Small and mid-sized manufacturers possess a diverse set of machine tools, a major portion of which is legacy equipment. By legacy equipment, we mean equipment that does not have any sensors to provide information on their operating state and conditions in digital form. When such equipment is fitted with inexpensive sensors, they can provide a wealth of information to manage Availability and Utilization, and predict maintenance needs. These basic metrics directly affect the Productivity of manufacturing operations at the equipment level, and therefore have a direct impact on revenue.
Productivity is affected by Availability and Utilization, which also affect each other. Utilization is driven by work order quantities. A very high utilization may cause the equipment to be overused. Additionally, poor maintenance and adverse ambient conditions may cause a breakdown and therefore affect availability.
If the manufacturer lacks resources to replace frequently malfunctioning equipment immediately, they need to determine when to stop operations to avoid a breakdown. For instance, either overuse or overdue maintenance may cause the equipment to operate at a very high temperature. The solution may be to schedule a short downtime and wait for the equipment to cool down instead of pushing it beyond tolerance levels and causing an extended breakdown. If the equipment breaks down completely due to uncontrolled use, a repair may be needed. As it often occurs with old equipment, spare parts may not be easy to find.
If the manufacturer installs an inexpensive temperature sensor in the equipment, and determines the normal operating ranges and threshold for breakdown using a software program, they will be able to monitor the equipment and be armed with data to make operating decisions quickly. Furthermore, if an additional sensor is installed to track the utilization of the equipment, the software program may be able to predict maintenance periods using a combination of variables including utilization, ambient temperature and equipment temperature. Thus, retrofitting legacy equipment with simple sensors could extend their lives and therefore allow the manufacturer to recoup their investment in a more predictable and environmentally sustainable manner.
Next, it is important to avoid uncontrolled overuse of equipment. After accumulating production, temperature and other operations data over a period of time, the manufacturer will develop a solid understanding of production capacity, rest times, and operating thresholds. This information could be centrally documented and shared with all the operators on the shopfloor. Training in the proper use and all aspects of the equipment is extremely important to ensure availability.
Finally, imagine scaling up this sort of monitoring and training for equipment across all the factories, getting insights into their impact on revenue, and having the ability to respond to rising or falling demand. By gathering data directly from the shop floor and improving their visibility across the organization, there will be a remarkable improvement in accountability and collaboration.
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