38 Fastener Technology International/April 2010

Effective Plant Data Collection & Analysis

Designed to improve plant job scheduling effectiveness and production floor efficiency, the SK-go!® system (MES) is a comprehensive and modular system of solutions for all data collection and analysis tasks in manufacturing operations. The carefully designed modules of SK-go! ensure that all data is collected in a standardized, uniform manner for all areas of application including:

• Machine data collection (MDC).• Plant data collection (PDC).• Data exchange with ERP and CAQ.• Job scheduling.• Quality data.• MES controlling.• Process documentation.• Premium wages.• Personnel data.

The different modules can be individually combined to meet your exact demands. Whether you choose our Smart Start production recorder version as a low-cost entry into the world of production data collection, whether you opt for a complete job-controlled system with individual down-code reporting or if you decide to go with a true performance-based bonus-payment system, SK-go! is designed to offer exactly what you need.

A thorough Software-Service-Package is available, which maintains the standard of your system and keeps it at the latest release version at all times. Our telephone hotline supports you with all questions that may arise around the use of SK-go!.

Competent and experienced staff is at hand at Schwer + Kopka to help you with problems, either via remote teleservice or personally at your site.

Work Scheduling & DistributionThe SK-go! job scheduler is a simple-to-use, yet powerful

instrument to make your job scheduling more effective. First of all, the machine work load chart and the machine

capacity chart show you in detail how busy your machines currently are and if you are about to miss any deadlines. If you need to reschedule a job, you can easily move it from one machine to another by using the comfortable drag-and-drop function.

For effective fine planning of your current jobs-to-do-list, you can filter and sort the list relative to different criteria such as an optimized change-over sequence, or groups of similar sizes and dimensions of parts or raw material, etc. It is easy to establish your own filter and sorting criteria which are used to screen your jobs-to-do-list.

The SK-go! system uses machine work load and machine capacity charts along with a job distribution capability to ef-ficiently schedule manufacturing jobs and machine utilization in your plant.

Modular software facilitates plant productivity through efficient work scheduling capability and more effective machine utilization.

Machine Work Load Chart. The machine work load chart shows the current work load for each machine. If you use the job scheduler in conjunction with our data networking system, the job currently running on each machine is updat-ing this chart on-line.

All late jobs are marked in red. Just click onto the job bar to bring up a window with all relevant job data and the deadline information.

Machine Capacity Chart. The machine capacity chart shows for a selectable time frame if the observed machines are overloaded, or if they still have some capacity available.

Job Distributor. The jobs-to-do-list is at first filtered in terms of initially important criteria such as material and tool-ing availability. After that, you would screen the list further to sort, for example, after an optimized changeover sequence or after similar dimensional changes.

The filtering and sorting criteria that you apply are indi-vidually defined by each user and kept in the system’s memory for future use.

by:Thomas KopkaSchwer + Kopka GmbHSiemensstrasse 21D-40721 Hilden, Germanywww.schwer-kopka.de

Machine Work Load Chart

screen.

Machine Capability

Chart screen.

Job Distributor

screen.

April 2010/Fastener Technology International 39

The remaining jobs after filtering and sorting are then distributed to the selected machines at the push of a button. You can use the drag-and-drop feature to move jobs around before finally closing your scheduling session. After that, all allocated jobs are immediately transferred to the respective machine data terminals where they become listed on the terminal screen ready to be started.

Software for Machine & Production Data Recording

The SK-go! System is your universal tool to control and analyze the effectiveness of your manufacturing operation. Select from the extensive list of software modules with functions and reports that are relevant to your company. All modules use the same database ensuring that the collected information is uniform through all applications. A data import and export interface to your ERP-system guarantees that all information is exchanged with your organizational data processing system.

The system’s Production Recorder module provides users with a Smart Start solution into the world of shop floor data with minimal cost, because no terminals are required at the production machines.

Maintaining accurate counts on produced quantities as well as on up times and down times is the key aspect of machine data networking systems. Schwer + Kopka GmbH provides users with the technology to interface with every possible machine in order to get true counts and true run-time information that cannot be manipulated. The system provides the information as to whether your machines are really making parts, or if they are just running idle, or if they are down.

True up times and down times are accurately recorded down to the fraction of a second. SK-go! keeps its finger on the pulse of each machine in your plant. The software analyzes the collected data and converts them into easy-to-understand and ready-to-use graphics.

Special emphasis has also been placed on ease-of-op-eration. All commands and all graphs are self explanatory. The most common system functions and modules include Shop Floor Viewer, Order Data, Down Codes and Tool Consumption.

