Learning The Ins And Outs Of Web-Centric Supply Chain Manufacturing
Spurred by the growth of e-commerce, a new model of manufacturing has emerged responding to needs of customers for build-to-order products. The impact on shop floor systems is compounded by the increasing need to outsource components or entire assemblies to external suppliers. Shop operations managers still need visibility and control of delivery, quality, and configuration records of outsourced components to service their customers. Supply chain management is critical to the manufacturing process, and new tools are necessary to keep pace with the needs of manufacturing.
This paper will discuss Web-centric supply chain manufacturing and how it solves these and other critical problems faced by today's manufacturers. Many leading manufacturers are already using these solutions to streamline their supply chain manufacturing operations. These companies include Acma, a build to order computer company; Flextronics, a global manufacturing services leader; KLA-Tencor, a leading semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer; and Intuitive Surgical, a medical equipment company. Although their markets and products differ, these companies do share the commonality of effectively utilizing Web-centric supply chain manufacturing to solve critical problems in manufacturing and managing the extended supply chain.
Web-centric supply chain manufacturing uses the power of the Internet and the simplicity of a Web browser to meet the critical needs of today's manufacturer – visibility, speed, flexibility, collaboration, and product lifecycle management throughout the extended supply chain.
Visibility - Through Web-centric supply chain manufacturing, all aspects of the manufacturing process are visible and accessible online. This visibility extends from incoming materials to final products, from component supplier to outsourced manufacturer, and everything on one's own shop floor. All data is stored and accessible electronically. Convenient data analysis down to the unit-level provides instant feedback of in-process work and historical trends and SPC analysis. Work in process can be viewed instantaneously regardless of plant location, whether the shop is internal or outsourced, with all data available and controlled by the OEM. By using the Internet and a simple Web browser interface, the virtual supply chain is enabled with visibility into the complete manufacturing process and with the tools to manage it.
Speed - To fill the need of build-to-order products, manufacturers have been forced to switch from asynchronous production, (build to stock, wait for the order, then ship) to synchronous production, (build to order, then make and ship it now). Speed becomes paramount in this environment. OEMs must manage and execute changes very quickly, and often, outside of their own organization. By utilizing Web-centric supply chain manufacturing, OEMs can respond to customer needs, drive quick changes to process and design, and shorten leadtimes in their manufacturing cycle across the extended supply chain. Acma, a custom computer manufacturer, exemplifies this trend in manufacturing. Previously making computers as built-to-stock, Acma has completely changed their business model to offer custom configured computers. Speed became critical as Acma struggled with their paper-based, homegrown shop floor system. Switching to Web-centric supply chain manufacturing, Acma increased their on-time delivery from 78% to 96% and eliminated 10 man-hours of time adjusting production schedules to accommodate change orders.
Flexibility - Not only do manufacturers need speed in delivery, they need both speed and flexibility to roll out new products. They must quickly modify new products, changing processes and designs on the fly. Paper-based shop floors hinder this flexibility and the ability to track "as-built" information. Electronic travelers can be viewed from networked PCs and be easily modified via a Web browser. This gives process and manufacturing engineers the tools and flexibility to quickly revise new products, updating and storing the as-built information for future use. These changes can be made easily and immediately by a process engineer via a browser interface, rather than by an IT expert. Flextronics, a leading electronic manufacturing services (EMS) company, must constantly change production lines as they build unique products for their numerous OEM customers. Web-centric supply chain manufacturing provides the flexibility that Flextronics needs to switch these lines quickly, without having a team of IT professionals adding and changing production routes and data collection requirements.
Collaboration - Collaboration and the sharing of information with external customers, suppliers, and outsourced manufacturers are critical in this new era of build-to-order manufacturing. By using Web-centric applications, remote customers and suppliers can see real-time information from a Web browser, without having to change or upgrade costly ERP systems. Using Web-centric supply chain management, collaboration becomes a multi-way, real time exchange of information between manufacturer, suppliers, outsourced manufacturers, and end customers. Supply chain partners use current data to ensure products are built to the correct design, built on time, and all product and process data is collected and immediately available. Flextronics now uses this collaborative capability to attract new customers by offering it as an added value information service. Using Web-based supply chain manufacturing, inter-company and intra-company collaboration becomes easy, cost effective, and efficient.
Product Lifecycle Management - Throughout a product's lifecycle, many changes and revisions are employed to constantly improve performance, quality, and yields. By replacing paper travelers with electronic ones, an OEM can quickly make changes to product design and production processes, especially critical in the early stages of the product lifecycle. Another powerful benefit is deep unit-level traceability, capable of tracking component level quality and serial number information. Many industries, (e.g., semiconductor equipment, telecommunications, and medical) require deep unit-level traceability. Intuitive Surgical, a medical equipment manufacturer, would spend three days compiling quality information for governmental reporting requirements. Using Web-centric supply chain solutions, Intuitive Surgical can now generate a report instantly, compiling all component level history into the required report format.
