Friday, October 27, 2017

MANUFACTURING IN THE CLOUD: PART VII: Infrastructure as a Service

By Goran Novkovic, MESA Member, CQA, CSQE, ITIL, APM, PMP, PEng


This blog is part of a series called Manufacturing in the Cloud. This series aims to assist manufacturing organizations to evaluate how they can overcome challenges and maximize cloud computing benefits. As cloud computing services mature both commercially and technologically, this is likely to become relatively easier to achieve.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

6 Reasons Why Quality Management and LEAN Could Use Digital Upgrades

Valérie Goulévitch – Head of Marketing and Communication at Siemens PLM Software, Gold Keystone Member of MESA International
Often companies have separate teams driving LEAN initiatives and Quality initiatives. These teams are often at odds, debating what the higher priorities are among what can seem like competing goals – adding steps to ensure compliance, and reducing steps to gain efficiencies. The reality is that the intent of the two initiatives do not have to conflict.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Machine Learning: What, Why, Where, How and When

Analytics Working Group, MESA Point of View (PoV)

What does machine learning mean to you?  A popular notion today is that in the very near future we will be working side-by-side with autonomous, intelligent robots as collaborative colleagues.  Or perhaps when you think of intelligent machines, you dream up lawless replicants being chased around the galaxy by Harrison Ford.   If these are the things you conjure up when you hear the term machine intelligence, you are not alone.   There is confusion in industry as to what machine intelligence and machine learning are and how they will affect and benefit manufacturing industries.

MANUFACTURING IN THE CLOUD: PART VI: FAQ ABOUT PRIVATE, PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY CLOUDS

Goran Novkovic, MESA Member, CQA, CSQE, ITIL, APM, PMP, PEng

This blog is part of a series called Manufacturing in the Cloud. This series aims to assist manufacturing organizations to evaluate how they can overcome challenges and maximize cloud computing benefits. As cloud computing services mature both commercially and technologically, this is likely to become relatively easier to achieve.



Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Emerging Medical-Device Manufacturers Leverage MES

Valérie Goulévitch – Head of Marketing and Communication at Siemens PLM Software, Gold Keystone Member of MESA International
There’s a common belief that manufacturers need to have attained a certain scale before considering investing in technology like MES, but an increasing trend among emerging medical-device companies is challenging this.

Emerging companies face unique challenges. Those who are at or near FDA approval are at the point of commercialization, and this means significant change is at hand. In the past, they had to address very small volume, but as products move toward regulatory approval, growth—and growth in volume—comes rapidly and significantly. Volumes can grow by a factor of 5x or 10x in a matter of months.

For emerging medical-device manufacturers, this is the perfect storm; one that means they have to invest in infrastructure. Increasingly they are turning to MES to help manage growth and change, which if not managed properly can result in product-quality issues—a death knell for any nascent concern.
Three principal benefits are driving emerging medical-device manufacturers to invest in MES:
1. The high-value role of information 
2. Error proofing 
3. Achieving paperless manufacturing

For these emerging concerns, the high-value role of MES is principally seen in basic work-in-process tracking and genealogy because, during this stage of development, they need to stabilize their process, make it repeatable, and achieve good yields. They need information to do this (e.g., for key tasks like root-cause analysis), and MES delivers it. 

Another key area is error proofing. As companies go from 10 employees to 50 or 100, managing and providing oversight becomes a much more daunting task. The task is complicated further by the fact that these are new employees. By automating process compliance, MES helps ensure consistent quality with “right first time” execution. Beyond the obvious demands of regulatory compliance and competing with much larger companies—and trying to establish their own brand in the midst of a sea of established brands—quality is not an option for emerging companies. They need it to be a positive differentiator.

Finally, MES helps eliminate the inefficiencies of paper-based systems that emerging medical-device concerns typically have relied on. In paperless manufacturing, electronic records replace paper-based, manual ones. There are no “paper travelers” around the facility or across facilities, and paperless systems are typically integrated into higher-level systems like ERP. Operators in paperless manufacturing facilities are presented with production tasks in properly ordered sequences (e.g., by priority, due date, or customer significance). Operators are given visual cues, such as key performance indicators, at their work cells to help enforce and speed proper action. Drawings, graphics, and standard operating procedures are viewed online, ensuring that workers are working from their most current version. Paperless systems not only prevent errors—they provide real-time alerts when issues arise.

Bottom line: Emerging medical-device manufacturers leverage MES in virtually the same way as their larger competitors leverage them. The challenges they face are the same as the “big boys;” they’re simply at a different point in the corporate evolutionary process. Increasingly, they see the value of incorporating MES at this earlier point, to speed their transition from emerging to small to mid-sized or large. After all, that is the goal, and MES is an undeniable—and increasingly recognized—asset as they move toward it.



Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Ensuring Global Quality: 3 Areas to Watch

Valérie Goulévitch – Head of Marketing and Communication at Siemens PLM Software, Gold Keystone Member of MESA International
However goods are produced and consumed, quality is an unforgiving expectation. Customers expect quality regardless of where a product has been manufactured and who has been involved, so brand owners need to ensure that quality expectations are being met and monitored by everyone in their supply chain, as well as everyone in their supply chain’s supply chain. The magnitude of this task has kept many an executive up at night. Quality failures all too often become a lead story in the business and consumer press.

Monday, October 9, 2017

MANUFACTURING IN THE CLOUD: PART V: WHICH CLOUD MODEL WORKS FOR YOUR NEEDS?

By Goran Novkovic, CQA, CSQE, ITIL, APM, PMP, PEng

This blog is part of a series called Manufacturing in the Cloud. This series aims to assist manufacturing organizations to evaluate how they can overcome challenges and maximize cloud computing benefits. As cloud computing services mature both commercially and technologically, this is likely to become relatively easier to achieve.