How to Use Real-Time Information to Manage Packaging Lines
How to Use Real-Time Information to Manage Packaging Lines

Line managers are frequently ordered to use real-time information to better organize their packaging lines, without being told what real-time information is. At Videojet, we think of it simply: Real-time information is a signal (such as a data point) that will let you see the good and the bad on the line conveniently.

 
With real-time information, it is now possible to repair broken machines fast and many troubles can be prevented. Without it, lines can go down without a moment’s notice. To better use real-time information, you will initially need to know about two kinds signals: Status and flow. Let’s talk about each, how they are used and then showcase three key results to using real-time information on your packaging line.
 
Status Signals
 
Contemplate status signals as your packaging line’s “check engine” light. If you're having status signal problems, it’s time for quick action. As an example, when your Andon light flashes red, you are sure that that something is inaccurate with your machine — that’s a status signal. A status signal tells you that you need quick corrective action to fix your machines before your line has serious downtime.
 
Flow Signals
 
Flow signals include real-time information for example speed, throughput and reject rates. Flow signals allow you to foresee what may happen by seeing what exactly is currently going on on your line. Is your packaging line running behind schedule? Maybe it is running ahead of schedule? Both would be good to know, as you’ll likely have to make operational changes to modify.
 
How Line Managers Can Use Status and Flow Signals
 
When you see an alteration in your status signal, you need to give it immediate attention. This sort of real-time information makes it easy to find and interact with challenges in order to help refrain being hampered by hours of costly downtime.
 
For example, here are three reasons why a section of a line can go down:
(1) It’s starved
(2) It’s held
(3) It’s broken
 
If the line is starved, the problem is upstream. When it is held, the problem is downstream. If it’s broken, you know what the problem is, right? It's time to fix your machine.
 
More often than not, line managers struggle to determine irrespective of whether a machine is broken, or where the line is underperforming. But if they attach photosensors to their printer, connect it to the IIoT and utilize data management solutions, they can discover line status promptly to see where the line is struggling. The bottom line is that real-time data can render crucial and actionable insights.
 
With the help of flow signals, line managers can cut down on, and help eradicate, waste. From what I’ve seen, and in my experience, packaging lines are most frequently behind 90 percent of the time and ahead 10 percent of the time. Flow signals let you to address both to help keep your line running more efficiently and on target.
 
If you’re running behind, flow signals let you see what areas are held up. If you’re running ahead, you're likely overcompensating for something and it’s altered the timing on your line. If you never have told your scheduling employees to make changes when the line is running ahead, you are potentially going to have downtime or a lot of waste.
 
Another way line managers can utilize flow signals and real-time information is to handle the problem of high reject rates.  You're stabilizing how fast your line is running with your reject rate, meaning that if you have to crank up the speed of the line to what management says — in these cases, the reject rate will be too big. Knowing what your reject rate and throughput are will help you to create a reliable line, but this can be quite hard to fnd out without a flow signal. Without real-time information, you oftentimes will not figure out about changes to your reject rate from the third shift being too high until midway through the first shift.
 
The reject rate sends a very strong flow signal: if it rises, line managers need to fix their line rapidly. The reject rate virtually tells line managers, “Something has changed. You’d better go and take a look at it.”
 
Three Advantages of Real-Time Information
 
When you measure both status and flow signals in real-time and feed them to your line, you’ll have three big advantages as a manager:
 
1. Your line operators will be empowered to be aware of when things are going well and when they aren’t going well. They’ll have a standard work process in place to boost your business and help save your line from unplanned downtime.
 
2. You’ll have information to let you acknowledge how well you’re doing, and whether or not you need to work on scheduling changes upstream or downstream. This may help you run your whole plant better and more holistically.
 
3. You’ll have real-time, data-driven input for problem-solving at the point of impact.
 
Thus, in the place of looking into the status report thinking to yourself, “What happened at 3 p.m. on Tuesday?” you can adopt real-time information to better discover what’s happening and enable the appropriate changes to your packaging line. A better understanding of signals such as status and flow, and how they can be applied using real-time information, help you better identify the root cause of problems, and how to countermeasure them.
 
This article is originally posted on tronserve.com

Published : 18-Jun-2019

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