Online data is captured throughout the product lifecycle. This unit-level data tracks product quality and manufacturing information throughout the supply chain. The historical data can be used for complex analysis providing valuable information to manage the product line lifecycle. KLA-Tencor, a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer, uses this information to quickly analyze the trends in quality for a product line. Previously, using paper-based shop floor systems, KLA-Tencor would take weeks compiling and analyzing complex quality issues. By using such analysis, a product that is less costly or more reliable will be marketed longer than a less stable product that requires extra handling during or after production. By utilizing Web-centric supply chain manufacturing, complex analysis tools are readily available to make informed decisions on both product lifecycle and product line lifecycle management.
Business Operations Management - Web-centric supply chain manufacturing systems provide detailed information from the OEM's shop floor and the floors of supply chain partners. Managers running the daily operations – shop floor, quality, procurement, service, sales – benefit greatly from these new tools. These Web-centric tools also provide equally powerful benefits to the business operations management. The COO and other executive level staff must make critical decisions regarding the use of outsourced manufacturers and multiple manufacturing sites. Data on cycle time, cost, and quality from each and every supply chain partner is immediately available for cost-benefit comparisons. If one supplier has a quality or cycle time issue, then another one can be employed for the next build. By having visibility and control over the extended supply chain, the executive level staff can make informed decisions regarding the critical business issues they face.
The Customization Continuum
It is the hottest trend in manufacturing and customer service over the last decade. The model has many names – mass customization, build-to-order (BTO) manufacturing, and supply chain automation. Regardless of the term, one of the most important modern economic trends is the shift from build-to-stock (BTS) and one-size-fits-all to build-to-order and personalized production.
As this process of customization evolves, it places new technical demands on manufacturers and their IT infrastructures. While some manufacturers may continue to build-to-stock, many companies in the computer, medical, telecommunications, and automotive industries were early adopters of build-to-configure (BTC) or BTO strategies. These manufacturers are now switching from paper-based tracking to online monitoring and Web-based intra-company and inter-company communication. In the process, they are achieving new levels of efficiency and customer service, which is passed on to the Web-savvy customers, anxious to buy and track their orders online.
The benefits of direct-to-consumer marketing and other selling models on the Internet are spurring interest in mass customization. Leveraging the Internet, companies, regardless of size, can extend their reach to the individual consumer at relatively low cost. The nature of the Internet pushes the drive to personalized service and customized products. According to the AMR Research Report on Manufacturing for May 1999, "E-commerce forces manufacturers to build to order… From telecommunications to tractors, customer focus speeds the personalization of manufactured goods and shrinks product lifetimes."
Progress along the customization continuum toward BTO production is driving the demand for more detailed, real-time visibility into factory floor operations. Until now, most companies were satisfied if they could manage bulk orders, essentially working with an information blackout between the instant the order entered the manufacturing plant to the point units rolled off the assembly line. Before the era of customized production, BTS manufacturers could make do with this data gap. However, BTC and BTO are synchronous manufacturing strategies that require the manufacturer have a clear and detailed picture of each order and of the individual products within the order as they move through the production cycle. Without this picture, manufacturers are forced to engage in costly expediter processes to tell customers the status of their orders, trace the actual content of a product with a service problem, and so on.
Acma Computers, a Datasweep customer, illustrates the challenge. Acma is a PC manufacturer that sells to both the private and public sectors. At one time, Acma's customers ordered batches of identical PCs. Now, customer orders include a variety of special hardware and software configurations. Not only must Acma manage the assembly and testing of each individual PC, they also need to track individual components on every PC built. Without unit-level tracking, they risk potentially large and costly recalls of computers for component level failures. Acma requires complete supply chain visibility down to the unit-level in order for the BTO model to be successful for their customers and their bottom line.
Outsourcing And Cross-Company Collaboration
The trend to replace vertical manufacturing with outsourced manufacturing began many years ago. Outsourcing of part or even all production processes by brand-name companies to a variety of contract manufacturers is a very common and accepted manufacturing practice today.
This trend toward outsourced manufacturing has been boosted by the advent of Internet commerce. Contract manufacturers are no longer low-end "board stuffing" shops. Growing at an annual rate of more than 20 percent, this sector is projected to hit $105 billion by 2001, according to Technology Forecasters Inc. Within the contract manufacturing market, high-mix companies – those that handle large numbers of small volume orders – and customized unit manufacturing are growing faster than the industry averages and have twice the operating margins. Outsourcing combined with BTC or BTO production makes unit-level data management a top priority for contract manufacturers and their OEM customers. The ability to keep track of every product, each of its parts, and its stage in the production cycle is a pre-requisite to production efficiency and corporate profitability. In addition, ongoing storing and accessing test history, along with the ability to run complex analyses, is crucial to keep costs low and quality high.
Particularly in the case of outsourced BTO manufacturing, where the aim is rapid turnaround of uniquely configured products, the contract manufacturer is likely to ship the finished product directly to the customer. As a result, the OEM is absolutely dependent on the information provided by the contract manufacturer in order to effectively service its customers and operate its business. The OEM must have visibility to details across the operations of its supply chain partners. Its bottom line, reputation, and ability to leverage its sales and marketing investments, depend on how well it understands and manages the manufacture of its products by other companies. The problems usually associated with production – quality assurance, scheduling, change-order management, cost control, reconfigurations, and customer support – are magnified when the information resides off-site and is distributed across multiple locations.
