We define ‘shop floor control’ as the systems with which we plan and monitor production in factories. The tasks that can be performed with modern systems, which through sensors or by connecting to machines, collect data such as machine stops, speeds, waste in real time, systems such as Proalnet's Gespline, Proalnet's Gesplinewill raise productivity levels and reduce waste (both raw material and time) by almost 20% per annum, if fully utilised. This, for a company producing $500'000,000 per year, would yield an increase in production capacity of almost $100'000,000.
The varieties of systems are different and cater for different types of industries, ideally you will be able to find one that suits the size of your business, the industry you serve and the hours you work. You can read here how to choose the best system for your needs (Click here).
In this article we will list the 5 most important advantages of having an efficient Floor Control and how it can impact your factory.
1. Planning:
- Organising the production orders coming in from the sales department and planning the most efficient way to deliver them on schedule.
- Floor control systems collect accurate information for the planning department, giving them the necessary tools to correctly structure the machines available for the processes and generate adjustments to the schedule.
- They will also accurately track the status of the production order in real time, to predict whether it will be delivered on time according to realistic estimates.
2. Cost reduction and analysis:
- Cost reduction thanks to the "Downtime Pareto", where, by having reliable and accurate information, you can identify where you might be wasting money and time
- Keep complete records on operators involved, inventory used, start/end date of work and observations.
- Because the software stores historical data, historical analysis of performance (both machine and operator) can be carried out which will lead to suggestions for improvement and increase the productivity of each production line.
- It will show better production routes, detection of unnecessary stops and discovery of saving opportunities.
3. Control:
- Monitor in real time the status of the machines or the production order and thus be aware of stoppages, breakdowns, absence of operators or raw material and thus be able to react in time.
- This monitoring can be done by managers and system administrators via the internet and even receive automatic messages to the mobile phone when an event occurs.
- Manage the shop floor based on facts and data, not just assumptions, and allow incentive or corrective actions to be taken on staff.
- Minimise material waste and gain greater control over wasted time on a day-to-day and shift-by-shift basis, as you can identify it with a high degree of certainty.
4. Reporting:
- Floor Control Systems allow you to automatically calculate key indicators such as OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), Availability, Yields, Quality, MTBF, MTTR, Stoppage Pareto analysis and Quality Levels. In this way, management reports can be delivered, customized to the needs of the company or to the standards of each sectorClick here to learn how to calculate OEE.
- This can be done in the desired date range and generated in real time and immediately (such as in the middle of a meeting or a trip).
- It will allow you to see the reaction time of the maintenance team and their effectiveness.
- It will visualise raw material shortages and problems, as it will track raw materials from procurement to finished product.
5. Tracking:
- Reliability of information, because it is captured directly from machines or sensors, you will have access to real data and facts, not just guesswork, so you know you are making correct and accurate decisions.
- They allow you to track progress in meeting production targets. This tracking is not a hypothetical calculation, because it is done with the finished units counted by the sensors on each machine.
- It will allow you to evaluate the impact of the implemented improvements and if they are generating the projected savings.
For completeness, we recommend this article where we will talk about the managerial impact of implementing a floor control system (Click here).
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