Speed, Control and Visibility for Manufacturing Operations
Real-Time Dashboards, Analytics, Reporting
& Mobile Visibility for Manufacturing
The Transparent Factory:
Achieving Total Factory Information Visibility
Table of Contents
3 Synopsis
3 Data needs to be visibly, clear, precise and timely
5 Selecting the right data and presenting it appropriately
7 Two solutions, two outcomes
8 For more Information
The Transparent Factory | 2
The Transparent Factory:
Achieving Total Factory Information Visibility
Real-Time Dashboards, Analytics, Reporting & Mobile Visibility for Manufacturing
If you can’t see it, you can’t measure it, and if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve
it! This is the simple mantra of successful manufacturers the world over. Manufacturing
excellence can only come from manufacturing visibility.
Visibility is key and that visibility needs to be clear, precise and timely. The best
manufacturers have simple, instant visibility to product, process, quality, test, and
materials information factory-wide. The benefits of such visibility are well known to the
manufacturing community, and yet achieving it has proven elusive for many. This paper
identifies the primary elements of information visibility itself and explores the different
technical approaches towards achieving such visibility. Finally, it compares the commercial
ramifications of the different approaches.
Data needs to be visibly, clear, precise
and timely
Data is at the core of every successful
manufacturing process, so it is essential to start with
the assumption that all the systems and operations
within the factory gather and maintain information
in a meaningful and timely fashion. This means
connecting all the data from inbound materials
through materials management, production, test,
quality control, packing and all the way to dispatch,
and even into after market services.
When talking about visibility, the debate is often
restricted to the processes within the factory
walls, but the greatest benefit is always achieved
when a holistic visible supply chain approach is
adopted. Indeed applying disciplines like six sigma,
Industry 4.0, paperless factory or lean techniques
always works best when applied throughout the
supply chain.
So, the basic requirements are the ability to
collect and store data centrally, but that data is
largely useless if it does not enable improvement,
The Transparent Factory | 3
Reports tailored to individual users or operators put
the right data into the hands of the right people at the
right time.
corrective action and the pursuit of manufacturing
excellence. This can only be done if the data is
properly mined and appropriately displayed to the
right people at the right time. The right data, at
the right time, delivered to the right person in a
manner that they can act upon is the best formula
to achieving real operational excellence.
The phrase ‘I can’t see the forest for the trees’
is often used when data is delivered to a single
source, in a poorly organized format. The ability to
process and act upon data starts with the ability to
visualize that data in a way that can be analyzed
and interpreted. This doesn’t mean delivering all
the data to one person with a huge number of
performance indicators or measurements. It means
delivering the data needed to do the best job. For
a line operator the data required may be minimal
and may reflect simple elements like machine
performance, up-time or shortages. An engineer
might need data on the performance of a particular
product in test, analyzing the reasons for failures.
And the production planner will need to see data
that allows them to better plan and consider what-
if scenarios around increased volumes or supply
chain disruptions.
Those with a vested interest in timely precise data,
span the entire organization from the shop floor to
the boardroom and everyone in between. The data
that helps the operator accelerate a changeover
will contribute to the data that allows the COO
to make the right capital equipment investment
or outsourcing decisions. The visible factory is an
enterprise-wide strategy with enterprise wide value.
Having established the clear and undeniable value
of the transparent factory, what are the critical
elements required to making information visible and
useful to the enterprise?
The types of data visibility required to achieve
a transparent factory are related directly to the
activities and roles of those who require information
in their day-to-day jobs. The data needs are either
real-time or historic, and these are delivered to the
user in several formats such as dashboards, analytics,
reports and most recently mobile applications for
those needing access to data on the move.
Real-time information is most commonly delivered
in what we currently call dashboards. A process
engineer or a line manger will often use this kind
of data presentation to maintain and improve
the performance of the line. The data has to be
instantaneous, with any delay likely to cause or
extend down-time, with the subsequent impact
further along the line. This kind of data delay can
also cause quality challenges and reduced yield, as
the overhang of faulty assemblies increases while
an error is detected and corrective action taken.
This data is best delivered in a simple graphical
manner with strong visual and even audio alerts
delivered when a potential problem is likely to
occur. The need for instant data here is obvious:
the faster the alert the faster the reaction and the
eventual solution.
