Shops Capturing and Applying Data to Drive Employee Efficiency

The concept of data-driven manufacturing implies that decisions controlling the manufacturing process should be based on facts, not guesses, wishes, opinions or gut feelings. Emerging technology — which includes hardware and software — is enabling both people and equipment to collect and process the facts they need to achieve better results. Driving manufacturing with data also promotes integration and coherence across manufacturing organizations throughout the supply chain.

What follows are three different spins on this idea applied by three shops I’ve visited. As you read these snippets, envision your shop — and perhaps more importantly your shop’s challenges — and consider how these ideas might help open bottlenecks while bringing people and process closer together thanks to the data that’s openly available to collect on your shop floor.

1. Using ERP to collect tribal knowledge. When McCormick Industries in Appleton, Wisconsin, adopted a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for better data visibility and accessibility, it found that the software also enabled it to cull the expertise of its experienced shopfloor employees.

Moving from an existing ERP software offering with what it perceived to be limited functionality to another cloud-based system from ProShop ERP has provided both management and shopfloor personnel easier access to and visibility of vital operations information in one platform. This greatly reduced wasted time searching for information or direction by those on the shop floor (as well as the shop’s reliance on paper documentation), while offering the convenience for managers to access real-time data about a job, work order or customer and so on from a single source.

But one unexpected benefit McCormick Industries discovered was the ability to capture tribal knowledge of its experienced shopfloor employees. It actually learned this the hard way in the following two examples.

One was related to packaging. For a number of years, one man handled all of the shop’s packaging duties. When he unexpectedly left, he took all the knowledge of the packaging processes with him. It’s not something that others couldn’t figure out, but there were nuances with regard to protecting products in certain ways, for instance, about which others might not know. Having detailed instructions with photos in the ERP system (and continuing to add them for new jobs) now enables any available person to properly package completed jobs.

Another was assembly. McCormick Industries offers mechanical assembly for some customers, which is more of a value-added service rather than a huge profit center. Still, similar to the packaging situation, for five years, one man handled all assembly work for the shop. Perhaps it was a form of job security in his mind, but he was very secretive about the processes, where fixtures and tools were located and so on.

Management realized the need for proper documentation of the procedures for assemblies that the shop had been creating for years. While doing that, the processes were photographed and documented and entered into the ERP system so that others could be more easily cross-trained. This is helpful because there’s not a sufficient amount of assembly work to dedicate a full-time person to that department. Plus, now various employees can step into that role when needed.

2. Wireless transfer of measurement data. After implementing a wireless measurement data communication system for its inspection equipment, Hastreiter Industries in Marshfield, Wisconsin, overcame inefficiencies in its quality department including backlog, accuracy and consistency.

A few years ago, the company recognized that its in-process inspection methods were not as efficient as they could be. In fact, these inadequacies caused the quality department to become a bottleneck. After researching many options for improving inspection accuracy and consistency, the shop implemented a wireless measurement data communication system. This system eliminated Hastreiter Industries’ reliance on sometimes inaccurate paper records, increased the amount and quality of inspection data collected and served as a means to automatically record inspection processes. The new equipment also saved the shop time by speeding part measurement.

Prior to integrating the wireless inspection system called Mitutoyo U-Wave, the shop’s inspection records were handwritten, which led to misinterpretations and errors that negatively impacted data gathering. Also, the shop’s existing mechanical mics and calipers were dated and wearing out. Therefore, the company’s apprentices and interns had difficulty accurately recording dimensions, the shop says.

As a result, it decided to investigate a wireless system. Management first evaluated a traditional radio-based system. While that worked with most of its applications, the radio system was limited to only 10 channels. Given the shop planned to add Bluetooth wireless gaging to CNC benches at more than 10 locations throughout the shop, 10 channels would be insufficient to overcome interference issues. As an alternative to a radio-based system, Mitutoyo suggested its (at that point) yet-to-be released U-Wave Bluetooth system and set up an onsite test.

The shop says the wireless Bluetooth packs required no computer plug-ins and worked seamlessly with its High QA QMS. This enabled the shop to produce easily accessible digital records for first-piece inspection, in-process inspection and final inspection.

