How can IoT help to solve management problems by monitoring the productions remotely?
The factory and the production line are huge-scaled. While the materials are ready, the equipment will be paused for maintenance if part of it malfunctions. The staff keeps asking because they don’t understand the SOP, and it takes time for training.
These situations often occur in the production lines, yet the management could be better with suitable tools. There are five main problems in management. Perhaps, managers should know how IoT can help monitor and handle issues remotely.
1. Material Confirmation – Tracks raw materials
Whether it is parts-processing or assembling, the pre-operation includes raw materials preparation. Some large-scale factories will prepare a safety stock to avoid running out of materials for urgent orders. Yet, small factories do not have enough space to store extra raw materials. When receiving orders, enterprises need to measure preparation time and delivery time. Some materials take a long delivery time, so you have to place the order in advance for contingency purposes. Before production, the material data is integrated into the mobile application so that you can confirm whether the incoming materials are sufficient. Or else, the application will notify the person in charge immediately so that he can track the supply to avoid production failure due to material outages.
2. Production Scheduling – Manage production time
The production schedule will list the estimated value of the total quantity, daily production capacity, and the spending time of each site. The actual production will be adjusted according to the site conditions. However, there are various situations in lines, and managers cannot pay attention to all the problems stimultaneously. IoT collects data into the mobile application. Under the standard operation of the production line, the mobile phone will show the data through the network connection. The manager can remotely monitor the abnormality in production lines at any time. It helps to build transparent production sites, and the manager can track the manufacturing process in real-time.
3. Personnel experience – Collect the experience of seniors
In the future, the workforce shortage will be a long-term problem. Traditional industries need to work on retaining the rich experience of senior technicians. Most of the time, small and medium-sized factories rely on the judgment of the seniors. Meanwhile, the sensors can be installed for monitoring, and the parts that initially require manual judgment can be converted into visible data. The collected and recorded data assist on-site managers in making judgments remotely and adjusting production status flexibly. The senior’s experience transforms into scientifically grounded data, and they can retain and apply the data in future production. The integration of IT+OT will assist the master’s experience inheritance. You can learn more about Digiwin AIoT Cloud, which can help you with all the above.
4. Equipment status – Ensure devices’ availability
Most factory production relies on production machines, so it is necessary to maintain their resilience through regular maintenance. Large factories may be able to perform routine maintenance and replace and update devices. However, many small and medium-sized enterprises are using second-hand machines that are in poor condition. Besides, they don’t have a lot of funds for machine replacement. They will constantly repair them according to the current situation. IoT can be installed on old machines. Through sensors, the data is collected into the mobile phone, which is convenient for remote monitoring at any time to ensure the device’s status in real time. IoT works on old machines regardless of the period of use. It visualises the production data, and the person in charge can monitor the machine’s operation without affecting the usage of the old machine.
5. Maintenance and Inspection – Notify for periodic maintenance
Many large manufacturers coded their machines to distinguish their types, and their maintenance is different. Each machine is provided with an inspection record sheet. Before operating, the station personnel has to confirm that the status is good. They have to check items one by one. Then, the factory engineer will ask to inspect and repair the equipment from time to time. The status checklist of small companies may not be as complete as those of larger companies. Not to mention electronic records, even handwritten records may not be comprehensive. Due to inconsistent machine maintenance, it is not surprising that problems occur during production.
IoT can assist in monitoring the machine status remotely, setting tasks according to different inspection items, and indicating the inspection steps on the mobile phone to ensure that the devices operate stably. If the inspection is abnormal, the application will prompt an instant alarm and assist managers in remote processing to avoid temporary equipment failures.
According to the status of your factory, you can implement a part or a wide range of IoT in stages. With the workforce shortage in the future, seniors will retire one after another, so digitalization is inevitable. In short, IoT works on all kinds of machines, and the data will give a hand in future production indeed.
