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Published March 12th, 2016 by

What is Manufacturing Software

Wow, we have seen that there is a dizzying variety of software solutions for businesses of all scales. There is software for customer service, customer relationship management, sales and marketing, accounting, field service management… the list goes on and on. While all of these software solutions are distinct, they have some common themes. They all seek to streamline some repetitive process, they enable humans to keep track of large amounts of data more easily, and they allow us to synthesize information quickly to make better decisions.

One industry that can esmanufacturing softwarepecially benefit from all of these functions is manufacturing. We tend to take manufacturing for granted, since so few of us are exposed to it. However, even the process behind manufacturing a computer chip takes hundreds of steps for even legacy technologies. It is immensely complex, and smart software Is need to help humans make the most out of the manufacturing process.

Today we’re going to take a look at the core features and functionality of this software, how it can benefit your operation, and some considerations for when you are trying to decide if manufacturing software is right for your business.

What is Manufacturing Software and What Does it Do?

Similar to supply chain management software, manufacturing software can track suppliers, materials, and production costs as well as assist in the process of managing manufacturing projects. Since manufacturing businesses have so many different departments, the software really has to have a variety of different functions to meet their diverse needs. Just to give you an idea of the breadth of software available, here is a list of core functionality available:

  • Capacity planning – just as consumer based businesses are cyclical in nature, with ebbs and flows in demand, so are manufacturing businesses. If you thought the cost of carrying extra inventory was high, you should check out the cost of carrying unused production scale tools. Matching capacity to forecasted demand is a tricky affair, as the acquisition of more capacity is costly and time consuming. A miscalculation on the low side can be disastrous, so this functionality is absolutely critical to the health of a manufacturing outfit. A miscalculation on the high side may not be disastrous, but it is expensive to keep extra equipment around.
  • Routing management – most manufacturing processes are complex and involve a multitude of steps. These range from intake of new materials to packaging of the final product. In most cases, these steps will be performed at different workstations with a different set of tools. This means the product has to traverse some distance within the manufacturing facility between steps. Some manufacturing processes can be susceptible to defects just from the distance traveled (semiconductor manufacturing, for instance) so minimizing the distance the product travels between steps can have far reaching consequences. Of course, there is a time cost associated with the transport so minimizing that is also of particular concern.
  • Materials resource planning – every product will have an associated set of production materials, and this is an entire area that needs careful management. Much like a shortage of capacity can doom a manufacturing operation, so can a shortage of raw materials. After all, if you don’t have raw materials then there is no way to manufacture your products and meet demand. Another nuance to this is the lead time for raw materials.  It takes time for suppliers to fulfill orders, so this has to be accounted for in the materials resource planning process. The best manufacturing software will include functionality for materials resource planning to cover all the bases of a manufacturing firm.
  • Work status management – keeping track of work in progress is fundamental to a manufacturing operation. The more steps involved in manufacturing, the more difficult this becomes. You have to know where each production lot (i.e. a group of unfinished product) is within the process. Needless to say, losing track of a product while in production is a huge mess for a manufacturer, so manufacturing software has to include this basic functionality to e helpful.
  • Lot and serial number tracing – given how much our consumer electronics go bonkers, it may not surprise you to learn that production grade equipment can also suffer the same fate. When this happens the employees of the manufacturing facility may have some detective work to do. The ability to trace the serial numbers associated with a lot really help streamline this process and retrace what happened, when, and where. This is also useful for tracking down defects, as assigning each production lot a unique number and associating it with a particular tool allows the manufacturer to notice trends while performing defect analysis. This process is critical for the quality assurance process, so this functionality is central to manufacturing software.
  • Work order management – when manufacturing equipment inevitably goes on the fritz, personnel have to submit work orders for inspection, maintenance, and parts. Keeping track of these is an essential task, as it allows management to identify problem tools and initiate a task force to find the root cause of the problem. Repeat issues with tools are a huge issue for manufacturers that need all the capacity they can get at all times. An additional bonus is being able to track which personnel worked on a tool so that trends can be identified. This helps management close training gaps with personnel, so that the entire team is equally capable of fixing problems. There are few things worse than having one shift or team perform consistently worse than another.
  • Efficiency analysis – measuring throughput of various tools over time can help identify issues and solve what seem like mysterious defect issues. It’s important to have all the tools in the facility matched with respect to their critical metrics, so that the end product is consistent. After all, as a consumer we want one product to be just as good as the next. To achieve this every tool in the production facility has to be just as good as the next.
  • Production forecasting – we might naively expect that production of goods is a linear process. If you stick in 1000 units of raw materials, you get out 1000 units of final product. The reality is far more complex. The underlying manufacturing process will usually have some areas that need to be optimized, and this results in some of the final products not making it to the end of the line. Whether or not it is worth it to track down these process issues is up to the manufacturer, and is a comparison of cost vs. benefit. There are other non-systematic issues that crop up over time, but they can be accounted for with some statistics. In other words, stuff happens and you don’t know when or where, but you can make a guess based on historical data. This sort of functionality is critical for allowing manufacturers to meet demand on time.
  • Vendor performance metrics – often times a manufacturing facility will have tools made by different manufacturers. In some cases, they may have multiple manufacturers for tools that have the same functionality. For instance, in the manufacturing of semiconductor chips there are two main vendors of photolithography equipment: ASML and Nikon. The photolithography equipment from each vendor has similar functionality but it is achieved in different ways. It is important for companies like Intel to keep track of which vendor is best meeting their needs, so they can award future contracts in a way that will help them meet demand and their profit targets.

As you can see, the fwhat is manufacturing softwareunctionality for manufacturing software is wide ranging.  The options are dizzying if you’re on the outside looking in, but chances are if you are involved in a manufacturing operation all of this comes as no surprise. Of course, there are some other recent trends you should be aware of when selecting manufacturing software for your business.

This is one area where software as a service (SaaS) hasn’t really caught on, and for good reason. If you’re in the business of running a mega manufacturing facility, then the addition of some heavy duty computing hardware to power all of it isn’t a huge deal. It is pretty risky to trust your operation to a cloud based solution; if your internet connection flickers the consequences… well, they can be pretty bad. Depending on what you’re manufacturing, you need to be able to collect data down to the millisecond time scale and if you’re relying on an internet connection to upload and analyze that data, things can go very wrong very quickly. Personally, I would advise thinking long and hard about adopting a SaaS solution and would generally advise to err on the side of the more traditional licensing models.

One trend that is likely to catch on is mobile adoption, however. If you have a workforce that has to constantly interact with computers to get the job done, then ergonomics are a real concern. Touch screens are a great way to alleviate potential ergonomic risks due to excessive mousing, and could save your business quite a lot on medical costs in the long run. Not to mention it would be the ethical thing to do for your employees.

Conclusion

Manufacturing of just what does manufacturing software doabout anything is going to be a complex and integrated process. As such, it will require manufacturing software with the best capabilities to make everything seamless and efficient. Depending on the product you manufacture, you may need materials resource planning, lot tracking, vendor performance, etc. to make your facility run at its best. When selecting a vendor please keep not only your current needs in mind, but also what you may need in the future. Since you probably won’t be opting for a SaaS solution, upgrades mean deploying upgrades machine by machine at worst, or at best you can do it over your local intranet. Either way, it’s going to be a pain so please plan accordingly.

We hope this has been helpful. There is a lot of information to digest, but this can serve as a starting point for you when considering which manufacturing software solution is right for your business.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you in the next article.

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