap reporting, and other production related data with high-performance laser bar code scanners. The automation of these processes optimizes labor resources and enhances reporting and analysis capabilities; allowing operations the opportunity to improve product quality, employee accountability, and operator productivity.

Getting the Data

The collection of accurate production data presents a host of challenges that typically involve costly integration effort, customization and lengthy implementations. Plantnode automates data collection with ease, accuracy, and reliability; eliminating the challenges to make data work for you rather than making you work for your data.

As a self-contained solution, Plantnode combines intelligent software with integrated hardware to offer advantages no other solution can provide. Plantnode communicates directly to legacy machines as well as advanced equipment and controls to automate the collection of level one data quickly and easily.

Standardizing the approach to data collection

With data existing in multiple locations in a variety of formats on incompatible equipment and applications; data collection is a time consuming and costly process. Plantnode takes these factors out of the equation to streamline the data collection process; standardizing on one approach to capture and analyze critical production information that is meaningful and easily integrated into ERP systems.

STEP 2 - INCREASING OPERATIONAL VISIBILITY

Automation is a key step in creating efficiency, however, it’s difficult to automate what you can’t see. Manufacturers in all industries face problems with visibility and Shoplogix Plantnode has addressed these issues to facilitate the automation process.

Plantnode increases operational visibility and provides real-time accurate information at every level of production to allow manufacturers to make fast, informed decisions.

Plantnode LED display boards create awareness on the plant floor and streams analyses of key performance metrics based on established benchmarks to provide useful feedback to operators and managers.

The granularity of data that Shoplogix provides is unlike any other performance management solution available. The effect is greater insight into production, specifically as it relatives to job and plant wide profitability, manufacturing processes, variances in real dollars by machine, operator, job, shift, day, week, month or year-to-date.

With many manufacturers expanding operations and establishing a global presence, access to information becomes more critical. Shoplogix provides remote access to increase visibility into operations by connecting people to critical production information from anywhere around the globe. No matter where you are, Shoplogix provides the flexibility to ‘stay in touch’ and make informed decisions without skipping a beat.

STEP 3 - REAL-TIME STRATEGY

Real-time Production Information

A real-time information strategy is no longer an option – it’s a required for manufacturers to stay competitive. Efficiencies realized by eliminating information lags and latencies out of the manufacturing process lends it self to dramatic results.

Shoplogix Plantnode provides manufacturers with real-time operational data and converts it into actionable information with the accuracy and reliability to support strategic decisions and tactical execution.

Real-time Production Monitoring

Shoplogix delivers real-time production monitoring to captures every aspect of the production process including quality parameters, downtime events, machine utilization as well as other critical factors of production. Real-time production monitoring, made possible through automation, is essential to improving efficiency and increasing production visibility.

Measuring Real-Time Production Performance

As the manufacturing landscape continues to change, companies are forced to re-evaluate how to efficiently manage operations. Shoplogix measures performance related to speed of production, quality, uptime and downtime; bringing intelligence to the plant floor by presenting corrective actions and tracking its effectiveness. Shoplogix aligns performance measures with the specific goals of each unique manufacturer to optimize production efficiency.

Real-Time Communication

The Plantnode solution provides real-time feedback for operators and management, facilitated through visual displays boards that broadcast and evaluate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to provide a measure of performance based on established estimates. Plantnode provides Proactive Notifications that are automatically triggered via alerts, email, cell, pager or other wireless device so people get the right information at the right time to take action and affect change. Visual broadcasts and proactive notifications create a window of opportunity to be proactive and quickly respond to events as they occur rather than after the fact.

Real-time ReportingShoplogix provides extraordinary depth and breadth of information to offer advanced reporting and analysis capabilities. Summary reports by machine or aggregate reporting by plant provide a complete and accurate overview of production activity. Chronological reports help to illustrate machine status, delays, uptime, idle time, and downtime events in order of occurrence, Variability reports allow manufacturers to understand cycles and trends in production. Triage reports direct efforts to the biggest improvement opportunity and establish priorities for process improvement.

