A factory is a dynamic, complex workplace that requires labor, equipment, logistics, and production management to work in synergy to meet the demands of high-mix, low-volume production. Delta Industrial Automation has helped various businesses implement different Smart Manufacturing Solutions to solve thorny problems in production lines and inventory management. Recently, Delta has successfully helped a leading emergency lights factory overcome long-standing obstacles in production control by deploying the Manufacturing Execution System DIAMES and the Warehouse Management System DIAWMS.
The emergency lights factory adopts the mixed-model production for lightbar products, meaning various products from separate work orders and different production lines converge at the packing station. Because it takes longer to assemble products than to pack them, it is more efficient for workers to pack finished products from several production lines at the same time. However, packing workers do not know in advance whether the products they pack belong to the same work order or not, and hence cannot prepare the right amount of packing materials. To deal with this situation, workers prepare a set amount of packing materials for all packing stations. However, the finished products may not be distributed evenly to each station, so it takes additional time and labor to pick, sort, and put away materials repetitively every day.
Challenges not only occur in production but also in inventory management. For example, the incoming parts may be organized by packs, boxes, or bags, but for inventory and production lines, the applicable units should be pieces and grams. Hence, workers need to spend considerable time taking stock and converting the units, which may lead to errors and inventory discrepancies. In addition, workers conduct order picking with separate pick lists, which takes them a lot of time to move along shelves and locate the parts they need.
Delta’s Smart Manufacturing Solutions encompass the OT and IT layers, from field devices to monitoring and management. Delta’s experts inspect and analyze the situations on site, and provide integrated solution modules to solve the pain points. These modules not only optimize production and inventory management, but also connect data, labor, and logistics to create synergy through a friendly graphical user interface and detailed real-time field data records. Workers can easily generate data reports, create dashboards, and preset update notifications to tackle any situation in the factory.
Picking the right amount of packing materials in real-time is the key to addressing the troubles at the packing station. Delta provides the solution by implementing the Manufacturing Execution System DIAMES with electronic shelf labels (ESLs) to enhance mix-model production. First, workers on site follow each work order to pick, sort, and shelf the packing materials for different products, and upload the information to the MES system via PDA devices. Then, when mixed products arrive at the packing station, the workers only have to scan the barcode on the products, and the ESLs on the shelf produce flashes and beeps to notify the workers to pick up the packing materials. In addition, the ESLs display work order numbers, product names, and the remaining amount of materials to update the production status.
To speed up receiving and putaway, Delta has introduced the Warehouse Management System DIAWMS. By inputting unit conversion equations beforehand, the WMS system can automatically convert the incoming units to the inventory units for easy inventory reconciliation. Moreover, the system keeps detailed records of receiving and shipping, which greatly saves the trouble of stocktaking and avoids unit inconsistency.
To enhance picking efficiency, the DIAWMS divides the storage area into different zones, automatically generates the pick lists, and displays the best picking route for workers on site. The workers only need to follow the displayed orders and go to the designated zone for picking, which significantly shortens the process. After picking, the workers simply sort the materials by different work orders. When the workers scan the barcodes on the materials, the ESLs produce flashes and beeps to remind workers to put the materials into corresponding distribution carts.
With more and more businesses aiming at digital transformation, factories not only need to upgrade hardware, but also require convenient systems to optimize production management and performance. Delta combines the Manufacturing Execution System DIAMES and the Warehouse Management System DIAWMS to ensure effective synergy between the production line and inventory by monitoring workers, equipment, and inventory. Moreover, Delta’s smart system can analyze the accumulated data to conduct predictive maintenance, reduce downtime losses, and speed up production, so as to maximize production capacity.