OEMs and contract manufacturers can share production information in three different ways. In the first instance, EMS Direct Input, the OEM owns the production tracking system, and requires its contract manufacturers to input information into that system via the Internet by accessing the OEM's application via a browser. The second sharing option, OEM Direct Access, is for the contract manufacturer to own the production management system, and provide appropriate access to that system to each of its OEM customers. In the third sharing option, Data Sharing, the OEM and contract manufacturers both have copies of the unit-level production information, and synchronize updates to that information. Each of these collaboration options is enhanced by the use of Internet technology.
Flextronics, a leading electronic manufacturing services company, illustrates the advantages of Web-centric supply chain manufacturing. Not only do they utilize the flexibility to quickly change production lines, they can also track the products and sub-components from multiple locations, building for multiple OEMs around the world. Using a Web browser, the company can transfer data immediately between locations 24 hours a day. They can also supply information to their OEMs and suppliers in an efficient and cost effective way. The bottom line is that now Flextronics can offer more services to their customers, more detailed information to their supply chain to help bring products to market quicker. Web-centric supply chain manufacturing makes it possible.
Product Lifecycle Management
With unit-level production information, OEMs can more effectively manage the lifecycle of the individual product and the lifecycle of the entire product line.
Unit Lifecycle Management: Unit-level data tracking provides value throughout the product lifecycle – during production and long after the individual product has left the factory floor. Unit-level data management can improve customer service. For instance, Acma computers increased on-time delivery through unit-level tracking from 78% to 96%. When placing computer orders, Acma's customers designate the type of shipping service they want – overnight express or regular ground. As the computers move through manufacture, unit-level tracking enables the company to prioritize production according to shipping time, improving customer satisfaction, and reduce final inventory by coordinating final test and packaging with FedEx or UPS trucking schedules.
Regardless of whether they build to stock or build to order, most manufacturers want or need to track detailed "as-built" information on quality tests, sub-component serial numbers, and suppliers. This allows them to make sure that the unit is built correctly the first time and also assists in managing service and warranty requests. For instance, knowing the precise software installed in a system can allow companies to implement more efficient upgrade programs.
For many companies, the key to BTO quality and productivity is simply eliminating paper-based travelers and manufacturing procedures and replacing them with an electronic, shop-floor management system. Web-centric applications take this a step further, by providing unit-level visibility throughout the supply chain.
Product Line Lifecycle Management: When manufacturing takes place across companies, access to data gathered at the contract manufacturer's site is crucial to the OEM's ability to service customers and operate efficiently. OEM engineers want to view and analyze the production data to improve time to market, output levels, quality targets, field failure rates, and other factors. By leveraging both real-time factory floor data and historical information, the OEM can determine short-term actions and design long-term product strategies to optimize the lifecycle of its various product lines. Thus, a product that is more reliable or easier to modify is likely to be sustained longer than one that requires extra handling during or after production. Granular visibility into the assembly floor across the supply chain enables the OEM to monitor trends and make cost-benefit comparisons across product lines, while leveraging the economic benefits of outsourced manufacturing.
A great example of managing product lifecycle with supply chain manufacturing is Intuitive Surgical. Intuitive Surgical is a fast growing medical equipment manufacturer. Building complex equipment in its early lifecycle stage, Intuitive Surgical relies on supply chain manufacturing to facilitate production as engineers make changes to design and manufacturing processes. By using complex data analysis at the unit-level, Intuitive better manages its ECO, manufacturing process change procedures, and FCO and repair processes. Also, by having the "as-built" information available on the Web, field service engineers have 24 hour access to information, which reduces diagnostic time and improves customer satisfaction.
Datasweep Advantage Meets the Challenges -
Web-Centric Unit Level Data Management
Datasweep, Inc. has designed an architecture to meet these new manufacturing requirements. The architecture is embodied in Datasweep's Advantage, providing detailed visibility into manufacturing operations across the supply chain while supporting sophisticated analysis and reporting tools. Datasweep's architecture was designed from the ground up by the Datasweep development team, who created the leading manufacturing execution systems on previous generations of software technology. Based on its extensive first-hand experience (more than 150 man-years) with plant automation systems and data warehousing, Datasweep's Advantage represents the company's most current thinking about the problem of supply chain manufacturing.
Advantage is a packaged unit-level production tracking system that installs quickly and easily on PCs located at manufacturing, assembly and test sites throughout the manufacturing supply chain. It employs the latest Web technology, easy-to-use GUIs and form builders, extensible application structure, integration with other enterprise applications, and separate active and historical databases. Typically, implementation and ROI are achieved within just weeks or months.
Datasweep's Advantage enables manufacturers to rapidly implement an efficient, affordable unit-level tracking and data analysis solution for the full range of production environments from build-to-stock to build-to-order, from vertically integrated to completely outsourced. No other solution offers this level of accuracy, granularity, and efficiency for collecting, marshaling and using data from manufacturing operations.
