Operations Manager Arie van Aalst had everything running smoothly in his brand new dairy factory. Or so he thought. Until that one day in spring, when everything was turned upside down by an outbreak of Salmonella. Months later, when the factory was allowed to restart, he had learned a valuable lesson. The canary in the coal mine had definitely sent a signal… So why did this remain undetected?
HAI Cloud software solutions. Rest assured, knowing that the factory is running like clockwork; with your data always readily available.
The Covid-19 measures have created a new reality for the way factories are organized. For many factories, there is now a minimum of factory personnel on-site. Management and supporting plant personnel work predominantly from home. People working remotely often struggle to stay well-informed on exactly what’s happening in the factory.
Thus, the new reality of factory personnel working from home has intensified the need for plant information systems in the cloud: with a digital factory we have all the information we need, anytime, anywhere.
In-line measurement of product quality versus of off-line quality tests. It helps.
Why? Because you can immediately notice if the production process is not performing optimally: it allows you to timely adjust your production process, in order to prevent rejected batches and ensure product quality consistency.
So, is the introduction of in-line measurement always a no-brainer? I’d say yes, provided you take the right approach.
“Data – I mean the right data – is hard to find”. This observation comes from a Lean 6Sigma Manager in the Food Industry. He understands the value of CORRECT data. Indeed, it appears that food manufacturers often seem not to have the right data in place to solve production and quality issues.
However, a professional plant information system enables fact-based decision-making. Decisions about: What are the reasons for a Rejected batch? Can we improve quality? Can we increase output?
It’s easier to check the current temperature in Tokyo than the temperature trend of a production batch last week. An app notifies rain showers in ten minutes, but which app notifies that the production process needs adjustment to prevent off-spec? About the business case for smart use of data in factories.