MES / APS / LIMS > Production Execution MES

Seeing the large growth potential in the market of production management systems (MES) for small and medium-size production companies (SMB market), ASKOM is extending its product range launching a system which is fully localised and adapted to Polish conditions, Plant# MES (PlantSharp) from an Israeli company, Contel ITS www.contel.co.il/en.

Plant# MES is a modular MES solution based on the open source DNN platform (DotNetNuke www.dnnsoftware.com), ready to be implemented with minimum effort required to adapt the system to the needs of the particular implementation and the Customer's requirements. Plant# MES has 10 basic functional modules: Plant Model, HR, Shifts, Interfaces, Maintenance, News, Reports, Logs, Parts Management and Order Setup as well as 7 optional modules: OEE, Quality, Track&Trace, Labs, Recipes, Silos and Energy, which combined ensure fast and cost-efficient implementation of MES major functionalities in virtually every industry.

The principal features of Plant# MES, which apply to all the system modules, are as follows:

• Configurable user interface tailored to the Customer's individual needs;

• Flexible architecture enabling you to adapt the system to any plant size and any industrial branch;

• Role-based permission system which allows you to grant relevant permissions for each system function on an individual basis;

• Built-in event logging system with the possibility to report events from the log and export them to other applications e.g. MS Excel;

• Web-based system architecture to ensure simple installation and updating of the system.

The Plant# OEE module (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) enables you to monitor the effectiveness of use of machines and equipment (resources) in the plant, showing, as a clear indicator, cumulative information concerning production efficiency, machine availability and product quality. This module also helps determine causes of lower production efficiency by identifying sources of down-times and dropping capacity and causes leading to the production of rejects. The OEE module has the following basic functions:

• Overview of the production efficiency in the entire plant with the possibility to view selected areas, production lines and individual machines;

• Configurable calculation formulas for the OEE indicator, as required by the Customer;

• Possibility to analyse OEE over a chosen period of time with accuracy to a single production line, shift, machine, plant etc.

The Plant# Quality (QMP) module allows you to collect in the MES system current qualitative data directly from the production, and thus to reduce largely any errors or losses in the production process and at the product packaging stage. The QMP module provides the possibility to define any quality profiles (for different products) with rules according to which relevant quality procedures will be accessible and required at specific stages of the production process. The QMP module has the following basic functions:

• Collection of qualitative data both the data which is entered manually by Operators in the production and the data available in the automation systems and PLC controllers;

• Collection of information about changes and qualitative corrections made to the production process (especially crucial in the pharmacy and related branches);

• Possibility to integrate with an external LIMS system;

• Step-by-step supervision of collection of qualitative data from the entire production process;

• Reduction losses, rejects and reworks due to the logging of defective products immediately as they appear.

The Plant# Lab module (laboratory) enables you to perform and record any lab tests for each raw material, semi-finished product, finished goods, competition product as well as machine and equipment plus any other quality tests not directly related to production orders. This module provides a basic functionality typical for LIMS systems. The lab module has the following basic functions:

• Availability of many pre-configured test profiles and support for the creation of new ones;

• Built-in handling of bar-codes;

• Possibility to define corrective measures;

• Support for sample statuses defined freely.

The Plant# Order Setup module (assignment of production orders) provides the basic functionality of production order scheduling. With this module, planners gain on-going insight into the availability of production resources and capacities and may assign manually production orders and tasks to resources. The work order assignment module has the following basic functions:

• Assignment of each stage of order performance in line with the routing (from ERP);

• Monitoring of production capacities for resources and warnings if exceeded;

• Support for the assignment or alternative production resources;

• Possibility to divide orders and assign them to different resources;

• Possibility to make partial plans (schedules) for orders;

• Assignment of orders based on system roles (functions).

The Plant# Scheduling Execution module offers the dynamic Gantt chart, providing planners with a current overview of use of production capacities and a plan (schedule) for the nearest future. The scheduling execution module has the following basic functions:

• Support for many „if – then” scenarios;

• Built-in possibility to compare the current execution with the plan;

• Automated scheduling based on defined algorithms (earliest start, safe completion date etc.);

• Support for plan (schedule) optimisation based on pre-defined rules;

• Possibility to define many calendars for each resource;

• Support for alternative resources.

The Plant# Tracking & Tracing module provides the possibility to track and trace any physical object used in the production process. This module enables you to prepare the entire history for each logged product or production order. The production tracking and tracing module has the following basic functions:

• Transparent and intuitive user interface which shows the product-to-raw material history;

• Possibility to show a planned production routing from the raw material consumption stage to the very end via all the subsequent production stages;

• Possibility to record and trace suppliers' batch numbers.

The Plant# Recipe module provides extensive possibilities to define and manage product recipes. The recipe module has the following basic functions:

• Possibility to define the whole production process allowing for materials in the recipe (BoM) and operations performed at each production stage;

• Possibility to manage, in a simple way, the basic data of materials and orders;

• Possibility to substitute, in part or entirely, the recipe management functionality in ERP;

• Possibility to configure data in a very simple and convenient manner, due to the employed data structure.

The Plant# Maintenance Management module provides basic functions related to maintenance and the possibility to alert relevant employees in the case of a failure. The maintenance module has the following basic functions:

• Sending of alarms via e-mail and text messages;

• Tracking of every failure from the appearance to its rectification;

• Recording of time for every event.

The Plant# Internal Messaging Tool module is a simple tool for internal communication between managers and operators in the production. The internal communication module has the following basic functions:

• Possibility of direct communication between workstations (sending information from one MES computer station to any other one);

• Possibility to broadcast messages (from managers to operators);

• Possibility to convert automatically messages to e-mails or text messages using pre-defined conditions;

• Communication system based on system roles (functions).

The built-in modules – Plant# Plant Model, User Management and Integration Tools – form a basis for the system operation and are used in the implementation of a new MES system or its additional functional modules and during typical administrative operations.

• The Plant Model module provides the possibility to define, in the system, a production plant hierarchical model as a dropdown tree, in line with the requirements in the industrial standard ISA-95.

• The User Management module provides the possibility to manage users in a role (function)-based model and to assign permissions to roles for individual programme functions, user interface screens and selected areas, production lines, machines and devices,

• The Integration Tools module provides the possibility to define interfaces for the exchange of data with other IT systems such as SAP ERP; the system has ready-made tools to integrate with SAP via iDoc files and supports the integration with other systems through such technologies as web services, XML or CSV files, data base views and many others.

For the collection of data directly from automation systems and PLC controllers, the Plant# MES system draws upon bi-directional communication using the latest specification of the OPC-UA (Unified Architecture) protocol. Typical applications for collecting data from the automation system layer use ASKOM's own solution based on the Asix SCADA system, which has a built-in historian module (data archiving) and communications module, Asix Connect, including the OPC server functionality.

A reporting module, Plant# Report Engine, is based on the standard solution of MS SQL Server Reporting Services, similarly to the Asix system. The reporting module provides the possibility to prepare reports both manually, at the user's request (ad-hoc), and fully automatically with pre-defined schedules (e.g. shift or daily reports etc.). As a common reporting system is employed in the two compatible systems – Plant# MES and Asix – it is normally possible for users to get consistent reports which present both information concerning production and quality control from the MES system and object data concerning the course of the process and logged in the Historian module of the Asix system.

Exemplary user screens from the Plant# MES system, Standard 2014:

Fig. Startup Screen - Summarizing Line.

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