ENSURING PROCESS PERFECTION: FULLY PAPERLESS PRODUCTION

By adopting a completely paperless management system, rather than just electronic storage of PDFs, a manufacturing plant can increase profitability, quality and traceability of production processes while reducing costs and eliminating many of the risks associated with improperly or poorly controlled paper documentation.

When is the control system completely paperless?

The understanding of what constitutes paperless produc tion can vary from manager to manager and from company to company, but if you want to reap the full benefits of going paperless, there must be much more than just another way. display of documents that were previously printed and distributed among workshops and services. Deploying a system that simply replaces paper with PDFs or images of paper documents can provide some benefits for operators and managers in production, but in no way can serve as the foundation of a paperless production control system that is a complete solution.

The following discussion deals with the provision of information or data that is created in a paperless form and used in the control system. At the same time, not only the method of data delivery is considered, but also the issues of their systematization, interactivity, control of relevance and adaptability. When a fully paperless management system is installed where all of these processes take place, the benefits can be truly significant.

Take production costs, for example. Its control is on the agenda in many companies, especially those operating in competitive markets. In these industries, quarterly cost-cutting plans, including from customers, are common.

With a paperless management system, quality control procedures, audits of customers and regulatory bodies in production can be completed using a digital terminal in a single control system with fixing and monitoring the elimination of all comments and only with the accompanying release of versions of all reports and their management. In some cases, this can even be done remotely to further reduce costs. This is a potential cost savings not only for the manufacturer but also for the customer.

Another cost reduction factor is the reduction or even elimination of the costs associated with the processing, distribution, control of familiarization and use of documents such as standard implementation guides, maintenance instructions, user guides and work instructions, each of which can be managed centrally in a single system.

The obvious cost savings for any paperless management system are the costs of paper and the costs associated with printing and distributing paper production documents. Not to mention the fact that paper documents in production quickly deteriorate, work instructions are not constant, they change all the time, which means the constant reprint of numerous versions and their distribution among workshops and services so that every employee can see them and no longer use the old instructions. This process takes a lot of time, in addition, there is always a risk that the wrong instructions are used, that an employee is not familiar with this or that document, etc.

Reduced risk is another benefit of paperless management. The possible presence of previous versions of documents in production is eliminated in a well-ordered paperless system, accordingly, risks in production are reduced, operators no longer risk working on incorrect documentation, which eliminates many costly reworks and / or elimination of scrap.

In addition to reducing costs and risks, there are improvements, for example, in productivity and quality. Optimizing operator productivity means spending time only creating, testing and delivering a product, not looking for documents, instructions, or procedures. In an integrated CAD / CAM / CAE-PDM / PLM-ERP-MES system using a single paperless technology, data testing and diagnostics can dramatically speed up quality management issues and improve productivity.

The paperless management system also allows operators to engage in production improvement through feedback. The feedback system provides quick and effective improvements to both documentation and, more importantly, manufacturing processes across all manufacturing improvement initiatives.

Providing paperless control

Achieving paperless management requires a holistic approach that encompasses many factors. As mentioned earlier, the digital way of creating and delivering data is fundamental and must be available to each operator on their own terminal.

Data types should also be considered. A modern production control system should be able to provide the operator with visualization of information from a CAD system, specifications of products and materials (BOM) from PDM or ERP systems, the ability to monitor the relevance of tasks set and performed, provide production analytics, and also support work with secondary, less regularly used data such as preventive maintenance information, user manuals, plant standards, etc.

All this data should not just be provided to the operator. They should be interactive, allow operators to process data through a simple, intuitive, friendly user interface that provides deep immersion in the data, such visualized data that are embedded in the CAD / CAM / CAE-PDM / PLM-ERP-MES industrial control system and which become interactive at the production level and are replenished with actual information about the work performed and sent back to a single corporate production database. And the final part of interactive production management is the operator's ability to analyze the results obtained and provide feedback to improve the quality of the organization of production processes, the ideas of which will be further evaluated and, if necessary, used by a team of engineers and managers.

Version control is the cornerstone of any system, be it paper or paperless. The system must control and be fully aware of the product version, process and its stations, where and how they should be applied. A paperless management system must be able to automatically ensure that the right data and analytics are presented to the operator in an easy-to-use display on his screen with zero risk of displaying incorrect data.

