Leaning into “Lean”

Any company’s success is often linked with its ability to adapt and change in response to market conditions and demands. For this reason, it is important to create a corporate culture that supports continuous improvement and innovation. The idea is to create an environment that encourages people to think freely so they can identify and solve problems while celebrating creativity and innovation. This strategy can benefit any company that seeks excellence, and one of the most effective ways to pursue it is through implementing lean management techniques.

The concept of “leaning” has become more popular in recent years as businesses recognize the importance of maximizing productivity and efficiency. Lean practices enable organizations to use resources more efficiently, based on metrics and data analysis that are essential to track progress. By monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) and investigating collected data, businesses can identify less-than-optimal areas, and other opportunities for improvements.

One common KPI is overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which measures the availability and performance of equipment, and the quality of production. Monitoring OEE helps organizations to baseline operational performance, and to then identify any disruptions or bottlenecks, each of which can be addressed to streamline production.

Starting out by manually calculating OEE may be an approach to gaining an understanding of operational efficiency. However, quickly and accurately recognizing inefficiencies requires an automated system, which also allows for more comprehensive insights into the overall operational efficacy.

Emerson’s Movicon.NExTTm Industrial Automation Software Platform provides an innovative and flexible solution for supervising and analyzing the performance and OEE of a facility.

Lean software solutions collect data in real time and calculate KPIs like OEE on a specific piece of equipment or for an entire production line. The results can be visualized using graphs, charts, reports, and dashboards, and system alerts can be established to swiftly alert operators of conditions changing for the worse.

When selecting a lean software platform, there are several important aspects to consider. The platform must be suitable for unique manufacturing business needs, such as boosting equipment utilization and minimizing production costs. It should also be able to integrate with enterprise business systems, like ERP, MES and MOM solutions. Scalability is essential so that the platform can grow with the changing needs of the business. Many lean initiatives will start small, but once proven will be scaled up to deliver maximum value.

Modern software must feature robust cybersecurity measures to ensure data safeguarding and adherence to industry regulations. User-friendliness must be considered, so an intuitive interface is key. In addition to these features, good customer support and a well-defined roadmap for future development are needed to sustain overall cost-effectiveness and required ROI.

Emerson’s Pro.LeanTm provides a comprehensive lean software solution meeting these requirements, and it is designed to support company plants and facilities worldwide. The powerful and versatile Movicon.NExTTm platform forms the foundation, enabling users to develop customized HMI and SCADA applications. By adding the Pro.Lean module to a Movicon system, users can easily obtain OEE in real time and receive clear visualization of the resulting information.

Emerson’s Pro.LeanTm plant analytics software is a Movicon module for collecting real-time production data to calculate productivity performance metrics, along with KPIs such as OEE, helping users to identify inefficiencies and perform continuous improvement.

With a range of features to choose from, the benefits of using Movicon and Pro.Lean are clear. Users gain access to real-time data collection and analysis, which enables them to identify areas of inefficiency and improve performance, and they can also create tailor-made reports, graphs, and charts for analysis of OEE and other KPIs. Organizations can take advantage of integration with existing enterprise systems for an even broader view of their operations.

The platform is both scalable and configurable, so it easily adapts to meet the demands of any organization by allowing them to start small and then add more functionality when needed. Mobile device support means users have access anytime from anywhere, while cyber security features ensure sensitive data remains protected according to industry regulations.

If you are trying to implement aspects of lean management into your facility, visit our website to discover more information, and to download the free trial of Pro.Lean at this link: https://www.emerson.com/en-us/automation/control-and-safety-systems/movicon

Figures all courtesy of Emerson

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