Automated Manufacturing
- Sheet metal office furniture products, 30+ employees
- Hydraulic parts production, 250+ employees
- Pneumatic actuator production, 2000+ employees
| Problem Statement |
Solutions & Results |
| Manual communications and manual file transfer was going wrong too often, files were being lost, production schedules often not met. | Redesign of the administrative office network, installation of a workflow system, introduction of Wireless networking, implementation of scheduled transfer of production file directly to robotic stations. Result: Three years after installation performance remains on track, dramatic reduction in operating costs and significantly improved staff relations. |
| Loss of inventory location records, regular stock-taking to keep track of parts and materials, too many jobs run twice or not at all. |
Automated warehousing systems were connected with the administration office network. Direct access to storage carousel parts inventories allowed automated cross-checking between accounting and management systems and the factory floor. Introduction of email gave production staff immediate communication ability. Production staff can validate and check-in actual unit counts from their own consoles. |
| CAD network independent of office network. Systems outages, jobs not completed on time. Administrative office users had limited per-location Internet access. Critical business files stored on users PCs--inability to find critical business files. |
Design of a company-wide network infrastructure with disciplined centralized file storage. Introduction of disciplined work-flow management systems. Centralized control of internet access. Improved ability to control confidential information. Installation of a centralized indentity management system controls access to all business systems and is fully integrated with all infrastructure services. Internet access is tightly controlled. |