Shop Floor Viewer. The SK-go! shop floor viewer gives you a comprehensive look at the current shop floor situation including a graphical shop floor layout with colored indica-tion of machine status, current down reason and length of down-time, alert indicators (traffic lights) for critical situations and a MES-controlling function that screens all machines in respect to their targets (with indicator lights).

Just click on the machine symbol and obtain an array of data concerning current job progress and efficiency, and the performance of the last shifts.

Order Data. Expand your system by relating the collected data to the running parts. Simply start and terminate jobs on your machine data terminals. This step will provide you with job performance reports (efficiency, quantities, etc.), all data available for costing, job sequences and job comparison. And this information is not just available for the jobs of the last six weeks, but as far back as you want.

Down Codes. Create your own list of down codes and

select the relevant code on your machine data terminal each time the machine is down.

SK-go! will now deliver further shop floor details such as down code statistics and error frequencies for any selection or combination of time frame, machine number(s) jobs or parts. This capability will allow you to locate weak points on a much quicker basis.

Tool Consumption. SK-go! offers an attractive and very easy-to use function to keep an accurate record on the number of tools consumed. Each time the operator reports a tool change as the reason for being down, the machine terminal will prompt a tool structure (text listing, CAD-drawing, graphs, etc.) from which he can select the tool(s) just exchanged. At

Shop Floor Viewer screen.

Order Data

screen.

DownCodesscreen.

ToolConsumption

screen.

Effective Plant Data Collection & Analysis ...continued

40 Fastener Technology International/April 2010

Company Profile:

Schwer + Kopka GmbH is a company that special-izes in providing efficient, high-quality solutions to protect its customers’ tools and monitor their pro-duction machinery in high-volume manufacturing applications. The company provides the fastener manufacturing industry with an easy-to-use system that collects and analyses all relevant plant and production data. Schwer + Kopka GbmH process monitoring units and its SK-go!® data collection system are suitable for application in most areas of the fastener industry. Whether your company is in-volved in the production of cold formed or stamped parts, whether your firm is active in metal cutting or whether your business is in assembling or testing components, Schwer + Kopka products and serv-ices can assist your operation in becoming more cost efficient and more productive. www.schwer-kopka.de

the end of each job, you will have exact information about number of tools used for this job and the associated cost. Additionally, the tool life achieved is automatically recorded at the same time.

Tool Consumption allows you to have detailed tool life reports at your finger tips including average tool life for each type of tool, tool consumption listed (e. g., by machine, job, part, time period) and a “hit parade” of tool types, etc.

Additional software modules that are available with the SK-go! system include:

• Job scheduler for order fine planning including machine work load graphs and job distributor.

• Reporting system.• Batch change recorder with traceabilty log book.• Changeover preview function.• Changeover protocols.• Job speed.• Calculation of OEE factors.• Premium wage calculating system with on-line link

to shop floor performance data.• Personnel data collection (report to and report

from machine).• Shift calendar.• Shift planning.• Facility management that automatically controls your

auxilliary supplies such as compressed air, heating, ventilation, etc., according to actual demand.

• MES controlling with warning light indicators.• Process visualization.

Interface With CAQThe usual SPC inspections (statistical process control)

in high-volume manufacturing typically take place within prescribed and rigid time intervals. Whether the machine has at all produced during this time frame is normally not of interest. In addition, there is no indication available at the machine as to when the next SPC measurement will be due. This leads to a situation where SPC measurements are either conducted without being due, performed too late or totally forgotten.

We have interfaced our SK-go! production data recording system with several leading CAQ-systems, which ensures that SPC measurements are only triggered off when they are really due. It is no longer the elapsed time since the last inspection, but it is the true machine up time or produced quantity as recorded by SK-go!, which initiates the next SPC inspection.

The machine operator will automatically get a message popping up on the screen of his machine terminal when the next inspection is required. If the SPC measurement is not performed within a certain time frame, or if the recorded measurements are out of tolerance, the machine can even be stopped automatically if desired. Only another good SPC inspection will free the machine up again.

This compulsory procedure guarantees that all SPC meas-urements only take place when required, and therefore are done in the most economical way. A joint documentation chart which shows the machine up time/down time graphs

and the times of SPC checks can be recalled at the push of a button.

The SK-go! data interface is available for the CAQ-sys-tems of QUIPSY, Babtec and Böhme & Weihs.

To learn more about how the SK-go! software system can help improve production efficiency and machine utilization in your plant, visit the website listed below. www.schwer-kopka.de

SPC pop-up window at machine terminal.

Documentation of machine up

time/down time and SPC check.

FTI