The Transparent Factory | 4
“ Those with a vested interest in
timely precise data, span the entire
organization. ”
Real-time dashboards are constructed in a simple drag-
and-drop environment where no SQL or coding skills are
necessary.
Historical data is needed for production control,
engineering, quality, test and for management
to monitor, analyze and adjust production based
on current and predicted status. This is where
traceability enters the equation. Traceability,
like visibility, is an essential cornerstone for any
manufacturing excellence program that seeks
to add value, reduce costs and mitigate risk to
an enterprise. The word history here is used to
define anything that has happened, and not
ancient history. If it’s not real-time, it’s historic. The
delivery method and presentation style for historical
data can take many forms. Reports and detailed
analytics are the basics of any transparent system
and the details included are essential in informing
many decisions about product selection, business
and market planning as well as the full gamut of
supply chain decisions, such as vendor selection,
logistic programming and fulfilment solutions.
Most recently viewing methods have become
a critical factor when data is being utilized by
an organization. Mobility is the norm in modern
business and the team’s ability to stay connected
to the data via mobile analytics has become
key. The use of smartphones and tablets has
skyrocketed, with the addition of people utilizing
their own devices in a work environment. This
means any system absolutely must be visible
through smartphone and tablet based applications.
Selecting the right data and presenting it
appropriately
Knowledge is power, and the power to select
the information needed and how that is delivered
should be put in the hands of those using the data.
It would be easy to let the IT department design
and deliver various dashboards to those that need
them, assessing requirements, driving metrics and
providing a one size fits many solution. This is firstly
a burdensome task for any IT team, all of which are
at least stretched, and in most cases overworked.
But perhaps more importantly it does not deliver
the kind of tailored information that each individual
might want to see to allow them to better
discharge there responsibilities. Putting the layout
of the dashboard into the hands of the person who
will derive use from it is the only way to empower
them, ensuring they have exactly what they want
when and where they need it. The more practical,
and most successful solutions occur when the
power to design the dashboard is delivered to
the user. The least attractive and agile solution
occurs when the users relinquish responsibility for
the configuration and assign it to the integrator
or vendor. Flexibility is also essential at the initial
stage. Dashboards and configurations should be
allowed to develop and evolve. The data needed
by an individual today may not be the same as that
required tomorrow. What’s more not everyone will
get their dashboard specification right first time,
The Transparent Factory | 5
Mobile applications enable users to query traceability, WIP
and quality data from anywhere in or out of the factory.
they will want to adapt as they go and as they see
what data points assist them the most. They may
drop less relevant material, just as they may find
data they didn’t expect to need essential.
Configurable dashboards are an essential feature
of a successful system and are at the heart of the
transparent factory. This needs to be as simple
as dragging and dropping elements into a design
space, telling each element where to derive its
data and exactly how to display it. This needs
to happen without input from the IT team and
certainly without any coding, SQL or IT knowledge.
Without this simplicity and flexibility the system
will not keep pace with the enterprise and the
teams requirements for differing and changing data
presentation.
Not all dashboards need to be truly real-time. Some
will only need to be refreshed once an hour, once
a day, or even once a week. Factories typically
display their monthly quality and production charts
on a wall or a notice board on the factory floor,
usually printed out and pinned up. A transparent
factory will likely have screens at these locations
with the data displayed on dashboards updating
on a regular basis with longer-term analytics
rather than real-time information included. This is
essentially a hybrid between a live dashboard and
a report, providing information that is refreshed at a
predetermined rate.
Reports and analytics should have the same
flexibility, being entirely and simply configured by
a user with no coding, SQL or IT skills. Otherwise
every new report or minor change to an existing
report will be expensive and will create delay. A
reporting system that enables data mining via
a graphical interface and data interrogation by
visually traversing the graphs and data sets is the
only means to meet the ever-changing analytics
demands of a truly transparent factory. Of course,
the ability to write SQL if needed should be present
but cannot be the only means. These flexible
reports are hugely valuable when teams meet
to resolve a specific issue, and the transparency
means they can mine deeper into specific data
when required.
As well as those reports that are generated on
demand, the system should have the ability to
provide automated scheduled reports. Many of
The Transparent Factory | 6
Reports can be scheduled to run at predetermined
intervals in a variety of output formats for viewing on any
type of device.
