Content
Chapter 1
The SAP Digital Manufacturing (SAP DM) solution is divided into two central components: SAP DMe (Execution) and SAP DM (Insights). What is SAP DMe in detail?
Chapter 2
The SAP Digital Manufacturing solution includes a tool for the dispatching and monitoring of production orders at work center level: Resource Orchestration (REO).
P. 4
Workforce planning made easy: With the help of DMe and the Manage Labor application, the assignment of employees to production orders is also covered flexibly and reliably.
Chapter 4
P. 6
Chapter 3 P. 10
As a cross-industry MES solution in the cloud, DMe offers specific functions for the process industry to support companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, food & beverage, sugar, pulp, paper, glass, steel and cement manufacturing sector.
P. 8
In this white paper, we show you how to make the right decision for your specific application. In the context of the smart or digital factory, SAP Digital Manufacturing for Execution (SAP DMe) is a SaaS manufacturing cloud solution that enables you to achieve significant benefits in quality and efficiency. As a result, visions and ideas relating to the smart factory are increasingly becoming reality.
DMe as the central system in production
The MES solution SAP Digital Manufacturing (SAP DM) is divided into SAP DMi (Insights) and SAP DMe (Execution). We want to take a closer look at the latter. Let‘s start with the question: What is SAP DMe in detail?
SAP Digital Manufacturing for Execution (SAP DMe) is a cloud-based production control system that is based on the SAP Business Technology Platform and is used to control manufacturing activities at shopfloor level as dynamically and comprehensively as possible.
PROCESS-DESIGNER AND PRODUCTION OPERATOR DASHBOARDS
Using the Process Designer, even highly complex manufacturing processes can be mapped with the assistance of a graphical user interface, taking into account various potential occurring scenarios. Various system and machine types can be fully integrated. As a result, manufacturing costs are reduced while product quality and production efficiency are improved. Intuitive operator terminals - socalled production operator dashboards - are used to display relevant information, such as work instructions, and to guide the production workers through the manufacturing process.
This worker guidance can take the form of text descriptions, recipes, photos or videos or even an interactive 3D model that visually describes the manufacturing process. This makes the use of paper redundant and paperless
This enables the creation of an intelligent factory. With the SAP MES system acting as a link, the planning of process orders carried out at the administrative level (top floor) can be transferred to production.
„ production, in which all data is recorded with system support, becomes reality.DMe also fulfils a central integration task and, ensures a bidirectional, vertical communication between the ERP or S/4 system and the executive level of a plant.
„With the Production Process Designer, even highly complex production processes can be mapped with a graphical user interface.“
„SAP‘s answer to the considerable need for flexibility: the Resource Orchestration (REO) component included in DMe.“
„
DYNAMIC RESPONSIVENESS USING REO
However, the production environment is usually characterized by enormous dynamics: plans often have to be adjusted according to the situation, similarly, existing process orders have to be prioritized in order to meetthe agreed delivery date. If the worst comes to the worst, the necessary equipment may be defective or employees who are needed to produce certain products may not be available at the required time.
In addition to the administrative planning of production and the actual execution, there is a considerable need for flexibility in order to be able to react to unplanned events and maintain a plant‘s productivity at a high level. SAP‘s answer to this challenge is the Resource Orchestration (REO) component contained in DMe. This consists of the main applications Dispatching and Monitoring and Manage Labor.
Resource orchestration at shopfloor level
The Manufacturing Execution System SAP Digital Manufacturing includes a component for the dispatching and monitoring of process orders at work center level: Resource Orchestration (REO).
Resource Orchestration (REO) is used, among other things, to ensure flexible execution and situational reprioritization of individual process orders within the production planning specified by the ERP system. The so-called Dispatching and Monitoring application enables users to react to special change requests from customers or fluctuations in demand at short notice - without affecting production output.
COMPLETE OVERVIEW OF RESOURCE STATUS
For this purpose, the respective availabilities of machines, employees and tools are visualized on a central interface in the form of a Gantt chart. This gives production managers a complete overview of the status of all resources. They can monitor both the progress of an order and the expected time of completion in real time. With the help of the REO component, changes can be easily and flexibly incorporated into the production planning specified by the ERP system using drag & drop and automatic support.
