From shop floor to top floor
Tyre manufacturers improve entire manufacturing process with access to plant floor information.
Tyre manufacturers are experiencing the same technological and communication problems faced by their counterparts in other industries: legacy systems built on islands of automation, production operations engineered to defy design changes, and proprietary architectures that make integrating new equipment arduous and expensive. And despite advances in technology and automation, tyre manufacturing remains a labour-intensive process, involving not only enormous proportions of raw materials and a host of specialised equipment, but a demand for precise chemistry in the production process.
Regional and international regulatory agencies further complicate the manufacturing process. The Economic Commission for Europe (E.C.E), requires complete tracing, tracking and genealogy of parts and chemicals.
Tyre manufacturing is both a science and an art. The mixing and remixing of elastomers, carbon blacks and other compounds that form rubber require exact controls. Tyre manufacturing also requires a range of other critical procedures, such as fabricating the steel and ply cords that are crucial to structural integrity.
The challenges of the tyre manufacturing operation are echoed throughout the manufacturing process: accommodating scheduling changes, performing “what-if” analyses, maintaining accurate and repeatable recipe information, performing rapid changeovers in response to customer specifications, acquiring real-time performance data, integrating control throughout the manufacturing process and collecting key machine performance parameters. By combining a finite capacity scheduling system with an MES, manufacturers can overcome operating challenges and exceed expectations.
A finite capacity scheduling system allows manufacturers to accurately model the capacity constraints to generate an accurate production schedule. The scheduling system recognises the actual capacity limits of the factory including shift patterns, work centres, labour and tooling. Some systems also recognise material constraints such as on-hand inventory and planned deliveries of material.
Additionally, a scheduling system can streamline management of detailed operations for a manufacturer. It gathers all information needed to enable the plant to generate a detailed look at future operations with the appropriate constructs for defining and managing production constraints. Engineers consider these constraints when building the production schedule in order to block the scheduling of order and operations when insufficient quantities of materials exist or when routing difficulties occur.
“By combining a finite capacity scheduling system with an MES system, all levels of of manufacturing, engineering and production management become visible throughout the process.” |
The varied capabilities of a scheduling system make it a valuable asset within the tyre manufacturing process. It integrates with both the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and the MES, adding even more value to the entire manufacturing process. By using data existing within the ERP and MES, the scheduler creates the optimal plan for the facility. The synergy created by all of these systems working together can help tyre manufacturers meet their production goals within cost constraints and provide an electronic “white board” on which to determine routing, necessary resources and maximum throughput.
Scheduling and MES: a dynamic duo
When a finite capacity scheduling system and MES are combined, elements including raw materials, mixing, component preparation, tyre assembly, curing, testing and shipping manufacturing operations become visible throughout the entire manufacturing process. The scheduling system works directly with the MES to dispatch and track order progress and helps ensure that tyres ship on time. Graphical interfaces define views of orders, materials and constraints across multiple areas within the facility.
The scheduling system stages orders issued from an ERP and determines the time and place of processing – effectively scheduling the batches based on business rules. The rules are established based on key performance indicators (KPIs) and are used to generate a production schedule. Then, using MES functionality as a backbone, the actual production is tracked against the scheduling system. Concurrently, KPI performance is measured and, if required, the production schedule is adjusted on the fly to ensure predefined goals are met.
The power of this system is that operational constraints also can be used to model production flow so the next operation can begin before the previous one is complete. This strategy can decrease order cycle time, enabling the reduction of work-in-process (WIP) inventory and finished goods inventory, resulting in increased manufacturing output.
In addition, actual performance information is captured by the MES and sent back to the scheduling system. The data allows the scheduling system to automatically adjust batch durations and resource allocations. If equipment goes down, the scheduling system can re-route jobs to other available equipment.
Many manufacturers that want to implement a scheduling system struggle to acquire and collect the various points of data needed to accurately model the production environment.
Given that most of the required information is currently collected manually, the next step to integration may appear to be an insurmountable task. Methodologies exist, however, to make the journey less daunting. Information from all these major manufacturing areas and systems can be identified and interfaces between them developed.
Employing a phased-in solution breaks the integration process into manageable steps. The first step in a phased-in solution is to deploy a real-time scheduling tool, in conjunction with the established ERP. During this phase, manufacturers can continue to manually collect data for the scheduling system. The next step is to deploy a fully capable MES solution complete with the ability to capture automatic process data as well as set up and changeover data. Finally, by comparing the real time production data to the schedule generated, manufacturers can validate their performance and have early visibility to scheduling issues.
Tyre manufacturing is a complex process. By integrating control and information along with finite capacity scheduling, manufacturers can streamline their operations. Significant financial savings can be realised, including achieving increased manufacturing throughput as well as benefits from greater visibility, tracking and control of operations.
For more information, please e-mail us at: info_at@ra.rockwell.com with ref: Tyre
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