October 2021 - January 2022
MANAGEMENT
How to survive as a modern-day business Paper-based systems and analogue machines are still common within the industrial sectors, but writing on a piece of paper just isn’t adequate in today’s environment, says SYSPRO Chief Product Officer, Paulo De Matos
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ith the need for continued innovation and tighter controls, businesses are now realising the urgency to replace legacy and manual systems with technologies that will improve visibility of critical data and reduce business risks. The ability to increase productivity, reduce waste, lower production costs, enable greater quality control and improve the management of schedules and production rates without having to manage multiple systems from various vendors also remains a modern day necessity. SYSPRO’s global research into the inflection point for the factory of the future shows the dire consequences of reliance on old manual systems, where only 38% of businesses felt that their business systems were adequate to cope with the disruption caused by the pandemic. But before investing in a digital solution, manufacturers need to understand what industry requirements exist, how visibility enables 48 safetynews.co.nz
control and how to mitigate overall risk. Industry requirements Reliance on manual systems can be a hinderance for industries that are governed by regulatory control – there is too great a possibility for human error. The food and beverage industry is similar to the other compliant regulated sectors, such as the medical devices industry, in that it requires extensive record keeping as a measure of control. Packaging for the food and beverage industry requires retention samples of all raw materials beyond the shelf life of the products. Tinned food manufacturers, for example, need to coat the inside of the can with a specific lacquer to protect the tin plate from the food product or ingredients. At the same time, a sealant needs to be applied over any welds to protect the product attacking the compromised area, and the can corroding from the inside out. With those measures in
place, a tin may have a significantly extended shelf life. Samples of the internal lacquer and sealant will need to be kept by the supplier for a specified number of years. Taking control of the shop floor through complete visibility During manufacture, frontline managers need complete visibility and control of the shop floor to prevent problems such as overruns, bottlenecks, downtime, poor employee or machine performance and excessive scrap. To achieve this, modern software needs to be combined with a digital strategy that ensures that the critical information is available digitally. Now, many manufacturers are automating the simple jobs and relying on people to manage the remaining processes. This often places a heavy demand on human resources. As an alternative, a sophisticated system like Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM), integrated within an ERP
solution, can be implemented to support the complete manufacturing lifecycle, without the risk of human error. A MOM solution enables manufacturers to automatically connect with machines to collect critical data without manual inputs. MOM helps manufacturers in three ways: 1) Measure performance of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). This refers to how well machines run and the measurement is based on a combination of uptime, speed and quality. The MOM should not track every single machine but should ideally just track the bottlenecks or older machines. 2) Measure overall labour performance (OLE). Often a lot of time and productivity is lost through human error. 3) Measure total effective equipment performance (TEEP) or the amount of downtime. By measuring these three elements in unison, manufacturers can identify specific challenges and optimise operational effi-
