Featured Project: Visual Factory
Visual Factory Management is a system for improving productivity, safety, quality, and employee morale through the use of visual controls. It helps employees avoid wasting time by providing them the information they need, where and when they need it.
AutoComm helped Del Monte implement visual factory through placement of LED displays in their palletization area, with specialized software to clearly show production goals versus results.
Project Summaries
North Star Scale
Seen on America’s Deadliest Catch, North Star Scale needed a solution that kept them operating legally. Fines levied against boats taking more than their allotment of crab can quickly put a company out of business. AutoComm was able to integrate a system that kept record of their legitimate operation. The Alpha Window display visually shows the fishermen weight of the catch in real time through an RF linked hanging scale. Once the crane picks up and dumps the catch, it’s logged on the boat’s computer.
McKesson Corporation
McKesson Corporation is a worldwide pharmaceutical distributor that needed key information for shipments available to their warehouses. Autocomm, Inc. made it possible throughout the country, utilizing 215C and 4160C’s.
Spear
A worldwide leader and supplier of film pressure sensitive adhesive used for labeling on consumer item packaging, needed a medium to communicate to plant employees. AutoComm innovation now provides information on production, safety, and general information through technology that keeps everyone in the loop with 220C’s and 9240’s.
Pure Fishing
Pure Fishing manufactures fishing line and equipment worldwide. They needed to increase efficiencies on their equipment, and improve on time delivery. AutoComm’s solution allowed them to compare previous shift’s production information in real time, keeping them in sync. Visual factory information now comes from PLC to computer over Ethernet to the industrial display.
Bodine Aluminum
Manufacturing aluminum engine blocks and heads, this $500 million company communicates to individual employees using the ultimate Andon board provided by AutoComm, Inc. Utilizing colors, numbers and letters signify to floor employees set up information,machine status and quality concerns. These industrial displays are equipped with speakers as a redundant form of communication to alert workers if they did not notice a change in the display. The AVPC has a built in computer which allows a simple screen scrape to show changing information in real time.
RR Donnelley
Uses a marquee to alert their production employees of service anniversaries, employee meetings, events, and deadlines. One of the world’s largest full service printers, they use the 4240C over Ethernet to show days without lost time incidents, and more. Plans are to move this to a production area to show real time metrics.
Badger Scale
As a Wisconsin based scale service provider, Badger Scale needed to be able to provide directions to truckers at weigh stations throughout the state. With AutoComm’s assistance, they’ve accomplished both real time weight information and directions to truckers using the SS17 16×96 interfacing with a GSE controller.
JL French
This large die cast company needed to identify parts and material status for production of engine blocks, transmission cases, and various other car components. The quick status at a glance system on their network of 35 utilizes 215C’s provided by AutoComm that allow fork lift drivers to identify parts that need to be staged without getting off their fork lift. Increased efficiencies help the company remain competitive.
Birds Eye Foods
This food packaging plant utilizes 9080C-E, showing real time metrics.
Boston Scientific
Worldwide developer, manufacturer, and marketer of medical devices, Boston Scientific’s products are used in a broad range of interventional medical specialties, such as drug eluting stents. AutoComm provided a visual factory solution that integrated with their factory floor spreadsheets. Displays were put at the end of each assembly area in a clean environment. AutoComm created an Excel interface that collected and displayed the amount of units that were to be made on a particular day, the actual number of units that were made, and the difference between the two. The configurable software application communicated wirelessly from a PC in each assembly area to 2 line tri-color LED displays.
Greenheck
The leading manufacturer of air-movement and control equipment had just completed reconfiguring their small and medium air handling assembly lines and were looking for a method to provide employees information on TAKT time, production goals, actual units produced, and the deviation. The goal counts were provided by SAP and the actual count was incremented by one each time a finished product was scanned with a bar code reader. Results of previous shifts were also displayed and proved to be a very good motivational tool.
Main Water Valve
Main Water Valve reported only a few of its 24 machining cells were regularly hitting production goals. To keep pace with customer demand, MWV resorted to scheduling employees on Saturdays to compensate for sluggish production postings. This resulted in continuous, sizable overtime payouts for the company. AutoComm enhanced employee motivation while identifying production patterns and rate trends through LED displays and production software. MWV was able to completely eliminate Saturday overtime costs. The lowest performing cell was selected to evaluate the new visual communication solution. Previously, that cell consistently performed at 70% of goal. With ProductionView and LED displays in place, the cell’s productivity skyrocketed, regularly exceeding 100% of goal.
Technological Application — Fan Manufacturer
This visual communication solution paid for itself in just one day!
The largest manufacturer of made-to-order institutional fans decided to overhaul its assembly-line production area. This redesign helped boost productivity some, but the company wanted to increase its production rate even more significantly.
AutoComm recommended utilization of a multi-colored LED display with two lines of 2″ text, which is readable from 100 feet away. This LED display showcases production data gathered from the company’s mainframe ERP software including the current shift goal, the actual number of parts produced and the variance between the two numbers. By displaying this real-time information right next to the assembly line, the workers can better gauge their productivity and make necessary adjustments during the same shift.
Production increased from 48 to 52 units per eight-hour shift. That’s an increase of 13%! This production increase led to daily profits in excess of the initial $6,500 investment. This visual communication solution paid for itself in just one day! The company was so pleased with the success of its LED display and tracking abilities that displays were added to 10 additional production lines yielding the same positive results.
