Andon systems for smart factories

Andon systems for factories belong to the culture of achieving manufacturing that minimizes losses in manufacturing systems while maximizing the creation of value in the final product. It is a visual and audible alert system that is installed in factories to offer the opportunity for plants to monitor and measure manufacturing processes, in terms of having an efficient and standard method for the employee to call or Notify for help when an abnormal condition occurs in the equipment or product.

The Andon system can be activated automatically or manually to improve efficiency and ensure better management of production downtime.

Many production managers in the Mexican industry are concerned about eliminating waste along production lines. It can be a waste of time, inefficiencies due to variations in quality, materials, stock or capacity. Most of them have contacted MES AUTOMATION to acquire the tools and manufacturing techniques that allow them to better manage their resources to improve the productivity of their plants. In this article, we show you with a practical case what are the possibilities of reducing waste in the production process when implementing an Andon system.

Sources of waste that Andon systems eliminate in the manufacturing sector

It is important to know how to identify the sources of waste or waste in a plant that can be reduced or eliminated with an Andon system. Once identified, the plant manager must implement those activities that will help minimize or progressively eliminate the causes that cause waste or inefficiencies in production.

Some of the best-known seedlings in the plant are:

Defects: Every time a defect arises in production due to poor quality or some other cause, corrective actions are needed, which is why the operator can generate a call for help to the quality department who will assist him in identifying the root cause to minimize or eliminate the defect, reducing the time that the line or station is stopped due to product defects.

You wait: It is the time spent in which the station, production cell or line is stopped waiting for help or materials to arrive to continue working.

Transportation: It is typically associated with the supply of materials to workstations to continue production. In this case, operators will be able to make calls for help to request (early) the replacement of materials, with the aim of avoiding line stoppages caused by the transportation times of merchandise/materials from warehouses to production stations. that they need it.

Reprocessing: Re-detailing an already manufactured product involves an investment of time and money, in addition to increasing the production cycle time. For this reason, the operator may call for help to eliminate excess rework, and may interrupt production to invest time in solving the root cause.

Inventory: Having excessive inventory stored in process areas, which takes up space, generates unnecessary expense. Therefore, determining the optimal and necessary amount of in-process inventory of materials to be used for production must also be defined by the transportation schedule. Finding a perfect balance between inventory and transportation is the key to avoiding stoppages due to supply or excess material on the floor that sometimes makes manufacturing operations difficult.

Benefits of an Andon system in smart factories

A particular case that may be of interest to describe the benefits of an Andon system in smart factories is that of a household appliance producer that sought to drastically improve the responsibility of its workforce and departmental performance by installing an Andon system.

The company had an assembly line with 15 stations for one of its products. One unit of the product was manufactured in 6 seconds. This left the operator with much less time to report any problems at their workstation without disrupting the running line. Furthermore, the communication process was very cumbersome as the operator had to inform the line supervisor, who in turn informed the concerned department, and then the department informed the technician to resolve the issue. Sometimes when a critical problem occurred for which the line had to be stopped, due to lack of proper means of communication, the technician could not be reached. This resulted in a loss of valuable production time and a substantial loss of revenue for the company. Additionally, the production team was unable to adequately track all ongoing issues within the plant.

To resolve the above challenges, it is advisable and necessary to implement an Andon system, capable of offering effective communication that does not interrupt the assembly process and reduces downtime due to the anomaly presented. For an Andon solution to be effective in this type of situation, it is necessary to immediately communicate the station's need for support directly to the technician who will resolve the problem, keeping staff at different levels informed in case any additional help is required. It is also very important that the Andon solution is Internet of Things (IoT) enabled, so we can track all data points for performance review and additional improvements no matter where we are.

We have seen that an Andon system is a tool for manufacturing factories that is used to represent the state of each workstation on an assembly line. It is a visual presentation of ongoing operations that indicates where help is needed. It is the most effective intercommunication tool, since it allows the process to develop with the shortest possible downtime, thanks to rapid action on any unexpected event that occurs during production.