THE DISPATCHING AND MONITORING APPLICATION SUPPORTS MANUFACTURERS IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
Effective detailed planning and monitoring of at shopfloor level
Comprehensive information on resource utilization and the current production situation thanks to a detailed notification concept
Visual representation of high-priority processes and orders
Fast response to unexpected events incl. AI support
Automatic scheduling of operations and optimized detailed planning (e.g. with heuristics or machine learning)
Splitting of process orders to different resources
„„Manage Labor takes into account individual qualifications and certifications, for example, so that only employees with the required expertise are assigned.“
Dynamic workforce scheduling with SAP DMe
Workforce planning made easy: With the help of DMe and the „Manage Labor“ application, the assignment of employees to production orders is covered flexibly and reliably.
In addition to order dispatching and monitoring, DMe also manages the effective deployment of the employees involved: While shift planning in many companies is based on rigid rhythms and changes lead to a great amount of effort, the Manage Labor application enables flexible personnel planning in production.
Manage Labor takes into account a wide range of criteria, such as legal regulations on working hours. This ensures that resting periods and absences - due to illness or vacation, for example - are automatically considered into shift planning. Individual qualifications and completed certifications and their validity are also taken into account so that certain production orders, for example, are only assigned to employees who have the necessary expertise. Experienced employees may be less likely to cause disruption or be overwhelmed by complicated tasks. This is reflected in a smooth production process and optimum product quality.
The „Manage Labor“ application can be used by production managers for the following areas:
Planning and assignment of employees to shifts
Shift planning with online capacity view
Direct integration for detailed order planning
Online check of employee qualifications and certifications
Online check of vacation and absence times
Selected MES applications for the process industry
DMe also includes functions specially developed for the process industry to digitally map a wide range of mixing, dosing, weighing and line production processes. The cloud MES helps to centrally control all processes, to seamlessly document the production processes and batches used and meet legal quality requirements and audits.
With functionalities such as the management of master recipes, predefined structures and parameters such as master data and transaction data can be maintained centrally, making a great deal of work easier. Whether recipes with execution-relevant data, electronic work instructions or desired data collection parameters - all quality and production specifications can be integrated from the ERP system and used directly in the MES without any adaptation effort. The close interaction between SAP ERP (S/4) and SAP DM also enables direct feedback at phase level of produced good quantities for main and by-products as well as manufactured batches. Unwanted differences in remaining stocks can also be corrected on the basis of storage locations or batch characteristics.
The deep integration option with the ERP module SAP QM (SAP Quality Management) plays a special role. DM‘s range of functions allows the necessary in-process checks to be carried out and the recorded inspection results to be reported directly back to the ERP. These in-process checks can be carried out at regular intervals during a production step (e.g. tableting, encapsulation) or at the end of a production step (e.g. mixing, sieving). The required inspection data can be reported back to the QM module from the so-called „order POD“ of a worker from the line without the need for further activities.
In addition, all work steps, including the start and end times and the data recorded in the process, including stored comments, are automatically archived in the system in the form of a product history report. A detailed overview of all batches (ratios) that make up the end product can be viewed in the product genealogy report. Another DM highlight especially for the process industry is the Line
Monitor. This pioneering application for monitoring the manufacturing process from various perspectives (production, quality, systems, OEE) offers production managers comprehensive insights from higher-level production lines/ workstations to individual resources.
In addition to productivity benefits, SAP DM also significantly increases process reliability within the manufacturing process. One example are the warning messages that are displayed to production employees when tolerance values are about to be exceeded with the help of the „Line Monitor“ to prevent impending quality losses.
It should be noted that SAP DMe provides manufacturing companies with various tools to increase the efficiency of their production. The main focus here is on the dispatching and monitoring of orders using the REO component and the flexible shift planning of employees within a plant. However, SAP MES also takes topics such as traceability and reliable process management into account to ensure consistent quality. In addition there is a considerable degree of flexibility thanks to the intuitive Process Designer, which means that even smaller production quantities down to batch size 1 can be produced profitably.
Do you still have questions?
If you would like more information about SAP Digital Manufacturing (SAP DM) or are currently looking into digitizing your production processes, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to assist you and explain how we have already successfully mastered demanding challenges in the production environment in collaboration with our customers using on SAP standard software. We look forward to hearing from you!
Copyright © 2023, IGZ Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH.
All rights reserved
Publisher: IGZ Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH
IGZ Ingenieurgesellschaft für logistische Informationssysteme mbH Logistikweg 1
95685 Falkenberg
Tel.: +49 9637 9292 - 0 | info@igz.com | www.igz.com