For Six Sigma & Lean Manufacturing

Companies adopt Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing methodologies to improve decision making. Those decisions should be fact-based rather than opinion-based. Facts remove or at least reduce the emotional component from decisions so that our decisions become quicker.  They will be aligned with our company’s goals, and become better, more consistent over time.  Data must be gathered before analysis can take place.

Whether the required data is discrete or continuous, Manuvis collects the machine status and/or production data directly from your production machines. Powerful, yet simple-to-use, Operator Control Stations (OCS) capture and store every machine, job, or quality-related event that occurs. Additionally, events such as planned/unplanned down time reasons, job setup steps, and quality defects can be assigned by the operator, through the OCS, using simple function keys.

However, the first questions Six Sigma or Lean professionals often ask are: “Can I trust my data? Am I sure what it is telling me?” Manuvis provides the timely and accurate data required to support your Six Sigma initiatives and improve your decision-making processes.

Accuracy refers to being able to reflect the “truth.”  The most popular example of accuracy is a target with arrows clustered around its center. Manuvis ensures that your data represents the truth or voice of your process by capturing data directly from production machines. This means, for example, that every machine stoppage, no matter its duration, will be captured and available for immediate analysis. This factor may not seem significant, but consider a machine with a cycle time of .5 seconds.  Minor stops that amount to minutes add up to hundreds of lost pieces and unrecoverable machine capacity.

Our competitors require your machine operators to either enter each machine stoppage into their software through either a PC located at each machine or to force operators to scan bar codes. Either of these approaches introduces variation and uncertainty into your data collection process. This variation and uncertainty will negatively affect your company’s decision-making abilities.

Here are more tangible benefits from a Manuvis solution:

• Reproducibility: Manuvis improves reproducibility through our capability to capture data directly from the machine, eliminating human intervention. Therefore when you compare the production variables resulting from producing an item to preceding or subsequent jobs for this same item you can be assured the data is unaltered.
• Control and Pareto charts are available to help identify variation and its root cause.
• Exception conditions may be quickly viewed as insightful charts or reports. Manuvis’ simple to use event notification manager enables you to quickly establish time-saving rules that will foster proactive behavior.
• Prevention of defects through improved insight into key processes becomes easier and more effective because your team now understands the sources and magnitude of the variation.
• Generate critical performance metrics such as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) automatically, accurately, and without re-entering data!