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  Manufacturers realize that efficient and accurate production reporting is crucial to their business.  Controlling how a production reporting system interacts with the human element is a key factor in how well it satisfies this need.  In the window shown, when someone types in an Account No. (activity) that indicates the start of production, it recalls the previous ending counter reading from the previous production entry for use as the beginning count.  Counter resets during a run can also be accommodated.  To further remove the human element, the program can interface to machine counters. 

  Reading this small section will enable you to experience the depth of vision required of an IT Architect to implement a single well thought out element.  Since counters record cycles, when multiple parts are made per cycle, it automatically converts machine cycles to the number of parts produced for inventory, scheduling, and costing purposes, while using machine cycles to calculate tooling life and equipment maintenance.  Breaks are automatically removed from the hours based on the shift and the department that the employee is assigned to.  Supervisors can edit these.  Time is displayed in the familiar AM/PM format.  The time for real time production reporting is taken from the network time source which is synchronized with the Naval Atomic clock every 12 hours.  When reporting an operation such as a production start, it asks for at most two pieces of information; the Account No. (activity) and the counter reading if an interface to a machine counter is not available.  At the end of the run, it requires simply that the current counter reading be entered if a counter interface is not available.  Operations that do not require counter readings are setup, cleanup, tooling repair in the press, etc.  This information is later leveraged for costing and to calculate the time required to run the parts for production scheduling.  The calculations are ongoing and automatic.  Intelligent logic is filters out the non-typical entries from the calculations.  Entries which result in non-typical rates alert the operator when they make the entry, and supervisors when reports are later run.  The Die History button, or more accurately Tooling History, allows quick access by repairmen to see what maintenance has been performed on the tooling beginning with most recent first.  This is an excellent communication tool to convey information about tooling adjustments made by previous shifts, and the reasons for making them.
  This is also a convenient area to report scrap.  The scrap reporting "walks" the operations and Bill of Material so that partial assemblies can be scrapped.  Scrapping incorrect part numbers for the run is not possible.  Tooling repair while in the work center is also another activity that is entered here. 

  We know how everybody looks forward to OSHA inspections.  People often exercise a great deal of creativity prior to and during inspections.  Leading Edge IT Architects consider this aspect as well while designing information systems to match your business processes.  On the right-hand side of this window you see an OSHA required safety inspection being enforced prior to production start.  By leveraging technology, you can implement a real safety system in place of human hit or miss methods, automatically maintain a record of the checks, and remove some of the terror and creativity associated with OSHA inspections. 

  However as you can see there is something missing when the information system matches your business processes....the need for paper.

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