The architecture is based on the following key features:
Unit-Level Manufacturing Data Model: The heart of Datasweep Advantage is a data model designed for unit-level information management. The data model is founded on the unit, an individual product, and designed to manage data that reveals the unit's composition, status, and relationships to other elements of the manufacturing process. For instance, the data model accounts for information about the operations performed on a unit as it moves across the factory floor. By basing its data model on the unit, it facilitates tracking the status of units within an order and determining the impact of change orders on an in-process unit. In outsourced operations, the Datasweep data model allows partner companies to expose specific levels of detail to one another as they seek to optimize production.
Datasweep's unit-level manufacturing data model is unique. Manufacturing execution systems (MES) and ERP systems have data models that were designed for build-to-stock mass production. The data models track no information about specific items and their relationships to other elements of the manufacturing process. Manufacturers can implement unit-level data management on these products only by employing workarounds, such as making each item within an order a separate order in the system. However, in practice, these workarounds have proven to be complex, slow, and, ultimately, unacceptable for advanced manufacturing strategies.
Data Management Architecture: Datasweep Advantage relies on two separate, but linked, databases – the active database and the analysis database.
Datasweep Active Database: The Active Database, an OLTP database, is based on a normalized relational schema. It is implemented on leading relational database systems, including Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle 8. As a product moves through the production process, Datasweep Advantage collects relevant information – parts, operator, time of day, etc. – and enters this information into the production database. The database is designed to handle the high transaction throughput of manufacturing operations and to provide basic status reports.
The Active Database tracks data at the unit-level, whether or not the products are being transported through production individually or in a group, regardless of whether all of the products in the group or carrier belong to the same order. When an order is activated, the Datasweep system issues an identifier, typically a barcode number, for each unit. At each station on the factory floor, the identifier is recorded as the unit passes. Data can include component serial numbers, lots, quality tests, operator, machine, carrier, and many other factors, depending on the user's needs. Datasweep supports carrier tracking, allowing units to be checked into and out of carriers to speed production. If a customer wants to make a change to one item or to a whole order, the system indicates exactly where each unit is, streamlining the current reliance on manually locating the individual units.
Datasweep Analysis Database: The second database is a historical data mart based on a star schema, which is optimized for reporting and analysis of data extracted from the OLTP database. The moment a product is finished, the unit data about that product is eligible for movement from the production database to the historical database. Complex queries can be entered for in-depth analysis and problem resolution. By segmenting the two types of data management operations into separate databases, Datasweep is able to support in-depth analyses and reporting without slowing the production database. Datasweep Advantage also provides several standard reports. For example, Advantage provides a history of each unit and all parts consumed including serial number, route steps, etc. to create a device history record for field service and customer accountability. Reports can be made available across the company and beyond to customers and partners on a 24/7 basis over the Web.
Datasweep Client: The Datasweep Advantage client can employ either Java or HTML and various combinations of the two. Datasweep also plans to support other standards, such as XML. The client architecture includes a form builder and scripting language for the GUI. Wizards guide the user through a decision tree to speed completion of tasks. The Datasweep client architecture also incorporates support for barcode readers, commonly used for data entry on factory floors. The Datasweep Process Designer and Form Builder are the tools users employ to define applications and configure the system. Both tools use simple point-and-click operations. For process changes, Advantage allows the use of scripts that eliminate the need for Java programming expertise.
Datasweep Application Server: The Datasweep Application Server hosts and manages the application functionality in the system. It is based on Windows NT and Microsoft's COM+ architecture. Datasweep provides standard rules and objects representing production routes, operations at each manufacturing step, data descriptions, and work instructions in the form of a document, video clip, sound, drawing, photo or an executable file. Users can add their own rules, as well as extend the properties of objects in the system. Users can also define specific manufacturing processes and procedures by using simple graphical Wizards and graphical process flow diagrams.
Datasweep Integration Architecture: Datasweep designed an integration architecture to support rapid linkage with enterprise systems and applications, such as ERP packages and advanced planning systems. The architecture begins by narrowing the scope of the integration between Advantage and the third-party product to a minimal number of connection points. Datasweep has created interfaces for some of the leading enterprise applications and will continue to expand its breadth of support.
Conclusion
Web-centric supply chain manufacturing technology needed to support mass customization throughout the manufacturing supply chain is here. Driven by Internet commerce to fulfill the specific requirements of their customers, manufacturers now have an answer for the massive challenges personalization poses for factory-floor operations across the extended enterprise. As the manufacturing economy moves to value unique products and orders, unit-level data management becomes essential. So too, contract manufacturing drives the need to gather and share real-time, unit-level information on orders and products within orders.
Datasweep was launched by executives and engineers who understand the issues and the problem first-hand, having developed the leading earlier generations of manufacturing execution software. They have hands-on, factory floor experience and data warehousing expertise. Recognizing the need to fill the Web-centric, unit-level data gap, they built the Advantage system from the ground up, incorporating the most advanced Internet and Web technologies, proven platforms, and powerful database design.
Customers, including Acma Computers, Intuitive Surgical, Flextronics, KLA-Tencor, and others, have realized substantial ROI from Datasweep Advantage's unique functionality and architecture. Datasweep has helped these companies speed production throughput, increase quality, reduce training time, lower inventory costs, decrease paper-based documentation, and improve pricing strategies and boost customer satisfaction.
