Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Installation artist and designers Muskoka Custom Cabinet is all set to introduce Industry 4.0 Smart factory and enhance manufacturing quality. At WMS 2019 the company will share their 15 years journey in the wood working sector and display ways of considering Industry 4.0 Smart factory in the process. Luke Elias, president of Muskoka Cabinet Company Inc., will retrace the pivotal steps of the manufacturing journey on the opening day of the Woodworking Machinery & Supply Conference & Expo.
Elias opined about his presentation, “Muskoka’s journey to automation,” will highlight ways in which the company has integrated RFID, ERP, MES, CRM and robotics to maximize manufacturing efficiencies from inventory management through shipping. “A lot of people don’t understand the connection between all of this stuff,” he said. Elias’ presentation will include, how RFID (radio frequency identification) is better to bar coding for tracking parts and products.“We’ve been using RFID in our factory since 2012,” Elias said. “RFID is much more accurate than bar coding. It’s always reading 24/7 without any interaction from the employees on the shop floor. When RFID is implemented properly and placed in strategic locations — machines, doorways, pallet wrapping machines, warehouses, etc. — it collects data constantly without employees having to scan with a bar code reader. It keeps track of materials and supplies from when they come through the receiving door and are placed into inventory to when finished goods arrive at the jobsite.” He further added, “With RFID technology today, I wouldn’t go back to bar codes any more than I would buy a fax machine. It’s been said that what gets measured gets improved to achieve success in manufacturing. RFID is the ultimate data collecting tool to help facilitate many of the activities required for Industry 4.0.”
According to him reasons for using a fully operable ERP (enterprise resource system) in place to successfully implement MES (manufacturing execution system) are “Recently all of the buzz in the wood industry, other than Industry 4.0, is about MES,” Elias said. “MES is designed to track parts and products on the shop floor and in the process get a better handle on your costs to manufacture them. We’ve been tracking the status of every part in every department and every production station for 15 years, first with bar codes and now with RFID.
“I recently heard a prominent industry software vendor say wood shops should adopt MES over ERP. This is totally false. You can’t have one without the other. MES is simply a vehicle to collect, monitor and control manufacturing systems and data flow on the factory flow. ERP is the central hub that will tie all data together and generate meaningful reporting. Without ERP, MES is of limited value.” He concluded ERP even helps in inventory management, purchasing and capacity planning. In this regard Elias added, “ERP can manage your whole operation. Tied with your accounting system it can help with tracking inventory and work in progress. For shipping and warehouse management it can help with shipping orders complete. For production scheduling it can help with triggering when to order material just-in-time for a job. For production management it can help identify bottlenecks in production flow.”
His presentation at the WMS stand will also focus on “common pitfalls when implementing new technology,” evaluating vendors and “overcoming employee resistance” to change.
news source: woodworkingnetwork
Tags: ERP, Industry 4.0 Smart factory, Luke Elias, Muskoka Custom Cabinets, president of Muskoka Cabinet Company, Robotics, WMS 2019, wood working sector