Plantnode reporting is entirely web based using standard web browsers for ease of use, accessibility, and navigation of critical production information.

Real-time AnalysisPlantnode offers real-time comparative analysis to give manufacturers a true measure of targeted versus actual performance. Analysis include measures related to downtime events, set up time, run speed, shift and job profit. The granularity of data also extends to production with analysis by machine, plant, or geographic location. At-a-glance, manufacturers know exactly where they are relative to where they should be in the production process.

The Benefits

1. Dramatic Improvements In Manufacturing Efficiency (better allocation of resources, better decision making, increased operational visibility, improved response times, greater throughput, reduced production variability, higher asset utilization, greater accountability, fewer incidence of unplanned downtime events, reporting accuracy)
2. Increased Profitability
3. Lower Cost Of Production
4. Rapid ROI

Scenarios

Automated Data Acquisition And Analysis

There are many functions and processes occurring simultaneously in a work cell. Operators have to manage multiple processes and respond to signals and alerts as they arise. Quality personnel check the product regularly. Scheduling staff are concerned when delays occur. Maintenance would like to keep machines available as much as possible. Plantnode blends these tasks through one coordinated infrastructure to achieve a harmonious result.

Before Plantnode

• Data is captured manually on a clipboard by the operator
• Quality warning comes when the red light goes on, operator knows quality is down and checks the quality, does print verification/color
• Verification, writes it down on clipboard, and when the ink goes low he needs to refill it
• All this happens through a barcode verification system

After Plantnode

• Plantnode can provide the infrastructure to manage multiple inputs in real time, and is expandable to meet the needs of future requirements on the workcell

Benefits

• One central nervous system versus many independent systems
• Reduced manual effort to manage the work cell
• Reduced cost to add or automate new functionality

See also

Preventative Maintenance

Inventory Reduction

Reducing Downtime

Reducing Set Up Time

Our Approach

Designed to simplify and improve operational performance, Shoplogix solutions are based on a combination of intelligent software and integrated hardware. This approach localizes intelligence on each machine to maximize plant wide flexibility and scalability. Developed on an open platform, Shoplogix enables end-to-end connectivity to enterprise systems, plant floor equipment, management consoles, and wireless devices. Our connectivity extends visibility across a single or multi-plant environment enabling access to accurate real-time information on an enterprise scale. Our unique approach eliminates the need for extensive and costly integration efforts, excessive customization or lengthy implementations. Our value is realized by executives, managers, and employees worldwide, through our ability to provide real-time operational visibility and business intelligence across the enterprise. This event driven approach facilitates real-time decision making which contributes to improved operational performance and efficiency.

Enabling People, Process and Technology

Driven by the philosophy and the knowledge that production assets are only as good as the people that operate them, Shoplogix leverages the true capacity of human capital by engaging and empowering employees to make decisions that impact the production process and affect change. By influencing behavior at all levels of production, Shoplogix fosters a winning team environment and a culture of continuous improvement to form the basis of a sustainable competitive advantage. Shoplogix solutions provides an accurate real-time picture of plant floor operations on which informed business decisions can be made; benchmarks established; and new operating standards implemented; where people, process and technology are aligned to maximize operational performance.

Maximize Profitability

Plantnode maximizes profitability and performance by lowering the total cost of production and leveraging existing investments in people, process and technology.

Employee Engagement

Engaging employees in daily operations has a positive effect on productivity with proven financial benefits. Plantnode solutions engage employees through empowerment to make decisions that drive action to support the goals of the organization.

Maximum Utilization

Decreasing margins and increasing competition in a global market emphasizes the importance of higher asset utilization to leverage existing equipment. Plantnode solutions maximize return on assets by identifying equipment inefficiencies to decrease average cycle times and increase asset capacity, availability and yield.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

Plantnode helps to increase productivity improvements and profit potential by identifying unused machine time, enabling predictive and preventative maintenance as well as optimizing scheduled downtimes and reducing losses, stoppages, scrap and rework.

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Keywords: Lean, Manufacturing Intelligence, Packaging Software, Real Time Performance Management, Six Sigma, EMI, MI, RTPM, RPM