This paper will discuss Web-centric supply chain manufacturing and how it solves these and other critical problems faced by today's manufacturers. Many leading manufacturers are already using these solutions to streamline their supply chain manufacturing operations. These companies include Acma, a build to order computer company; Flextronics, a global manufacturing services leader; KLA-Tencor, a leading semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer; and Intuitive Surgical, a medical equipment company. Although their markets and products differ, these companies do share the commonality of effectively utilizing Web-centric supply chain manufacturing to solve critical problems in manufacturing and managing the extended supply chain.
Web-centric supply chain manufacturing uses the power of the Internet and the simplicity of a Web browser to meet the critical needs of today's manufacturer – visibility, speed, flexibility, collaboration, and product lifecycle management throughout the extended supply chain.
Visibility - Through Web-centric supply chain manufacturing, all aspects of the manufacturing process are visible and accessible online. This visibility extends from incoming materials to final products, from component supplier to outsourced manufacturer, and everything on one's own shop floor. All data is stored and accessible electronically. Convenient data analysis down to the unit-level provides instant feedback of in-process work and historical trends and SPC analysis. Work in process can be viewed instantaneously regardless of plant location, whether the shop is internal or outsourced, with all data available and controlled by the OEM. By using the Internet and a simple Web browser interface, the virtual supply chain is enabled with visibility into the complete manufacturing process and with the tools to manage it.
Speed - To fill the need of build-to-order products, manufacturers have been forced to switch from asynchronous production, (build to stock, wait for the order, then ship) to synchronous production, (build to order, then make and ship it now). Speed becomes paramount in this environment. OEMs must manage and execute changes very quickly, and often, outside of their own organization. By utilizing Web-centric supply chain manufacturing, OEMs can respond to customer needs, drive quick changes to process and design, and shorten leadtimes in their manufacturing cycle across the extended supply chain. Acma, a custom computer manufacturer, exemplifies this trend in manufacturing. Previously making computers as built-to-stock, Acma has completely changed their business model to offer custom configured computers. Speed became critical as Acma struggled with their paper-based, homegrown shop floor system. Switching to Web-centric supply chain manufacturing, Acma increased their on-time delivery from 78% to 96% and eliminated 10 man-hours of time adjusting production schedules to accommodate change orders.
Flexibility - Not only do manufacturers need speed in delivery, they need both speed and flexibility to roll out new products. They must quickly modify new products, changing processes and designs on the fly. Paper-based shop floors hinder this flexibility and the ability to track "as-built" information. Electronic travelers can be viewed from networked PCs and be easily modified via a Web browser. This gives process and manufacturing engineers the tools and flexibility to quickly revise new products, updating and storing the as-built information for future use. These changes can be made easily and immediately by a process engineer via a browser interface, rather than by an IT expert. Flextronics, a leading electronic manufacturing services (EMS) company, must constantly change production lines as they build unique products for their numerous OEM customers. Web-centric supply chain manufacturing provides the flexibility that Flextronics needs to switch these lines quickly, without having a team of IT professionals adding and changing production routes and data collection requirements.
Collaboration - Collaboration and the sharing of information with external customers, suppliers, and outsourced manufacturers are critical in this new era of build-to-order manufacturing. By using Web-centric applications, remote customers and suppliers can see real-time information from a Web browser, without having to change or upgrade costly ERP systems. Using Web-centric supply chain management, collaboration becomes a multi-way, real time exchange of information between manufacturer, suppliers, outsourced manufacturers, and end customers. Supply chain partners use current data to ensure products are built to the correct design, built on time, and all product and process data is collected and immediately available. Flextronics now uses this collaborative capability to attract new customers by offering it as an added value information service. Using Web-based supply chain manufacturing, inter-company and intra-company collaboration becomes easy, cost effective, and efficient.
Product Lifecycle Management - Throughout a product's lifecycle, many changes and revisions are employed to constantly improve performance, quality, and yields. By replacing paper travelers with electronic ones, an OEM can quickly make changes to product design and production processes, especially critical in the early stages of the product lifecycle. Another powerful benefit is deep unit-level traceability, capable of tracking component level quality and serial number information. Many industries, (e.g., semiconductor equipment, telecommunications, and medical) require deep unit-level traceability. Intuitive Surgical, a medical equipment manufacturer, would spend three days compiling quality information for governmental reporting requirements. Using Web-centric supply chain solutions, Intuitive Surgical can now generate a report instantly, compiling all component level history into the required report format.
Online data is captured throughout the product lifecycle. This unit-level data tracks product quality and manufacturing information throughout the supply chain. The historical data can be used for complex analysis providing valuable information to manage the product line lifecycle. KLA-Tencor, a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer, uses this information to quickly analyze the trends in quality for a product line. Previously, using paper-based shop floor systems, KLA-Tencor would take weeks compiling and analyzing complex quality issues. By using such analysis, a product that is less costly or more reliable will be marketed longer than a less stable product that requires extra handling during or after production. By utilizing Web-centric supply chain manufacturing, complex analysis tools are readily available to make informed decisions on both product lifecycle and product line lifecycle management.