Hastreiter Industries considered other brands, but found that not all tools it needed were offered as SPC wireless versions. In addition, some digital mics did not have graduations and verniers. Mitutoyo mics, however, come with those. The shop notes that if the zero button on a digital mic is hit by mistake, a mic can show the wrong reading. Therefore, machinists often check the vernier and graduations against the digital readout.

Since April 2021, when the shop decided to invest in the U-Wave Bluetooth as well as two Mitutoyo Crysta-Apex CMMs, it has eliminated paper records and increased the amount and quality of inspection data collected. The new measurement process enables operators to immediately determine if a dimension is out of tolerance, leading to a reduction in scrap and nonconformance, and makes it easier for less experienced operators to record data accurately.

Also, the new inspection equipment enables the quality department to determine which machinist measured what part by setting up inspection routines in High QA for each person. This production data is not typically available to a quality department, as most low-volume, high-mix shops are not able to access in-process inspection records, according to the shop.

3. Data collection to track paid labor utilization. Global Precision Parts (GPP) says an overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) tracking and manufacturing analytics tool has enabled it to increase its machine utilization, which led to even more positive results. For this Wabash, Indiana, shop, OEE analysis means it’s easier to track shop uptime and paid labor utilization. In fact, the system increased machine utilization for the shop by 10%, while its paid labor utilization averaged 100% or more. This improvement helped it generate more sales while reducing costs and improving its profit margin.

The enabling technology is Amper, a manufacturing operations software with OEE tracking that is compatible with new CNC equipment and legacy machines alike. Unlike some shop management systems that only provide machine monitoring, Amper offers a suite of shopfloor tools, which provides real-time insight into what’s happening on GPP’s shop floor. Automatic alerts enable managers and operators to be proactive because they can be notified the moment a machine is down. In addition, the device’s software can be used on any team member’s smartphone, tablet or desktop, which makes 24/7 remote monitoring possible. Because GPP uses Amper on all its machines, the shop has access to its operational analytics all the time.

The tracking and analytics system is as simple as hooking up a sensor to a machine’s power supply, which can be done by anyone in the company, but is often a task for a maintenance worker. Sensing power supply in this way makes it easy to monitor non-CNC equipment. On a CNC machine, the sensor is placed on a spindle. The monitoring device’s algorithm is programmed to read the machine’s current draw so the system can report a machine’s operating status.

While Amper offers a suite of digital tools, machine monitoring, operational analytics, Andon communication, a maintenance app and digital tally sheets, GPP chose to focus on its machine monitoring and operational analytics capabilities to track one particular key performance indicator (KPI). The shop’s intent was to track the company’s paid labor utilization to verify that if an operator is paid one dollar, the shop was getting the entirety of that dollar’s production value. In fact, when GPP pays an operator for an hour of production, its expects the person to run two machines for an hour. Therefore, when it pays an operator for an hour, it expects two hours of production out of that person.

The goal was to hit this standard by 100% or more. At the time GPP began using the monitoring system, the company was at approximately 80 to 90% of what it was paying and turning into production.

To work toward its goal, GPP brought all its workers on board. It charged its influential operators with ensuring that less experienced operators were properly entering downtime codes in the Amper system to track setup times.

GPP then started tracking paid labor utilization by comparing it to machine utilization and sales dollars per hour. Managers could dive into this visual data on a weekly, quarterly or yearly basis, which saves an average of 45 minutes a day compared to collecting the data manually. The monitoring system also pinpoints root causes of downtime that helped GPP understand what issues must be addressed and what shifts, machines and/or operators are struggling.

When GPP mounted large flat screens that displayed the machine uptime data generated by its new tracking system for all on the shop floor to see, the company experienced about a 10% utilization increase. Operators began closely monitoring the screens, eager to hit their daily goals.

Initially, paid labor utilization across the shop averaged 80%, but that number quickly began rising. When they missed their weekly goal, supervisors and operators would gather to figure out what went wrong and make improvements. Operators increased their use of the Amper system, too, because they wanted to earn more machine production uptime. Therefore, they would log downtime reasons, setup times and problems into the system faster than they did prior to using the new system.

GPP was also able to better justify purchasing new equipment. Its new machines are slower-running CNCs that have replaced legacy machines, but the company still makes better daily efficiencies due to the improvements in uptime from Amper. GPP’s operator-to-machine ratio rose from 1:2 to 1:6.