Industry 4.0 is getting closer

Our Customer TRP Sealing Systems are experiencing a real-life transformation from a paper-based manufacturing process to Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing.

Lean Transition Solutions(LTS) is a leading smart manufacturing solution provider based in the UK and proud members of Made in Midlands (MIM). In LTS we are focusing on transforming and supporting many manufacturing businesses to adopt Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing to achieve true operational excellence. To make business’s smart and productive, we follow a hybrid approach; we build smart manufacturing solutions by perfectly blending People Development (Leadership 4.0), Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0.

We are excited about sharing one of our client’s transformation journeys, from a traditional manufacturing system to an integrated industry 4.0 solution. We hope it will be an inspiring story for you to think about moving from your current legacy system to industry 4.0 solution.

TRP Sealing Systems started their journey with LTS back in 2017 by implementing lean manufacturing methodologies in their Hereford production facility. LTS introduced a new strategic approach called “Hoshin Kanri” with the Senior Leaders at TRP and it became clear very quickly that this engagement was the right hybrid approach towards Industry 4.0. The vision for TRP was to set up a state of the art Industry 4.0 smart factory, to manage all shop floor activities. LTS 4.0 team analysed TRP’s traditional shop floor production process and had consecutive discussions with senior leaders within TRP. LTS came up with the following suggestions to replace their traditional systems and process with Industry 4.0.

• Automate shop floor data
collection
• Update live production data update and work order status to ERP
• Analyse OEE, machine performance, and production performance
• Digital T-Cards for work order execution and master production scheduling
• iPads in each work station with the work order updates, part specifications, checklist, shift details, and OEE
• Dynamic scorecards with live data sync
• Preventative maintenance planning and execution
• Andon TV Screens to track live machine performances

To achieve these objectives, LTS Industry 4.0 experts and Software Solution Engineers collaboratively designed and developed a system called Janus Data Capture; an automated shop floor data capture system. The system works by interpreting the signals produced from the machine and which communicate with the digital T-card; an integrated production planner and plant level execution system to manage the production data. Within eight months, LTS implemented both Janus Data Capture and Digital T-Card Solutions.

With the implementation phase, our Industry 4.0 expert and Managing Director Brett Griffiths were on-site at the TRP site to ensure a successful implementation of the systems and to train the TRP team. At the end of the implementation phase, along with Brett Griffiths, our CEO Rajan Jerome and CTO Akhil Clement visited the TRP site to review and evaluate the implemented systems. They witnessed how the solutions have transformed TRP Sealing Systems, and how the employees, supervisors and management team engage with the new technology and new ways of working.

Our focus was to ensure all customisations reflected the real-time working operations. During the review stage, the team noticed tremendous changes in the shop floor data collection methods and accuracy of transactions. It was a remarkable experience to see how 47 machines are auto feeding production details to the Janus Data Capture System. It was amazing to see the production supervisors walking the production area with iPads monitoring the production data using Janus and calculating the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) efficiently. One production supervisor said, “I feel more in control using Janus Data Capture, and to ensure the production numbers are correct, now we can actually see OEE and efficiency data.

During the review visit, the LTS team had detailed discussions with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to plan the second phase of implementation. Ian Chatfield; Maintenance Manager and Joe Privott; Production Manager was actively involved in discussions with the team to develop an individual dashboard for each department and plot prioritised data. This dashboard will help TRP to understand the current situation and forecast plans to improve the overall business performance. During the discussions, they had a great appetite for an automated system to analyse and manage the Key Performance Indicators KPI (Production, Maintenance, Breakdown, and sales). We suggested Data Point-Computerised Balance Scorecard, which will help TRP to analyse the KPIs and help them to take action to improve the organisational activities. Data Point has now implemented all departments and is used to drive the weekly operations meeting and drive improvement activities.

Now, LTS are now conducting further customisations for Data Point with different dashboards for each department with Quad charts, (4 window box charts) and “One Minute Manager” charts to analyse KPI’s, in addition, LTS have added mind maps and process flow charts to help TRP on their quest for true operational excellence. This will enable them to plan their future strategies.