Business Operations Management - Web-centric supply chain manufacturing systems provide detailed information from the OEM's shop floor and the floors of supply chain partners. Managers running the daily operations – shop floor, quality, procurement, service, sales – benefit greatly from these new tools. These Web-centric tools also provide equally powerful benefits to the business operations management. The COO and other executive level staff must make critical decisions regarding the use of outsourced manufacturers and multiple manufacturing sites. Data on cycle time, cost, and quality from each and every supply chain partner is immediately available for cost-benefit comparisons. If one supplier has a quality or cycle time issue, then another one can be employed for the next build. By having visibility and control over the extended supply chain, the executive level staff can make informed decisions regarding the critical business issues they face.
The Customization Continuum
It is the hottest trend in manufacturing and customer service over the last decade. The model has many names – mass customization, build-to-order (BTO) manufacturing, and supply chain automation. Regardless of the term, one of the most important modern economic trends is the shift from build-to-stock (BTS) and one-size-fits-all to build-to-order and personalized production.
As this process of customization evolves, it places new technical demands on manufacturers and their IT infrastructures. While some manufacturers may continue to build-to-stock, many companies in the computer, medical, telecommunications, and automotive industries were early adopters of build-to-configure (BTC) or BTO strategies. These manufacturers are now switching from paper-based tracking to online monitoring and Web-based intra-company and inter-company communication. In the process, they are achieving new levels of efficiency and customer service, which is passed on to the Web-savvy customers, anxious to buy and track their orders online.
The benefits of direct-to-consumer marketing and other selling models on the Internet are spurring interest in mass customization. Leveraging the Internet, companies, regardless of size, can extend their reach to the individual consumer at relatively low cost. The nature of the Internet pushes the drive to personalized service and customized products. According to the AMR Research Report on Manufacturing for May 1999, "E-commerce forces manufacturers to build to order… From telecommunications to tractors, customer focus speeds the personalization of manufactured goods and shrinks product lifetimes."
Progress along the customization continuum toward BTO production is driving the demand for more detailed, real-time visibility into factory floor operations. Until now, most companies were satisfied if they could manage bulk orders, essentially working with an information blackout between the instant the order entered the manufacturing plant to the point units rolled off the assembly line. Before the era of customized production, BTS manufacturers could make do with this data gap. However, BTC and BTO are synchronous manufacturing strategies that require the manufacturer have a clear and detailed picture of each order and of the individual products within the order as they move through the production cycle. Without this picture, manufacturers are forced to engage in costly expediter processes to tell customers the status of their orders, trace the actual content of a product with a service problem, and so on.
Acma Computers, a Datasweep customer, illustrates the challenge. Acma is a PC manufacturer that sells to both the private and public sectors. At one time, Acma's customers ordered batches of identical PCs. Now, customer orders include a variety of special hardware and software configurations. Not only must Acma manage the assembly and testing of each individual PC, they also need to track individual components on every PC built. Without unit-level tracking, they risk potentially large and costly recalls of computers for component level failures. Acma requires complete supply chain visibility down to the unit-level in order for the BTO model to be successful for their customers and their bottom line.
Outsourcing And Cross-Company Collaboration
The trend to replace vertical manufacturing with outsourced manufacturing began many years ago. Outsourcing of part or even all production processes by brand-name companies to a variety of contract manufacturers is a very common and accepted manufacturing practice today.
This trend toward outsourced manufacturing has been boosted by the advent of Internet commerce. Contract manufacturers are no longer low-end "board stuffing" shops. Growing at an annual rate of more than 20 percent, this sector is projected to hit $105 billion by 2001, according to Technology Forecasters Inc. Within the contract manufacturing market, high-mix companies – those that handle large numbers of small volume orders – and customized unit manufacturing are growing faster than the industry averages and have twice the operating margins. Outsourcing combined with BTC or BTO production makes unit-level data management a top priority for contract manufacturers and their OEM customers. The ability to keep track of every product, each of its parts, and its stage in the production cycle is a pre-requisite to production efficiency and corporate profitability. In addition, ongoing storing and accessing test history, along with the ability to run complex analyses, is crucial to keep costs low and quality high.
Particularly in the case of outsourced BTO manufacturing, where the aim is rapid turnaround of uniquely configured products, the contract manufacturer is likely to ship the finished product directly to the customer. As a result, the OEM is absolutely dependent on the information provided by the contract manufacturer in order to effectively service its customers and operate its business. The OEM must have visibility to details across the operations of its supply chain partners. Its bottom line, reputation, and ability to leverage its sales and marketing investments, depend on how well it understands and manages the manufacture of its products by other companies. The problems usually associated with production – quality assurance, scheduling, change-order management, cost control, reconfigurations, and customer support – are magnified when the information resides off-site and is distributed across multiple locations.
OEMs and contract manufacturers can share production information in three different ways. In the first instance, EMS Direct Input, the OEM owns the production tracking system, and requires its contract manufacturers to input information into that system via the Internet by accessing the OEM's application via a browser. The second sharing option, OEM Direct Access, is for the contract manufacturer to own the production management system, and provide appropriate access to that system to each of its OEM customers. In the third sharing option, Data Sharing, the OEM and contract manufacturers both have copies of the unit-level production information, and synchronize updates to that information. Each of these collaboration options is enhanced by the use of Internet technology.