Let's look at the benefits that the example company was able to achieve:

Faster communication between operators, engineers and management by effectively combining digital signage, SMS, email and notifications via mobile devices.
Reduce downtime to increase OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and quality improvements with faster response time
Real-time visual monitoring of production status of all stations on mobile and display screens with a central dashboard for the entire plant.

Technical characteristics offered by an andon system for Mexican manufacturing

The manufacturing sector in Mexico has seen the need to comply with international regulations related to the development of a Quality Management System that provides the basis for continuous improvement, emphasizing the prevention of errors, the reduction of variation and waste in the supply chain. Such is the case of the automotive industry, where compliance with the IATF 16949:2016 standard is of vital importance.

Among the audit point requirements for automotive assembly plants, there is the need to have a method to call, notify or ask for help when an abnormal condition occurs in the equipment or product. This method must be available to be used by all operational areas of the organization and that allows establishing sufficient alarm limits to escalate abnormal conditions to achieve reactivation of the manufacturing process, allowing the root causes to be recorded in order to define a reaction plan. that helps reduce or minimize line stoppages and maintain the greatest availability to produce

The technical characteristics and requirements that a Andon system in production and manufacturing factories are:

Data analysis: system with interactive graphical indicator dashboards and integrated reports.
Mobile applications: faster access to the system through mobile notifications and alerts based on help calls or pre-configured rules
Production control: Monitoring the progress of production, a count of pieces produced (good and defective) as they are produced, can be displayed visually, in real time, through mobile devices and/or Web.
PLC/Machine Integration: Integration to any machine control device (PLC) will make the system report in real time the need for on-site assistance, drastically reducing time and unforeseen stoppages due to anomalies.
Sending Email/SMS: Activate email/SMS depending on the situation.
API Integration: Must be able to integrate with the company's ERP or the MES system for manufacturing execution existing with API integration.
Cloud Hosting: Possibility of accessing the system from anywhere inside or outside the factory's internal network.

The successful implementation of an Andon digital system for manufacturing plants requires a company specialized in implementing lean manufacturing tools, in real time. Some companies initially prefer to implement this type of tools in only one production line, but it is most likely that when you see its benefits, you will decide to implement the system in the rest of the work lines and even in other plants. The reports generated by the Andon system are typically used in weekly production meetings to track plant performance.

Do you want to achieve the following results in your plant?

Immediate communication of problems: from the shop floor to all appropriate personnel with an escalation matrix if the issue is not addressed in a timely manner.

Important time savings: Problem visualization provides a better understanding of the situation by reducing and minimizing the waste involved in searching for information or the breakdowns involved in stopping the production line.

Notifications via mobile devices: that will allow you to reduce more than 40% in the response time of technical support staff to problems.

Better comunication: The industry of the future is characterized by the connectivity of different actors who exchange information and data fluidly in real time. Thus, the visual or sound display promotes a better flow of internal communication between the different actors, practitioners, facilitators and supervisors.

You will be able to recover a good part of the downtime as production time, thus increasing the production of the plant.

Costs reduction: Because time is money in the factory, reducing time can reduce production costs caused by unplanned stops and that would ensure profitability.

You will have complete visibility of the production status through the use of central dashboards, screens, mobile applications and panels that manage information from all workstations on the production lines of your plant.

Better control: By anticipating and forecasting problems, an Andon system allows maintenance teams and management to have more control over availability impacts within the production chain.

Information gathering: To develop and sustain effective management systems, information about the functioning of the production chain must go from the lowest levels of the organization's hierarchy to decision-making positions. In this way, they will have better visibility and understanding of the functioning of the production chain.

MES AUTOMATION is one of the best-rated companies when it comes to Andon systems and digital Lean Manufacturing solutions for industrial companies in Mexico. We can help you achieve better results for your production plant by implementing a visual and audible alert system to signal failures and errors in the production chain. Contact one of our advisors now.