In this article I will try to explain how the Bloc Paperless production works, what is it for and what results can be achieved by implementing it on your production.
The market of window business constantly expands, and to increase the production volume you made a decision to purchase and install a CNC machine (computer controlled) or machining centre. Everyone knows that to recoup the cost of the saw and increase production, new machines have to work constantly, that means, for example, to cut. Saw CNC will run many times faster than a man doing the same job, but without smoke breaks and breaks. As a result, the output we get a big mountain of cut profile, to disassemble and check the affiliation of each piece will have to be done manually. At this time, the saw will be forced to stand idle, otherwise the mountain will only grow, and to disassemble it will be increasingly difficult, and eventually – even impossible. One person is just not able to deal with it quickly, that means we will have to hire new employees, that means new expenses.
Further.
What is the process of products’ manufacturing at a normal production? There is a certain person responsible for making the decision to start manufacturing of products, and he is forming the necessary package of technological documents directly to each participant of the process.
Let’s say we need to produce 100 products.
If to describe the process in detail, then the employee must receive information, that these products can start be made. For example, that the price was agreed upon, the product was paid by the customer, the products themselves were tested by technologist, there’s enough materials for their production at warehouse etc. Then you must print the technological documentation for each department, which produces any operations for the manufacture of products. Mostly there are six or seven departments requiring technical documentation, but may be more: saws, welding, assemblage of frames’ contours, fitting station, glass cutting, assemblage of double glazing, installing double glazings to the product, cut of glazing fillets, assemblage of mosquito nets and others.
That means to cover the entire process chain to make a specific document for each worker, not one for all which they passed to each other, simultaneously making their own notations on it, confusing designation, dirtying it, losing and making it as a result to unreadable form, you must print a copy for each worker.
Thus, six departments spends about 8-10 sheets per product, for 100 products it will be 800 sheets, at best!
Further, these papers should be sorted, grouped, some of them stapled. Enterprises engaged in windows’ manufacturing, stand firmly on their own feet, production and office spaces are growing. So it is necessary to carry documents from the office to department, but it can be hundreds of meters or even more! And if in department, suddenly, you find any inaccuracies or mistake, printer cartridges are also not eternal and if something was not clearly stamped… that means to come back, to print again, to sort and etc. In such way of production’s organization no one is immune from erroneous resend of already prepared products for re-manufacture. And that’s not to mention the fact that conducting such production, it’s extremely difficult to use the profile and glass optimization to minimize waste. In the month the total amount of costs transfers into tens of thousands of rubles only for paper and printer maintenance, and that’s not even taking into account not associated with paper-based costs for defects and the loss of working time, which is usually many times more.
Agree, to call this situation, coupled with the mountain of profile that few employees are trying to disassemble, collating every piece with task sheet, a “kilter at production” may only be a very big stretch.
Combining all above it can be noted that such production is less efficient than it could be, because of the loss of working time. It is more expensive because it has a fairly high % of defects because of the human factor and the costs associated with paper-based document flow. In such production it is more difficult to achieve rhythm and coordination of actions of the entire production process.
Now let’s talk about what is the bloc of paperless production, what is it for and how to carry out its implementation to your production.
Firstly we need to say that there is no ideal magic pill for every production. One production is always different from another. Sizes and number of departments, number and types of machines, equipments of employees workplaces, logistics of accessories and products movement in departments – all of these have great importance. That’s why if you made a decision to implement the block of paperless production to your production – the first thing you need is arrival of our qualified employee to your production to “assess the situation on the spot” and joint development of recommendations for further action. It is necessary to assess the scale of production, probably to give advices on such questions as: which equipment it’s necessary to buy, which carts to use and how many of them to buy or to make yourself, to learn more about the technological features of your production, to offer solutions on the best location of machines, where and how to lay a local network and merge computers by it, to plan the most efficient intra-department movement logistics at the enterprise and, if you are not sure yet how will the very production of windows be, to offer a comprehensive solution for the organization of the entire technological process basing on our vast experience in the automation of production processes and the work of the enterprises.
Now let’s turn directly to the description of the block.
After its installation and implementation at your enterprise, you’ll almost give up the everyday printing of hundreds of pages of documentation. All necessary information will now be transferred to a label and computer monitor, mounted on specific work places.