Finally, the system must have the necessary degree of flexibility and adaptability, it must allow engineers and managers to apply operational engineering changes or changes in production processes, if required already at the shop floor. This should be done digitally, simply and easily, supported by proper documentation and control procedures.

Results speak for themselves

The system can provide the operator with the necessary instructions for the product assembly process, dynamic support videos, drawings from CAD systems, information on the composition of products and materials, and all related documentation and work instructions, all with a minimum number of clicks. This can be done immediately and at any time needed during the production process.

The operator also has the ability to query the required data, rotate 3D views, rescale CAD data, or detail lists of materials for a specific part of a product. Manufacturing management, assembly and inspection are made easier and faster as the operator can receive customized and dynamic information based on needs and enter production progress data. Finally, the operator can conduct a feedback session and send suggestions to the engineering and management team, supporting their initiatives to continually improve the product and manufacturing process. There are a lot of evidence to support the theory that operators are much more involved when, on the one hand, the data provided to do their job is accurate and unambiguous, and, on the other hand, their voice about the necessary improvements has finally been heard. All Lean principles fully support the concept of operator participation, and the paperless environment greatly simplifies and speeds up this process.

Consider now how engineers (designers and technologists) benefit from paperless control. Where engineers can develop all work instructions, diagrams, and visual videos with one digital system, the first product launch and subsequent engineering changes are accelerated much more efficiently. Version control is no longer a slow, manual and risky process, but rather a completely automated, simple procedure that can be implemented throughout the entire production. When the vast majority of supporting documents such as user guides, specifications, maintenance instructions, corporate procedures and standards are digitally supported, there is no need for paperwork on the shop floor.

Changes need only be done once, and the engineer can rest easy knowing that all copies of this document are updated on all relevant workstations and that versioning and changes are reflected properly.

Engineering changes are inevitable. They can be executed quickly and digitally delivered to production wherever and whenever required, without having to track down outdated shop floor documents and costly downtime or production errors. And most importantly, the engineer can instantly receive digital feedback from the operator to take into account all the proposals from the field and include them, if necessary, in the next revision. This gives the operator and engineer a clearer understanding of each other's tasks and improves production efficiency.

The production director can also benefit from a paperless management system. First of all, he has the opportunity to make sure that all the production documents that he signed will not be lost and will reach specific performers in the shops, secondly, the risk that operators will work according to the wrong plans and documents is eliminated, and thirdly, the audit process the quality of products and production processes is extremely simplified for management, and for quality control department, and for customers, and for regulatory bodies. The audit becomes fully transparent, which eliminates unexpected surprises for the COO, and the entire audit process can be carried out quickly and efficiently without interruption to the shop floor.

New product launch is faster, easier and more reliable with a paperless control system. Digital reconciliation and approval procedures using electronic signatures are simplified and more reliable than paper-based ones, ensuring that the right data always gets to its destination and traceability is absolute across all production data and technical documentation.

Finally, the COO can remove most of the costs associated with printing paper from his operating costs, both on the production floor and in his subordinate production departments.

Perhaps the most important person in any value chain is the customer, and the ability to control documentation internally is certainly valuable to him, as it minimizes the risk of producing a product that is manufactured with outdated or incorrect documentation. Customer costs associated with on-site audits are also reduced as the process is simplified. Customers love to be able to quickly launch new products on their orders, to be able to ensure quick changes and ensure they are fulfilled, and to be able to track the status of their orders at the moment when they need it. Providing these opportunities leads to higher levels of satisfaction and better retention.

Conclusion

Setting up a completely paperless production facility is much more important than simply digitizing work instructions and providing them to the operator. Management of the entire digital stream - from design to production, a version control system for working documents, instructions, material specifications, etc. in real time, reports of quality management and audits of the customer and regulators, engineering changes - these are the components of paperless production.

Only the comprehensive approach presented provides all the benefits that can be obtained from a paperless production management system.

Currently, the industry is on the verge of tectonic transformations in connection with the transition to a new technological order - the introduction of the industrial Internet of things, the creation of deserted industries in the paradigm of Industry 4.0 with a breakthrough increase in productivity. Of course, the creation of a production with a paperless management system today is a vital step to maintain the competitiveness of any production.

You can learn more about the implementation of Paperless Manufacturing and other methods of increasing the efficiency of your production and technological processes in our courses on Lean Manufacturing.

The team of the Institute of Innovative Technologies in Business.