Flextronics, a leading electronic manufacturing services company, illustrates the advantages of Web-centric supply chain manufacturing. Not only do they utilize the flexibility to quickly change production lines, they can also track the products and sub-components from multiple locations, building for multiple OEMs around the world. Using a Web browser, the company can transfer data immediately between locations 24 hours a day. They can also supply information to their OEMs and suppliers in an efficient and cost effective way. The bottom line is that now Flextronics can offer more services to their customers, more detailed information to their supply chain to help bring products to market quicker. Web-centric supply chain manufacturing makes it possible.
Product Lifecycle Management
With unit-level production information, OEMs can more effectively manage the lifecycle of the individual product and the lifecycle of the entire product line.
Unit Lifecycle Management: Unit-level data tracking provides value throughout the product lifecycle – during production and long after the individual product has left the factory floor. Unit-level data management can improve customer service. For instance, Acma computers increased on-time delivery through unit-level tracking from 78% to 96%. When placing computer orders, Acma's customers designate the type of shipping service they want – overnight express or regular ground. As the computers move through manufacture, unit-level tracking enables the company to prioritize production according to shipping time, improving customer satisfaction, and reduce final inventory by coordinating final test and packaging with FedEx or UPS trucking schedules.
Regardless of whether they build to stock or build to order, most manufacturers want or need to track detailed "as-built" information on quality tests, sub-component serial numbers, and suppliers. This allows them to make sure that the unit is built correctly the first time and also assists in managing service and warranty requests. For instance, knowing the precise software installed in a system can allow companies to implement more efficient upgrade programs.
For many companies, the key to BTO quality and productivity is simply eliminating paper-based travelers and manufacturing procedures and replacing them with an electronic, shop-floor management system. Web-centric applications take this a step further, by providing unit-level visibility throughout the supply chain.
Product Line Lifecycle Management: When manufacturing takes place across companies, access to data gathered at the contract manufacturer's site is crucial to the OEM's ability to service customers and operate efficiently. OEM engineers want to view and analyze the production data to improve time to market, output levels, quality targets, field failure rates, and other factors. By leveraging both real-time factory floor data and historical information, the OEM can determine short-term actions and design long-term product strategies to optimize the lifecycle of its various product lines. Thus, a product that is more reliable or easier to modify is likely to be sustained longer than one that requires extra handling during or after production. Granular visibility into the assembly floor across the supply chain enables the OEM to monitor trends and make cost-benefit comparisons across product lines, while leveraging the economic benefits of outsourced manufacturing.
A great example of managing product lifecycle with supply chain manufacturing is Intuitive Surgical. Intuitive Surgical is a fast growing medical equipment manufacturer. Building complex equipment in its early lifecycle stage, Intuitive Surgical relies on supply chain manufacturing to facilitate production as engineers make changes to design and manufacturing processes. By using complex data analysis at the unit-level, Intuitive better manages its ECO, manufacturing process change procedures, and FCO and repair processes. Also, by having the "as-built" information available on the Web, field service engineers have 24 hour access to information, which reduces diagnostic time and improves customer satisfaction.
Datasweep Advantage Meets the Challenges -
Web-Centric Unit Level Data Management
Datasweep, Inc. has designed an architecture to meet these new manufacturing requirements. The architecture is embodied in Datasweep's Advantage, providing detailed visibility into manufacturing operations across the supply chain while supporting sophisticated analysis and reporting tools. Datasweep's architecture was designed from the ground up by the Datasweep development team, who created the leading manufacturing execution systems on previous generations of software technology. Based on its extensive first-hand experience (more than 150 man-years) with plant automation systems and data warehousing, Datasweep's Advantage represents the company's most current thinking about the problem of supply chain manufacturing.
Advantage is a packaged unit-level production tracking system that installs quickly and easily on PCs located at manufacturing, assembly and test sites throughout the manufacturing supply chain. It employs the latest Web technology, easy-to-use GUIs and form builders, extensible application structure, integration with other enterprise applications, and separate active and historical databases. Typically, implementation and ROI are achieved within just weeks or months.
Datasweep's Advantage enables manufacturers to rapidly implement an efficient, affordable unit-level tracking and data analysis solution for the full range of production environments from build-to-stock to build-to-order, from vertically integrated to completely outsourced. No other solution offers this level of accuracy, granularity, and efficiency for collecting, marshaling and using data from manufacturing operations.
The architecture is based on the following key features:
- Web-centric design and browser-based interface
- Speed of configuration and rollout
- Unit-level product tracking
- Efficient transaction throughput for factory floor data collection
- Real-time production metrics
- Data mart for complex analyses
- Complete solution, with client software, server software, and integration modules
- Integration with other enterprise applications
Unit-Level Manufacturing Data Model: The heart of Datasweep Advantage is a data model designed for unit-level information management. The data model is founded on the unit, an individual product, and designed to manage data that reveals the unit's composition, status, and relationships to other elements of the manufacturing process. For instance, the data model accounts for information about the operations performed on a unit as it moves across the factory floor. By basing its data model on the unit, it facilitates tracking the status of units within an order and determining the impact of change orders on an in-process unit. In outsourced operations, the Datasweep data model allows partner companies to expose specific levels of detail to one another as they seek to optimize production.
