Profile – GKN Powder Metallurgy
GKN Powder Metallurgy, Headquarter Brunico
From visualization to digital process control
“The basis for the digitalization of manufacturing and process control was laid at an early stage in our company. Every machine is integrated into a digital network, and all the data was already available in collected form. Thus, the idea arose to visualize this information as well. In cooperation with Solunio, we initially started with the visualization of the machine status. This was followed by the gradual expansion of the system with new functions, and finally we moved from pure visualization to digital process control”, says Georg Bachmann, Director Global Business Systems at GKN Powder Metallurgy, describing the implementation of Visual Shop Floor in the company.
Flexible software for all manufacturing areas
Visual Shop Floor proved to be the perfect tool for bringing together data from the various systems and areas: from order data from the ERP system to sensor data from production to PDF documents from administration.
Clear overview, efficient process planning
Visual Shop Floor thus not only provides insights into individual areas, but also shows the overall scenario of the manufacturing process. Interrelationships can be identified more easily, and the preceding and subsequent processes can be planned more efficiently. “The setup process of our plants extends over several hours. In the past, it was a major challenge for us that the necessary tools and machines were not available in time. With a simple visualization, the on-time preparation of the working environment now succeeds smoothly”, informs Georg Bachmann, “thanks to the data analysis on machinedowntimes, rejects or reasons for interruptions, we now better understand where the challenges and optimization potentials are and can use them systematically. In addition, the various resources can be better allocated and used, both in terms of material flow and manpower”.
Visual Shop Floor is used in almost 25 plants around the world and is an indispensable tool for providing our employees with targeted information, recognizing potential faults before they occur, and deriving the right actions from them.
Georg Bachmann,
Director Global Business Systems, GKN Powder Metallurgy
Global networking
But it′s not just the introduction of cross-site standards that succeeds across borders. Digital networking brings further advantages. For example, employees can click into the system f rom anywhere in the world: “If I want to know how the equipment is running in our plants in the USA, I can get the information I need at any time. In addition to standardization, this is a big advantage for us as a globally active company”.
Talking about content instead of data
With its meeting templates, Visual Shop Floor also prepares meetings automatically. All participants have the necessary information and data available digitally. “Our stand-up meetings for production now run in a much more structured and results-oriented way. We used to spend a lot of time discussing whether the respective data was correct. Today, we talk about the really important content: What can be derived from the key figures and analyses? Where can we achieve optimization? Where do we have to make decisions?”, describes Georg Bachmann.
Identify weak points, control optimizations
Essential tool for all employees
So it′s no wonder that Georg Bachmann with his team and Solunio already have their sights set on further areas of application for Visual Shop Floor: In addition to integration into digital manufacturing, the software will be used in the future to better plan and control measuring equipment, and the global introduction into the GKN Additive business unit is also on the horizon. Other ideas are already buzzing around in their heads, “because our aspiration is to constantly improve.”