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Information to profits

Managing Automation magazine presents an interesting case study on implementing automation in the "Opening the Door to Automation" article. The article follows fiberglass door manufacture Plastpro through development of U.S. manufacturing facilities. The company started out by importing doors, but decided that they could reduce their lead-time by 75 percent by having domestic manufacturing facilities. They opened a plant in March 2005 in Ashtabula OH that delivers this promise.

The article cites three factors for their success:

  1. Highly automated production
  2. Participation by production operators in process design
  3. The availability of information to improve the process

At this point Plastpro is working on incorporating their plant floor information with their ERP system. Dave Moeller, assistant plant manager, is quoted: "Recording information is wonderful, but unless you can analyze it to drive improvements you are wasting money...".

It is great to read about somebody taking the right approach. The key to process improvement is to measure things that can be converted into actionable information. You need a clear vision of where you are going, milestones that can be measured, and an analysis process that can provide you understanding of your measurements.

We used to use the slogan

  • Architecture for Reliability
  • Measurements for Information
  • Diagnostics for Understanding
  • Presentation for Action

which I think details the components of automation. Our latest description is "We help manufacturing shop floor managers collect measurements that lead to actions that produce profits." And that's the goal, isn't it?

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