Datasweep's unit-level manufacturing data model is unique. Manufacturing execution systems (MES) and ERP systems have data models that were designed for build-to-stock mass production. The data models track no information about specific items and their relationships to other elements of the manufacturing process. Manufacturers can implement unit-level data management on these products only by employing workarounds, such as making each item within an order a separate order in the system. However, in practice, these workarounds have proven to be complex, slow, and, ultimately, unacceptable for advanced manufacturing strategies.
Data Management Architecture: Datasweep Advantage relies on two separate, but linked, databases – the active database and the analysis database.
Datasweep Active Database: The Active Database, an OLTP database, is based on a normalized relational schema. It is implemented on leading relational database systems, including Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle 8. As a product moves through the production process, Datasweep Advantage collects relevant information – parts, operator, time of day, etc. – and enters this information into the production database. The database is designed to handle the high transaction throughput of manufacturing operations and to provide basic status reports.
The Active Database tracks data at the unit-level, whether or not the products are being transported through production individually or in a group, regardless of whether all of the products in the group or carrier belong to the same order. When an order is activated, the Datasweep system issues an identifier, typically a barcode number, for each unit. At each station on the factory floor, the identifier is recorded as the unit passes. Data can include component serial numbers, lots, quality tests, operator, machine, carrier, and many other factors, depending on the user's needs. Datasweep supports carrier tracking, allowing units to be checked into and out of carriers to speed production. If a customer wants to make a change to one item or to a whole order, the system indicates exactly where each unit is, streamlining the current reliance on manually locating the individual units.
Datasweep Analysis Database: The second database is a historical data mart based on a star schema, which is optimized for reporting and analysis of data extracted from the OLTP database. The moment a product is finished, the unit data about that product is eligible for movement from the production database to the historical database. Complex queries can be entered for in-depth analysis and problem resolution. By segmenting the two types of data management operations into separate databases, Datasweep is able to support in-depth analyses and reporting without slowing the production database. Datasweep Advantage also provides several standard reports. For example, Advantage provides a history of each unit and all parts consumed including serial number, route steps, etc. to create a device history record for field service and customer accountability. Reports can be made available across the company and beyond to customers and partners on a 24/7 basis over the Web.
Datasweep Client: The Datasweep Advantage client can employ either Java or HTML and various combinations of the two. Datasweep also plans to support other standards, such as XML. The client architecture includes a form builder and scripting language for the GUI. Wizards guide the user through a decision tree to speed completion of tasks. The Datasweep client architecture also incorporates support for barcode readers, commonly used for data entry on factory floors. The Datasweep Process Designer and Form Builder are the tools users employ to define applications and configure the system. Both tools use simple point-and-click operations. For process changes, Advantage allows the use of scripts that eliminate the need for Java programming expertise.
Datasweep Application Server: The Datasweep Application Server hosts and manages the application functionality in the system. It is based on Windows NT and Microsoft's COM+ architecture. Datasweep provides standard rules and objects representing production routes, operations at each manufacturing step, data descriptions, and work instructions in the form of a document, video clip, sound, drawing, photo or an executable file. Users can add their own rules, as well as extend the properties of objects in the system. Users can also define specific manufacturing processes and procedures by using simple graphical Wizards and graphical process flow diagrams.
Datasweep Integration Architecture: Datasweep designed an integration architecture to support rapid linkage with enterprise systems and applications, such as ERP packages and advanced planning systems. The architecture begins by narrowing the scope of the integration between Advantage and the third-party product to a minimal number of connection points. Datasweep has created interfaces for some of the leading enterprise applications and will continue to expand its breadth of support.
Conclusion
Web-centric supply chain manufacturing technology needed to support mass customization throughout the manufacturing supply chain is here. Driven by Internet commerce to fulfill the specific requirements of their customers, manufacturers now have an answer for the massive challenges personalization poses for factory-floor operations across the extended enterprise. As the manufacturing economy moves to value unique products and orders, unit-level data management becomes essential. So too, contract manufacturing drives the need to gather and share real-time, unit-level information on orders and products within orders.
Datasweep was launched by executives and engineers who understand the issues and the problem first-hand, having developed the leading earlier generations of manufacturing execution software. They have hands-on, factory floor experience and data warehousing expertise. Recognizing the need to fill the Web-centric, unit-level data gap, they built the Advantage system from the ground up, incorporating the most advanced Internet and Web technologies, proven platforms, and powerful database design.
Customers, including Acma Computers, Intuitive Surgical, Flextronics, KLA-Tencor, and others, have realized substantial ROI from Datasweep Advantage's unique functionality and architecture. Datasweep has helped these companies speed production throughput, increase quality, reduce training time, lower inventory costs, decrease paper-based documentation, and improve pricing strategies and boost customer satisfaction.