OEE and Downtime Tracking
Support continuous improvement initiatives with OEE and downtime tracking systems using real-time data from plant-floor machinery.
Track and Trace
Track production with real-time data connections to plant floor equipment. Record product genealogy, lot information, raw material usage and waste, and more.
Recipe Management
Store set-point information for fill-volumes, cycle times, and conveyor speeds, then configure the entire line at once by selecting a stored configuration.
Data Analytics
Apply mathematical analytics to large volumes of data collected from your manufacturing line to find and monitor for patterns too complex for humans to see.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a universally accepted metric used to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of manufacturing equipment. An OEE system helps your team focus improvement efforts where they will have the greatest effect: Availability, performance, or quality.
When availability or performance are challenges, a downtime tracking solution exposes the root causes of stoppage or slow-down on your line. Our team can integrate your OEE system directly into your plant-floor control systems to automatically record machine availability and downtime reasons eliminating human data collection and reporting error. Real-time and historical reporting provide actionable information to your production management and maintenance teams, helping you achieve the highest possible value from your plant assets.
Monitoring the progress of a product through the manufacturing process and recording valuable information are benchmarks of effective track and trace systems. Through integration with existing control systems, this information gathering can typically be automated, and any additional information is gathered from operators electronically.
The resulting database provides a wealth of information including product genealogy, lot information, raw material usage and waste, and real-time production progress monitoring. Value is realized through process optimization and risk limiting in critical situations such as product recalls. Vertech’s team works with you to map your process and develop a data collection strategy to integrate customized, off-the-shelf track and trace software bringing all of this to reality.
Part of any digitalization strategy should include automated line configuration, commonly known as recipe management software. Recipe management software stores set-point information for things like fill-volumes, cycle times, and conveyor speeds associated with a specific product’s required configuration. Rather than configuring each individual machine on a line, operators can configure the entire line at once by selecting a stored configuration.
Vertech’s MES group works with your team to develop a recipe strategy for your production lines that enforces standards and quality while remaining flexible to support required variations that inevitably arise in the real-world. Our team can both manage integration with existing control systems and assist in the development of manual processes if required. And, of course, we work to ensure the security and integrity of your process information.
Data analytics encompasses a wide variety of software tools and algorithms that support ongoing process improvement efforts. Mathematical analytics tools can be applied to the large volumes of data collected from all areas of a manufacturing enterprise to find patterns often too complex for humans to see. Some common applications include extending equipment or tool life through predictive failure analysis, finding energy waste by looking for known patterns in power consumption, and evaluating production information for lost or wasted raw materials.
Specialized analysis like this requires specialized tools and involves math that makes most of us cringe, so Vertech has partnered with Seeq Corporation to leverage their powerful software tools. Our Certified Analytics Engineers are trained to implement Seeq’s software and to work with their data scientists to develop custom analytics solutions for difficult problems.
The holy grail for the digital enterprise is complete, electronic data integration across all departments and levels. While you’re on your grail quest, however, you can secure a quick win by integrating production-layer software tools like scheduling, maintenance management, inventory management, and MES software directly into your ERP system. Whatever ERP system you use, there is a secure and efficient method for integrating information flow.
Vertech’s MES group has integrated ERP systems like SAP and Oracle to a wide variety of production software systems using web services, intermediate SQL tables or text files, and direct integration when that approach fits the enterprise data security strategy. Our clients have automated raw material and finished good inventory updates, integrated incoming orders with production scheduling, and tightly tracked costs per lot.
The control freaks at Vertech love a good challenge, and we’re ready to get to work. Drop us a line!