Your machining centre (or saw) prints labels with bar code, each of them is pasted on a piece of sawed profile. Label design for each company is being designed individually, if equipment allows this. In general, the label might look like this:
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In the case of absence of the machining centre (or a printer on it) – labels can be printed on ordinary or specialized printer.
In addition to the bar-code, each label can contain a layer of information necessary for the workers. Having read the information from the label using a bar-code scanner, the worker will see on the screen the image of all future product, scanned part will be allocated separately, as well as the screen will display information about the process that we need to do with this element on this production site. That means that scanning a part at the station of contour assemblage – the monitor will display information of what and how it’s necessary to do at current stage. Having done the necessary and sent the product to the next, for example, fitting station and scanning there the same product at the monitor of fitting station we will see only what we need to do at crrent stage of assemblage.
So now we do not need to print hundreds of pages of documentation for the workplace and the specific products, all the information is accessible directly from the database by means of labels with bar-code, as well as we eliminate the possibility of confusion, because the fitting station might accidentally hit lists of documentation for another department.
Further.
We remember that if we bought a CNC, or even a machining centre – then we can not work with papers any more. Because machines operate at such a speed that the staff do not have time to deal with supplied and sawed by them number of profile etc. Machines work too quickly and efficiently! As a result our new machines most of the time simply idle while employees disassemble the mountain of sawed profile.
As a result of our fruitful collaboration, we have identified the most effective arrangement of machines for intrashop logistics, arranged them as desired and placed computers with a scanner at the right places – we are faced with the question of the most competent way to move elements of the future product between machines and stations.
For this will be used specially designed carts, the type and amount of which will be agreed together with our employee during the first visit at your enterprise. Arranging elements of products takes place at the first stage of production – each element of the product will be placed in a special designed specifically for this element cell.
The further process will be as follows: sawed pieces of profile get label with number of cart and cell, bar-code and other information. The profiles are arranged in the cart, in accordance with said label cell and transmitted to the next assembly area. There worker picks an item from the cell , scans it sees on the monitor of the computer what to do with the element and , if it’s necessary, from which cart and a cell to pick other elements of future product. It can also be specified in which of his desktop’s cells (stations) are additional elements of this particular product. Then the treated element is put in the next cart, in the specified cell, and transferred to the next working station. And so on, till the full preparedness of product.
Passage of product through each production site is recorded in the program, that gives possibility to control the process of preparation in real time. After passing through the area marked as stage of preparedness, the product is considered to be made. This point is also fixed in the program, and allows the company’s employees to have information on the status of orders – whether it is ready or prepared only some part of it.
But that’s not all. When administered the warehouse of prepared production in the program with numbered cell-places for storage products the program will indicate in which cell to deliver the finished product or storekeeper determines the place for the product by himself. Also, the program indicates which additional elements should be added to the product. These can be window sills, mosquito nets, laths, etc. that are not included in the design of the product, but must be shipped with the product. Placing products in the numbered places allows to quickly find them when shipping products not searching in all prepared for shipment products and not to forget additional elements. At the same place happens the cancellation of products from a warehouse with liberation of occupied space.
All of this together seriously improves performance at the expense of coordination of actions of all employees.
For work on his production site each worker will have to enter the program using his own name. To ensure the security entrance to the program carried out by password. For more convenient work with the program, not to enter name and password using the keyboard, employees can have their own badge with a bar-code, allowing for registration on the workplace just to scan their badge.
Registration of employee at his workplace will help to control his work, as well as it will provide an opportunity to introduce a system of wages by the number of operations made in certain areas of production, which will make additional impetus to work for your employees.
Summarize.
Implementation of bloc of paperless production at enterprise:
- will virtually eliminate the cost for printing documentation and reduce the number of defects in the workplace;
- will make an element of automation, reducing the work of employees in some production areas to movement of elements of a product between stations;
- will allow to significantly improve the performance of the enterprise with the same or fewer number of employees;
- will reduce training time of employees;
- your staff will be interchangeable;
- will streamline and simplify the entire production process, that will significantly improve the performance of the enterprise by increasing the speed of passage of products through the areas;
- will allow to control both, the production process itself and the work of employees.