Industry Case Studies, Discrete

Opto-Electronics: Using MES to Effectively Transition New Products from Research to Production

Background:
An expanding opto-electronics developer desired to reduce product-manufacturing costs through the automation of its manufacturing processes. The client wanted short development times for new products, with efficient tracking of their existing products, all while keeping their expenses low.

Situation:
The client sought to deliver a high quality product at the lowest possible cost. To this end, they desired to automate data collection, Work in Process (WIP) tracking, genealogy and inventory consumption for their product manufacturing system. The planned course of action was to implement micro-precision robots to minimize the manual tasks involved in the manufacturing process. In order to economically utilize this technology, the client purchased a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to monitor and synchronize manufacturing activities and link them in real-time to the enterprise. The selected product, Camstar's Insite® , is able to track products and orders on the plant floor, collect transactions for reporting to back-office applications and electronically dispatch orders or product requirements to shop floor personnel. InSite ® also provides key data services to the shop floor, including real-time quality data checks, yield monitoring, automatic system actions, and lot traceability for improved quality and process.

The client not only needed systems integration services but also required assistance in clearly defining their business and manufacturing processes. The nature of this project provided an excellent opportunity for EnteGreat to provide industry experience and expertise, with the intent of helping to build a solid business foundation for the client.

Solution:
The client turned to EnteGreat to design and implement a solution around Camstar's Insite® MES. EnteGreat developed a plan of action for integrating Insite® which included two phases. The first phase involved quickly implementing the basic functionality of Insite®, which included product tracking, WIP, genealogy and some basic quality information collection on the production line. The second phase was designed to expand the implementations established in the initial phase to include product support and training, and also to provide customization of Insite® to fit the client's requirements.

The project had several goals, which included:

1. Insite® implementation services for the client by an established deadline. This included much of the implementation of the MES, and also included custom integration as well as training for users and operators.
2. Integration of the client's hardware architecture. This included fully implementing the MES, as well as to create functional and stress tests for the administration system.
3. Strategic planning for system startup. Additionally, this goal was designed to foster a continued project management relationship with the client during system commissioning.
4. On-going, post-commissioning startup support. This continued the advances of the first phase by advancing continued training and support, as well as customization to the client's MES.

Benefits:
The client received substantial benefits from the successful, on-time implementation of the first phase of this project. Production line functionality was successfully achieved, and the stated business goals for Phase One met all expectations. A successful portion of the project was devoted to helping our client make decisions about the definition of their business and manufacturing processes. This was a role that EnteGreat was well positioned to fill and one that also led much of the success in this project.