Navigating historical data
should be graphical and
intuitive so that minor
edits and changes to
analytics can be put into
the hands of the people
who need the data.”
those in the enterprise who need or are able to
make use of data do not have the time or the
inclination to go into a system and generate a
report. Systems should auto-generate reports on a
regular basis and distribute that report to the parties
who will obtain value from it. These auto generated
reports might be for a single shift, daily, weekly
or even monthly, highlighting key data as well
as trends that allow better decisions to be made.
Some user might even play an entirely passive
role in the ecosystem while benefiting from the
reported data.
Again this user configuration and flexibility must
apply regardless of the display device. Most
important the same data and same customizable
nature should apply to mobile devices. Being able
to build a dashboard for the smartphone or tablet as
well as the desktop, or shop-floor based display is
essential to allow the on-the-move user to access
the data they need, particularly when emergency
analysis and reaction is required. As mentioned
above, auto-generated reports should be made
available on mobile devices and notifications sent
when necessary.
As well as considering a mobile workforce it is
also important to consider a data ecosystem that
operates beyond a single facility and a single
geography. With businesses and supply chains
operating on an increasingly global basis reporting
tools must have the means for groups of staff to
interrogate and traverse large data sets across
multiple facilities in multiple geographies, and
perhaps through multiple vendors when a partially
or fully outsourced model is deployed.
Collaborative data mining can be extremely
valuable in a team meeting where the root cause
of problem is not fully understood. Flat static reports
are rarely conclusive in themselves and the ability
to drill into data in real-time can quickly reveal
causes inevitably leading to solutions.
Two solutions, two outcomes
When it comes to resolving all the issues that
the transparent factory generates, there are two
polarized approaches. One solution is customization
and the other is empowerment.
While the customization model may appeal at first,
offering multiple solutions that deliver a unique
dashboard or report for every eventuality perceived
during the installation of the solution, it will clearly
be the most rigid in the long term, and as a result
the one that requires the most interaction with IT,
the integrator and the vendor.
The approach of empowerment of the factory
personnel to create their own data outputs and
dashboards brings so much more than the custom
or tailored solutions. First it does not require a
detailed plan that needs to be applied without
deviation, which in itself takes time and resource
to research and build. That plan can only reflect
the demands of that moment, regardless of how
detailed and complete it is. Second, by empowering
those using the system to configure the system
buy in from the operator is obtained. They each
have their own version of the system, on their own
platform and they are invested into its successful
The Transparent Factory | 7
For more information:
Aegis Software
5 Walnut Grove Drive, Suite 320
Horsham, PA 19044
Phone: 215 773 3571
Fax: 215 773 3572
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.aiscorp.com
5 Walnut Grove Drive, Suite 320
Horsham, PA 19044
www.aiscorp.com
deployment. Third, the system is as dynamic
as your business is, changing when business or
customer demand dictates.
The latter more empowered approach doesn’t
make great demands on the IT team and does not
expect coding or SQL skills from the user.
It is not reasonable to consider both options without
weighing the costs of deployment. A custom
solution may initially seem to offer the best value,
but it is without doubt a path to endless costs of
additional customization and update. This may
mean the loss of time and agility to the business
way beyond the basic cost of programing time.
The empowered solution delivers user customizable
dashboards and reports as well as intuitive data
mining. It offers a system that is as flexible and
agile as any enterprise and reacts to changes in the
same way a successful enterprise does.
Transparency, traceability, visibility, agility and the
ability to mine data and deliver it in a way that
allows for the prompt response to every issue will
set successful enterprises apart as we continue to
move into a world where rapid change is the norm.
A fully transparent approach can have an impact on
the business that goes well beyond the cost of the
initial implementation. More empowered staff are
likely to be more proactive in resolving challenges
within the business and from the customer. They
are also likely to be proactive and enabled in
improving the processes they work on, potentially
increasing yield, reducing scrap or waste and
lowering costs.
Visibility and transparency mean the world to
customers. The ability to retain and grow customer
business can be directly associated with their
perception of a vendor as open and honest as well
as flexibly, agile and quick to react to their needs.
Choosing the correct approach to data can be
transformational to a business and its ability to
serve its marketplace.
“ More empowered staff are likely
to be more proactive in resolving
challenges within the business and from
the customer. ”
