The Challenge: To maintain their strong market position and global reputation for
producing high-quality components, one of the world’s largest
independent driveline and chassis manufacturers commissioned Brock to
implement a modern Factory Information System (FIS) with the flexibility
to service existing installations, yet be extended across multiple new
facilities and business units.
A robust FIS platform was required to achieve higher production,
more efficient utilization of equipment, downtime reduction, and improved
quality of assembled transmissions.
The Solution: The customer chose the manufacturing intelligence
software package Activplant to be the foundation of their new FIS
because of its robust, flexible, and extensible, standards-based framework.
Brock Solutions worked closely with the customer to develop a solution that
collects data from every connected equipment station in the plant. Machine
production and critical process data is gathered from over 650 stations for
reporting on and analyzing machine operation and plant performance as a whole.
Functionality
- Live, direct, secure connections to plant floor
machines for machine and production data collection
- Downtime Tracking
- Parts Tracking and Scrap Reduction
- Extensive built-in analysis and reporting tools
- Convenient web-based access for any number of users
- ERP integration (SAP) for part count tracking and accessing maintenance work order information
- Integrated existing historical data archive for Birth History reporting
- Alarm and event management
The Benefits: The new FIS transforms the customer’s old, compartmentalized
system into a unified plant intelligence infrastructure that gives users access
to every piece of data relevant to improving the transmission assembly process.
This enables the customer to determine the root cause of delays and downtime,
with major potential savings in improved production.
Additionally, through the Birth History tracking functionality, plants can ensure
that each step of the assembly process is executed in the proper order and
according to set specifications.
With this completed project, the customer has a flexible FIS system that
easily accommodates future growth, new lines, process changes, and is capable
of being scaled up and extended to other business units and plants.
Brock Value
- Broad technical capabilities effectively bridge the gap between Manufacturing IT and Controls
- Proven experience and ability to deliver large-scale, multiple-location implementations for major global customers - on-time, on-budget, with lower overall project cost
- Effective approach and delivery methodology that promotes customer involvement and a focus on customer success, ensuring systems exceed expectations and achieve expected ROI
- Ability to integrate legacy and ERP systems into modern MES frameworks, fully leveraging the customer’s existing technology investment and data archives
- Extensive use of simulation, testing, and parallel deployment techniques to deliver seamless changeover and zero downtime
