Innova Solutions Efficiencies Manager Alexander Wilson knows only too well the value improved efficiencies can bring to a business. Working with DigitME2, the Colne based eco-friendly adhesives manufacturer has now been able to make better decisions based on data and facts.
The DigitME2 project based at our Burnley Campus in East Lancashire assists SME manufacturing companies to help grow and develop, increase productivity and become more efficient, by offering open source, manufacturing software solutions.
Innova were contacted directly by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) about how they could benefit from the DigitME2 Process Time Tracker software. This was good timing as the company were looking into how to track their production timings more accurately.
The initial driver for Innova was to identify areas requiring improvement, and to measure the time each task was taking so they could accurately price their products. The software assisted in the collection of data which in turn helped to manage workloads more effectively in all areas of production, from the product coming through the door to dispatch.
Alexander said: “Our aim was to get timings for each product and job from our slitters and spooler which we use in production, giving us more knowledge on how long jobs were taking. This then helped us create accurate production plans considering best and worst-case scenario for each job. This would then give us expected and reachable targets, while keeping the quality as high as we expect.”
"The adoption of the DigitME2 Process Time Tracker software has allowed Innova to capture accurate production timing data with very low deployment costs and minimal staff training time."
— Kelly Aitken, Business Development Manager at DigitME2
The company had a few challenges on the way, but DigitME2 quickly adapted and modified the Process Time Tracker to suit their needs. The majority of the updates related to how the app worked and its interaction with data collectors. The changes made by the UCLan engineers allowed the data to be more easily recognised using colour coded screens. The work carried out by the engineers has made the process for Innova to collect and analyse data much smoother.
Kelly Aitken, Business Development Manager at DigitME2, added: “Innova use a range of production machinery to fulfil customer specified orders. This level of flexibility means that the ability to accurately monitor production timings is key to maintaining productivity levels whilst keeping costs to a minimum. The adoption of the DigitME2 Process Time Tracker software has allowed Innova to capture accurate production timing data with very low deployment costs and minimal staff training time. Innova are also benefitting from the use of a DigitME2 software solution for the collection of temperature data using IoT technology. These are part of DigitME2’s range of free, open source, manufacturing software solutions.
As for the future, Innova Solutions Ltd, are currently working with UCLan on another project that tracks and records temperature. Alexander adds: “We have a heat room that needs to maintain a constant temperature. By having a live feed of the temperature data throughout the day and night, with alerts sent by email, if the temperature drops below our desired range, we can improve efficiencies even further.”
