CASE STUDIES ROUND UP: SAVING MANUFACTURERS TIME AND MONEY

CASE STUDIES ROUND UP

Saving Manufacturers Time and Money

Ahhh, the Advanced Manufacturing Expo. In the past, I would do two laps of the halls: Once to fulfill that childlike wonder of all things manufacturing — as a kid who grew up in a family manufacturing business, I just can’t escape my love for all built things and human ingenuity to create our hearts’ desires — and a second time with my owner hat on.

As a former economic developer functioning in a consultative role, I used to (and sometimes still) get asked, “Bottom line: What can I invest in that is going to save me time and money?”

To answer that question, here is a round up of a few case studies from current AME exhibitors who have saved their clients both time and money.

— Justine Burdette, associate publisher, MiBiz

On Time Delivery Issues Solved

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) protocols have been around for decades, but today have evolved into a larger umbrella of coordinated systems including:

Analysis, where a third party software translates between all the various industrial protocols or “languages;”

Data storage, where all information is moved into company’s ERP or MES system; and

Visualization, where something similar to PowerBi is used to properly analyze and act on the data.

Michael McGray, a senior sales engineer with Zeeland-based Industrial Control, likes to address prominent pain points like on-time delivery. McGray reviews the operation at the cell level to determine which specific operation kicks off the delay, whether that’s machining, deburring or some other process. Then he leverages SCADA and a host of other tools to provide management with a clear picture of what is happening at any given moment. At the end of the day, McGray is moving manufacturing leaders and supervisors from being reactive to database decision makers, saving companies both time and money.

AMRs Move Labor to More Value-Added Tasks

Every manufacturer needs to move stuff, whether it’s raw materials, finished goods, work in process, or trash and recycling. In the past, this was done by forklifts, water spiders, and a variety of material handlers. These days, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), which cost about as much as a forklift but have no need for a driver, are taking over these roles and freeing up labor to do more value-added tasks.

Ben Greve, senior sales engineer for Industrial Control, said there’s a ubiquitous need for this technology.

“Anybody who’s moving stuff is going to need this technology,” Greve said. “With the labor shortage, if (employers) can spend $40,000 to $60,000 on an AMR and repurpose one or two associates for higher-value tasks, that’s a no-brainer right now.”

Sensors Reduce Downtime

The average manufacturer deals with 800 hours of downtime a year, with costs ranging anywhere from $500 per hour into the thousands, depending on the products on the line. According to a study conducted by MIT, industries across the United States lose an estimated $240 billion annually because of downtime for repairs on failed manufacturing equipment. Half of those failures are due to improper bearing maintenance.

“Downtime is the bane of every manufacturing plant in the world,’ said Ben Shine, sales account manager at the Grand Rapids branch of Motion, a subsidiary of Genuine Parts Co. “Businesses have historically accepted that as a part of making product.”

To reduce and eliminate that waste, Jack Gilmer, West Michigan territory manager for Dodge Industrial, says companies can turn to Smart Sensors for help.

“It’s predictive maintenance, like the Smart Sensors, that are really saving customers time and money, ‘’ he said. “Especially with our customers in the food industry, we have seen more and more of a tendency for stainless steel components — gearboxes and bearings that don’t corrode.”

Electric Actuators Dial In the Savings

According to Ben Shine at Motion Industries, “More and more people are starting to use electric actuators. For instance, if you need to clamp something together using pneumatic power, you may have to use four different setups for different-sized items. If you run an electric actuator, you can just use a button to tell it how far to go out and how much force to put on the part, so the same piece of equipment can handle different widths and different product dimensions. That is a huge cost and time savings.”

Downtime Codes and Root Cause Analysis

Companies often do not track downcodes, or reasons why a machine has stopped operation — for example, a tool broke, a maintenance issue occurred or the operator ran out of material. In the past, this made sense: The most important thing when a machine stopped running was to get it back operating.

However, manufacturers today need to get that machine operating again and do a root cause analysis on why it stopped in the first place. But ask an operator about the four-hour downtime they had last week and the chances are they’re not going to remember sufficient information to make informed decisions about how to prevent this from happening again in the future.

New data collection systems are connected to sensors and allow operators to enter downcode or scrap code reasons at the time of failure. These can then be organized and run through a root-cause analysis to find the reason for the downtime. After this, companies can take steps to prevent downtime in the future. n