CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
18 November 2004
Product News
Factory Logic Announces RFID-based Material Flow Tracking & Analytics to Enhance Lean Production Management
Factory Logic announced RFID Material Flow Tracking & Analytics, an innovative new component of its award-winning Factory LogicT Lean Operations Management System. Designed specifically for factories using lean production techniques, this new capability helps factory personnel further reduce waste in terms of both inventory and manpower, while ensuring a smooth, reliable production flow. The new capability combines Radio Frequency Identification technology for shop floor tracking with powerful analysis of kanban movement to provide production and supply chain managers with insight into their actual material flow that has not been possible until now. Data collection is completely transparent and non-intrusive-it does not require any action on the part of shop floor personnel, nor does it interfere in any way with visual factory controls such as kanban, heijunka boards, etc.
Used with Factory Logic's heijunka sequencing and scheduling, kanban management, and production monitoring applications, RFID Material Flow Tracking and Analytics provides factory personnel with automatic real-time tracking of kanban movement through the factory to collect precise measurements of actual production performance, including: demand, cycle time, batch sizes, inventory levels, and material velocity. It also provides automatic real time tracking of production and shipment activity to enable close monitoring of heijunka production schedules and provide early warnings of potential problems. Analysis of the collected information provides clear, actionable recommendations such as: where to reduce kanban loop sizes and supermarket inventory without any adverse impact on production; where to implement process improvements to approach optimal batch sizes, cycle times, and kanban loop sizes; and where to improve throughput via load balancing or improved capital equipment utilization.
With these capabilities and insights, managers can immediately reduce buffer inventory levels, clearly identify and prioritize opportunities for kaizen-driven process improvements, and eliminate or avoid the non-value-added manpower required to collect this valuable data.
"Factory Logic's RFID capability is much more than just another approach to data collection," states Sami Cassis, Factory Logic VP of Product Strategy and Marketing. "By tracking the exact movement of every kanban throughout the factory in a non-intrusive way, it clearly shows the velocity of material movement and thus truly exposes the actual rhythm of the factory. It's almost like the factory is talking to you. Accurate, real time, real life information on what is actually happening on the shop floor and in the supply chain is invaluable to improving your production process. It makes opportunities for inventory reduction and process improvement quite obvious. It's truly amazing what this insight can do for factories that are using lean production concepts."
The Factory Logic RFID-based Material Tracking and Analytics application is being piloted by a leading automotive supplier and is targeted for general availability in early 2005.
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