10 Opportunities for PPCP in Industry 4.0
The subject of Industry 4.0 is probably the most recurrent topic in manufacturing companies today. The concept, which is so significant that it has come to be classified as a new industrial revolution, presupposes a smart factory in which machines and systems are fully connected. In this article, we'll look at how PPCP can adapt and evolve to exploit the opportunities generated by the evolution of manufacturing in the context of Industry 4.0.
1. AUTONOMOUS PROGRAMMING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCENaturally, all the programming rules and criteria are already defined in advance so that programming can be carried out completely autonomously. The programmer's interference should be minimal, preferably having to be justified and compared with the previous automatic scenario in order to be approved. If there are exceptional criteria that need to be taken into account, these should be informed from the system's parameterizations but avoiding manual interference. If the rules of the scheduling system do not take into account all the main variables, it is an indication that these rules need to be improved or the system needs to be revised. In autonomous scheduling, the system updates itself every few minutes with new orders and appointments and reprograms the factory, keeping the team informed through intelligent notifications when everything is within the expected limits or by sending alerts to the scheduler. In this way, it is possible to provide the equivalent of a PCP 24 hours a day and ensure that the factory's schedule is always balanced and up-to-date.
2. TOTAL CONTROL OVER RESOURCESInIndustry 4.0 PCP, it is not just the capacity of a few specific machines that is controlled and managed. On the contrary, all finite resources must be known and managed, including operators and tools. The manpower needed to carry out each operation must take into account the variations of each type of product and machine, operators need to be defined according to their multi-functionality between different sectors and the availability of detailed manpower must be considered, in some cases even integrating with the HR system and time clock. In this way, PPCP can guide the factory in allocating the necessary manpower according to the schedule, taking into account all the real characteristics and limitations of the process.
3. PAPERLESS FACTORY
In the Industry 4.0 factory, there is no more room for paper. Scheduling must be sent to the factory digitally. It is no longer acceptable to print out the resource allocation or sequencing report and hand the paperwork to the production supervisors. Instead, the schedule should be released automatically on screens similar to those at an airport or, where possible, sent to each machine's own terminal, centralizing the appointment and scheduling interface in the same environment. In this way, changes can be made much more quickly, as there is no need to collect old versions and reprint the schedule when there are any changes.
4. MOVEMENT GUIDED BY SCHEDULINGIn thePPCP of the future, not only is machine sequencing done, but movement is considered and even guided by the production scheduling system. The scheduling criteria must already take into account the physical location of the resources and allocate the machines in such a way as to minimize cross-flows or unnecessary movements between previous and subsequent resources that are far apart. In addition, the schedule made available can guide movement, informing the subsequent resource to which the material should be sent after production. In some cases, the AGV movement route itself can be defined based on the detailed schedule.
5. CONNECTED MAINTENANCE
The PPCP of the future does not work in isolation. Interfaces with the main areas of the company are fundamental to achieving better performance. In this sense, an agile flow of information between PPCP and Maintenance is essential. Ideally, when the operator registers a request for maintenance on a particular piece of equipment, PPCP should immediately receive this signal and depending on the type of problem (based on historical repair times) already redistribute the orders and rebalance the schedule to alternative resources to try to minimize the impact.
6. MACHINE LEARNING TO IDENTIFY PATTERNSIn thecontext of the connected factory, preference rule definitions are no longer arbitrary or defined solely by people's experience, but must be calculated based on Machine Learning algorithms so that the system learns to identify patterns for productivity gains as it is used more and more. For example, from the first orders produced of a new product, the system can identify that production efficiency on some machines is much better than on others, and prioritize the allocation of the next orders to the resources that have performed best in the recent past. Thus, the schedule will be sent considering the machines with the best performance for certain products (or molds, for example), without relying on people's experience and a list of priorities that can quickly become obsolete.
7. ADHERENCE INDICATORS
The main indicator of the factory of the future is scheduling adherence. Instead of controlling production by units produced, which generates distortions due to mix variation or undesired priority behavior, the factory's main function is to execute the entire schedule with as little variation as possible, given that the PPCP has already taken into account all the main variables and operational restrictions to guarantee a feasible schedule that is suitable for production strategies.
8. AGILE REPROGRAMMINGIt's notjust Production Scheduling that must be agile, but Reprogrammingtoo. In the PPCP of Industry 4.0, the planning system must be connected by reading the data from the machine's sensors, so that any variation in performance can be quickly updated and eventually recalculated. If there are scrap problems, a shortage of operators or unexpected unavailability of raw materials, PPCP can quickly update itself digitally and reprogram the factory quickly in an attempt to generate minimal impact.
9. REAL-TIME DELIVERY PROMISEIn thecontext of Industry 4.0, the process of promising delivery times is also done in a way that is connected to the factory. Based on a real-time consultation of the detailed production schedule, delivery times for new orders are made taking into account the detailed product routings and the projected availability of inputs. Even if these are new products that have not yet been registered in the ERP, the simulation can be carried out using analogies with similar products or integration with the routing and structure of the PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) system.
10. ADVANCED SCENARIO PLANNING It's notjust production scheduling processes that can leverage and benefit from the advent of Industry 4.0. Medium- to long-term planning can and should also be included in this contact. In this context, decision making becomes entirely based on advanced scenarios, generating condensed, managerial information based on meticulously calculated data. S&OP processes now take into account the detailed capacity and real availability of all the plant's resources. It is no longer necessary to limit yourself to just one plan per month. At any time, the system can connect to the actual incoming orders and the updated factory situation to recalculate the scenarios and redirect the course throughout the month.
These opportunities are part of the trends in PPCP, but at the same time many of them are already realities for NEO customers. If you would like to explore these points further in your industry, contact us and take the next step in this industrial revolution!
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