CANIAS ERP Talks to Machines
April 2007 - IAS Turkey
Organizations need to be able to manage their operations in a productive manner. Within the conditions of today's marketplace, flexibility and responsiveness offered in the ordering cycle increase the product's value from the customer's perspective. However, these value added features for products translate to demanding factors on the manufacturing side, as repeat planning and production downtime lead to extended production schedules and increased costs.
In case of situations such as orders being revised after production planning has been completed, shortages being discovered in materials inventory, and breakdowns occuring on manufacturing equipment, the ERP system facilitates decision making by providing rapid access to accurate information and assures the continuity of production with the creation of new production plans.
There is a need for real-time production data for an ERP system to better analyze and manage manufacturing operations. Specifically, the shop floor information residing within the production equipment needs to be transferred instantaneously to the ERP system.
In case of unforeseen situations arising in manufacturing operations, the personnel in charge use up-to-date information to make decisions. These decisions are based on information received from the production line. Such information needs to be collected from appropriate points on the shop floor and transferred in a reliable manner to the ERP system. For the continuity of manufacturing operations, it is imperative that the ERP system be able to analyze unexpected situations and the up-to-date information, and provide the necessary monitoring functionality to the personnel responsible.
By focusing on decreasing nonessential activities, more effective activities gain importance, leading to more on-time deliveries, and increased accuracy of information. Using real-time information exchange, the quality of the planning activities as well as the quality of the scheduling work performed by the ERP system are increased.
Many organizations, having made the required investments, have deployed ERP systems. However, according to studies performed, it has been discovered that management is still unable to utilize their ERP systems to monitor production processes. The primary reason behind this finding is the fact that ERP systems are highly complex in nature, and are difficult to be used directly by operators involved in the production operations. ERP systems can overcome this problem by acquiring the necessary data directly from production equipment using automation.
CANIAS ERP Version 603 allows production data from shop floor equipment to be directly acquired using PLC devices and/or SCADA systems. The information gathered will be analyzed by CANIAS ERP and will be used to generate reports. These reports will allow for the following:
- Product life cycles will be recorded, allowing each order and production run to yield product having identical attributes.
- Product life cycle duration will be minimized, as reports will allow nonessential activities to be detected. Average production durations will be continuously measured, and queue wait durations for jobs will become visible.
- Data input requirements for operators will be minimized, as information will be acquired automatically through electronic communication with shop floor equipment.
- Exchange of printed documents within the organization will be minimized.
- Product quality will be increased through the continuous improvement that will be realized.
- The performance of production equipment will be maximized through reduced equipment set-up times.
Currently, CANIAS ERP provides organizations with an environment where:
- Production costs are minimized through accurate reporting,
- Production lines are improved,
- All resources such as equipment and operators are monitored and managed,
- New production plans are created based on analysis of unexpected situations,
- Real cost calculations are performed,
- Products are delivered to customers on time and in expected quality.
Thanks to the new Automation Module that will be introduced in Version 603, CANIAS ERP will provide the above competencies more accurately and on a real-time basis.
Ozkan Tascioglu
Senior Systems Engineer - IAS Turkey
Ozkan Tascioglu was born in 1979. He graduated Yeditepe University in 2001 with a degree in Systems Engineering. Tascioglu completed his graduate work at Bosphorus University in 2005, and graduated with a degree in Systems and Control Engineering. He has been working at the IAS software development department since 2006.
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