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This Work Center Schedule component
is the first of four windows in a Shop Floor system that helps to
showcase our abilities as IT Architects. The window you see defaults to displaying the production schedule
of a single machine, because built into the information architecture is the
capability to determine a computers location and assignment. Changes in the
schedule can be made from anywhere in the world and will reflect at the
machine within one minute. The Time Ticket and Inspection
buttons allow rapid traversal within the Shop Floor system. Items such as
the machine, part number,
employee clock numbers, etc. are intelligently shared among the different
areas of the program thus removing any
redundant input.
Multiple machines can be easily be serviced from a single computer
without the need to run another copy of the program. When switching between machine schedules, all
related Time Ticket and Inspection information follow the machine
selected.
As with most businesses, materials are scheduled to
arrive only slightly prior to production. Operators or supervisors can check up to the minute material
availability by pressing the Material button. All materials that are available for the
production run will
be displayed along with required amounts for the run, the amounts on hand, and
the number or parts that can be made with the existing material. Because of its integration with the underlying information architecture,
the program can use the current Bill of Materials to determine these quantities.
This is particularly useful for material handlers who see the top two runs
for all machines. They simply highlight the run and click the material
button. Instantly, they know the inventory available and how much
material to stage for the next run. With smart counters, they could
even know when the materials will need to be in place for the next run. These are all on-line lookups providing you with the latest information,
not batch imports of information as may be required for planning purposes.
Other useful items incorporated into this page are the tooling location,
part picture, and QS-9000 instructions. When a job is completed, it
can be deleted from the schedule ONLY if everything pertaining to the run
has been completed. At Leading Edge we understand that no
information system is a valid system if you can't rely on the information.
The human factor is not a valid excuse. Error checking is extensive. When tooling breaks, on the spot work orders to the tool room can be generated along
with a description of the problem. If the run did not complete for
any reason, the number of parts run are considered
and time of the next run is calculated. If the tooling failed, the
new required date becomes the date required for the tool room work order. If a smart counter is connected, the work center can be halted at whatever intervals you wish, such as
quality inspections or end of run. Furthermore, a sub-counter can also
signal when a container is full and reset
to zero. Bar graphs can indicate the percentage of completion of the run, the next quality check, and the container.
The progress and machine counters can be viewed from anywhere in the world.
The schedules for the shop floor were intelligently machine loaded at the click of a button
from the Production Planning Department. It constructs the order and makes intelligent decisions
to construct even the notes. Parts that were running were not disturbed.
Parts where tooling is not ready or material is not available are automatically moved back in the queue
until material and tooling are available. When automatic loading is
completed, Production Planning personnel can reorder and make changes if
necessary.
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