“There is this big murky space called the “factory floor” and I don’t know where things are at there.”
“I know a job has started, but have no idea where it is up to.”
“A customer has placed an order, but I can’t really tell what is next.”
Precision Manufacturing allows for the creation of customised production workflows. A workflow consists of work zones, each of which represents a unit of work of some sort. As a product moves through production, the system gathers information and can be reported in real-time. You can know exactly where jobs are at or what production is doing.
Work Zones
A work zone is a unit of work that your particular product must be processed in. A work zone’s configuration allows the system to calculate a time estimate for the product in that work zone. The work zone also allows you to gather time spent as well as materials used. This then allows for a comparison of estimated vs real time and hence labour costs. It also tells the system when material is “used” and no longer available, updating your inventory on the fly.
Workflow
A workflow consists of one or more work zones in a particular order. This workflow is represented on a job as a series of gauges. Each work zone gauge gives you easy and instant feedback as to where a job is at and how it is tracking against the estimate or quote. This gives you instant feedback on the production floor and highlights production issues quicker.
Reports
Reports can be generated allowing you to see what happened in production over a period of time. In addition, the system can generate timesheet reports for jobs or people. You can also compare previous production runs of the same product.