Boosting KPIs

Processes optimization in a manufacturing company

Manufacturing companies rely on effective processes to ensure their products meet the market’s demands. Such processes involve production planning, assembly, quality control, inventory management, maintenance and repairs, and continuous improvement. Manufacturing companies must optimize their operations to achieve high efficiency and quality in each stage to remain competitive in a constantly evolving market. This can be gained through appropriate measurement systems to assess production efficiency and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs).  

Start with the proper KPIs selection.  

The selection of KPIs is critical to the success of any manufacturing company. The right KPIs can provide valuable insights into each process stage’s performance and help identify improvement areas. For instance, production, quality, and maintenance KPIs can provide information on machine performance, efficiency, and downtime. Regarding quality, KPIs can indicate the proportion of goods produced compared to the total number of products made. On the other hand, maintenance KPIs can provide information on the mean time to failure, mean time to repair, mean operating time between failures, mean delay time, and mean setup time.  

Gathering and maintaining data regarding input parameters such as operation time, downtime, processed quantity, time to failure, and the number of failure events is imperative to calculate KPIs accurately. This is where IT systems come into play. Specialized software systems are developed to gather, store, and disseminate real-time process and plant data from various sources, including sensors and control systems. These systems also offer tools for analyzing and visualizing operational data. The Smart RDM platform can enhance the capabilities of such systems by providing features like data entry and editing, support for production plans and schedules, automatic reporting, management of extract, transform, and load (ETL) processes to fuel the data warehouse, and advanced data analysis to deliver intricate KPIs.  

Basic KPIs  

Different aspects of performance in production systems are not independent, so KPIs also relate to each other. Some KPIs can be correlated; some can be derived from others or replaced by others. There are basic KPIs related to production, quality, and maintenance, as well as more complex KPIs derived from the basic ones. To effectively use KPIs for continuous improvement or production control, it is essential to define them correctly.  

In the group of basic KPIs defined in ISO22400 standard, we can find ones that provide basic information on the machine or a facility (from an aggregated point of view) performance:  

• Availability: Represents the amount of time the equipment is available for use during the planned production time,  
• Setup ratio: The relative loss of value-adding opportunity for a machine due to setup,  
• Allocation efficiency: The actual usage and availability of the planned capacity of a machine,  
• Technical efficiency: The efficiency of production vs. malfunction-caused interruptions,  
• Effectiveness: Describes how effective a machine can be during the production time, measured by the ratio of planned target cycle time to actual cycle time,  
• Performance: Refers to the speed at which the equipment is operating compared to its maximum design speed  

And many others.   

Regarding quality, we have an index that indicates the proportion of goods produced compared to the total number of products made. The primary maintenance KPIs are:  

• Mean time to failure or mean time between failures, 
• Average time to repair,   
• The average time between failures,  
• Average delay time,   
• Average setup time. 

We can track the KPIs mentioned above, such as OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), which is a metric calculated by multiplying availability, performance, and quality, giving a percentage value of how effectively the equipment is being used. A high OEE score indicates that the equipment is efficient and the work was planed effectively, while a low score suggests room for improvement.   

Specific KPIs  

The ISO22400 standard provides a set of guidelines for defining production KPIs. However, it is only sometimes suitable for company goals, as every organization has unique production needs. This is where the Smart RDM Platform comes in, providing companies the flexibility to build any KPI required to achieve their production goals.  

One of the significant advantages of using the Smart RDM Platform is to build a data set under the KPIs to align production goals with company goals. The production process is just one aspect of the organization, and it must be in harmony with the company’s overall objectives. With the Smart RDM Platform, companies can create KPIs tailored to their business objectives, ensuring that the production process contributes to the organization’s success.  

Another benefit of using the Smart RDM Platform to build custom KPIs is that it provides companies with a data-driven approach to production management. Data is the backbone of any modern business, and using data analytics to drive decision-making has become essential to remain competitive. Smart RDM Platform allows companies to gather and analyse real-time data, providing valuable insights into the production process’s performance. This data can be used to identify areas of improvement, optimize production processes, and reduce waste.  

Access to KPIs and reports  

Accessing KPIs and reports is crucial for organisations looking to optimize their processes and improve their overall performance. The Smart RDM platform is a tool that can significantly assist in generating reports and visualizing KPIs. This platform extends the capabilities of AVEVA PI by providing additional functionalities such as data entry and editing, support for production plans and schedules, automatic reporting, managing ETL processes to power the data warehouse, advanced data analysis, and even a mobile application.  

With the Smart RDM platform, employees at every organizational level can benefit from its full functionalities. They can enter and edit data manually, ensuring it is up-to-date and accurate. Production plans and schedules can be supported, allowing for better resource allocation and efficient time use. Automatic reporting can save time and reduce errors while managing ETL processes can ensure that the data warehouse is updated with the latest information.  

Advanced data analysis tools are also available on the Smart RDM platform, allowing in-depth data analysis to generate complex KPIs. This can help identify areas for improvement and support decision-making at all levels of the organization. The mobile application provides easy access to KPIs and reports, allowing employees to stay informed and make decisions.  

Summary   

Smart RDM platform provides functionalities that can reinforce manufacturing companies’ process optimization through efficiency improvement, better quality control, and decision-making support. All of these lead to maintaining competitiveness and sustainable growth.