Micro-stoppages are one of the hardest problems to manage and prevent in manufacturing. Major breakdowns quickly become visible, but repeated brief stoppages, perhaps to adjust a guard or material, are hard to predict and may not grab much attention. Yet they are potentially very disruptive to manufacturing KPIs.
Production monitoring can help halt breakdowns, both big and small. Production monitoring is a way of tracking what’s happening on machines and lines, in cells, and across the plant as a whole. It can yield an immense volume of data on speeds, output, quality, downtime, energy consumption, and more — but just gathering these numbers is not enough. What matters is gaining insights through timely reporting and analysis, and taking corrective actions quickly.
This approach requires advanced sensors coupled with sophisticated software, or what’s widely considered a digital transformation/Industry 4.0 approach. This way, micro-stoppages and many other problems that impact operational efficiency are addressed and resolved permanently.
This blog explains what production monitoring is, the benefits it can provide, and how to implement it. It also covers machine data collection and condition monitoring systems, as well as recommended next steps.
Key components of a production monitoring system
The heart of a full system is the data that’s collected. This can be gathered in many ways. Many plants already use Andon lights as a simple machine monitoring system, and while originally manual, these are increasingly being driven directly by the equipment itself. Other data is captured by programmable logic controllers (PLCs), integrated sensors, human-machine interfaces (HMIs), and machine control systems.
The types of data captured and reviewed include:
- Machine status: is it running, idle, or down, and for what reason?
- Production statistics: Output and throughput rates
- Cycle time and takt time: Are machines and cells, especially those at bottleneck operations, running at the expected speed?
- Scrap and defect rates: How much time and material are being lost due to nonconforming product?
- Shift performance comparisons: Is more time lost on one shift than another, and what are the reasons? (Downtime, breaks, scrap losses, changeover times and more.)
- OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness): How does performance compare to the plan, and what are the reasons for any differences?
Benefits of production monitoring
Production managers and supervisors are typically alert to major causes for wasted production time and materials — such as major breakdowns and extended changeovers — but there’s a lot of highly granular detail they may never be aware of. This can range from intermittent tools, machines, and quality, as well as poor communication and faulty equipment.
These losses show up in weekly and month-end reports, but by then it’s too late to understand the immediate cause and take corrective action. The role of production monitoring is to provide much better, preferably real-time, visibility into what is happening throughout a production line.
If this data is used appropriately, which is where production monitoring software comes in, the benefits include:
- Faster response to problems: Lost output due to machine issues or bottlenecks is detected while there’s time to make changes.
- Supports predictive maintenance: Data on patterns or anomalies can guide when machinery maintenance is needed, especially when coupled with machine health data.
- Reduces waste: Faster response to detected problems leads to lower downtime, reduced scrap rates, and less energy waste.
- Supports continuous improvement (CI) initiatives: Data underpins Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma efforts to find and eliminate waste.
- Enhances operator accountability: The increased visibility of problems yields new performance insights and increases operator ownership.
Common tools and technologies used for production monitoring
Effective real-time monitoring starts with the sensors used on the production line, includes the data processing and transmission technologies, and extends into how that data is used and shared to bring about improvement. Taking a closer look, these components include:
- IoT-enabled sensors for machine-level data capture: These range from timers and part counters to advanced machine monitoring like temperatures and speeds, and even maintenance and equipment condition monitoring like oil quality and vibration measurement.
- Edge devices and gateways for real-time data transfer: These process sensor data at the machine before the gateways pass it on to the storage and analysis systems.
- On-site displays: Many plants are expanding the Andon lights concept with displays showing actual versus planned output, problems, and other issues.
- Cloud-based dashboards and mobile apps for remote access: These translate production data and analysis results to managers and others who need real-time updates on problems.
- SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems: These generate data on product quality and output that goes into the real-time production monitoring system.
- CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System): Production monitoring data and outputs from predictive maintenance sensors support maintenance alerts and planning.
- MES and ERP (Manufacturing Execution System and Enterprise Resource Planning): Stoppages, delays, and losses in production all affect the plan. By communicating that data to the MES and ERP systems, plans can be updated and new plans made as needed, and before the problems become larger.
- Production monitoring software: This gathers data, applies relevant context (dates and times, product numbers and more), and creates insights that enable faster, more responsive decision-making. t.
How to implement a production monitoring strategy
Implementing manufacturing process monitoring involves much more than implementing machine data collection, though that is important. The key is to set goals and determine the scope of the system. For example, will implementation start with a pilot study? Is the goal to raise maintenance effectiveness, to lift production efficiency, or perhaps to improve order delivery performance?
The answers to these questions will provide an outline for an effective implementation plan, and will support these key steps:
- Define goals and scope, and select KPIs.
- Identify which machines and processes need monitoring, and for what.
- Install appropriate sensors, data collection devices, and monitoring software.
- Train teams on using the system and interpreting data.
- Establish alerts, thresholds, and visualization dashboards.
- Continuously analyze results and adjust based on findings.
Real-world use cases in industrial settings
Manufacturers in many industries are already using production monitoring to improve operational efficiency. For each of them, the goals are specific to their product types, production situation, and customer expectations.
For many businesses, particularly those in discrete parts and batch production, priorities are to improve schedule optimization and production planning to improve delivery performance. Others, like many process manufacturers, are more focused on finding and reducing waste and losses, like those resulting from unplanned downtime and faulty materials.
Industries that benefit significantly (and examples of some benefits) include:
- Automotive: Real-time defect detection and downtime alerts enable faster responses that avoid replanning to meet JIT delivery schedules.
- Food & beverage: Rigorous monitoring supports control over sanitation cycles and throughput compliance.
- Electronics: Precise, real-time cycle time tracking and board yield monitoring help find opportunities for improvement.
- Aerospace: Enables tight tolerance production tracking and helps provide documentation for audits.
Production monitoring vs. quality monitoring
Many manufacturers already have quality control systems in place for measuring compliance with specifications, logging deviations, and initiating corrective actions. While important, these serve a different mission than that of production monitoring.
Production monitoring focuses on process efficiency and machine uptime. It often includes condition monitoring systems that support predictive maintenance strategies as a way of reducing unplanned stoppages.
In contrast, analysis of and reporting on product quality is about ensuring conformance with standards throughout the production process and protecting the customer from defective product. Reporting and waste tracking are important components of this, and are often integrated into the production monitoring system.
Both production and quality monitoring feed into the MES and ERP systems, and both facilitate short-term replanning and longer-term improvement programs for raising overall manufacturing effectiveness.
Production monitoring as a competitive advantage
Cost control, on-time delivery, and product quality all rely on production monitoring. Two decades ago, this was done largely by supervisors walking through production, but today effective schedule optimization and materials management require the speed of largely automated data capture and analysis systems.
The sophisticated technologies used in many plants today facilitate a culture of transparency, accountability, and performance, and help bridge the gap between shop floor data and strategic decisions. They have become crucial for staying competitive in fast-paced, cost-sensitive industries.
The bottom line on production monitoring
Production monitoring systems form a natural component of digital transformation initiatives, providing the data and information needed for both rapid responses and longer-term planning. When combined with AI, analytics, and predictive maintenance, they become a powerful force for operational resilience and agility.
One of the biggest challenges in manufacturing is squeezing more output from existing resources. Maintenance has a major role to play in this, from preventing unplanned downtime to addressing micro-stoppages and preventing accidents.
As a leader in outsourced maintenance services, ATS helps manufacturers across a wide range of industries tackle these issues to improve asset care and performance. Contact us to learn more.
