California Apparel News

Mobilizing the shop floor is one of manufacturing’s top initiatives as companies look to gain efficiencies and speed to market throughout the supply chain as well as improve the quality of the workforce in order to meet consumer demands. Collaboration across the enterprise has included visibility to work schedules and tracking productivity timelines. This new digital solution provides that collaboration to management as well as the actual operators on the factory shop floor.

Operators play an integral role in producing quality products and meeting delivery dates. Many are paid based on productivity volumes and quality of work. So, why not empower them with mobile devices and digital workstations to track their productivity, improve quality and ensure on-time deliveries? Collaboration within the four walls of the factory is required to truly streamline and gain efficiencies across the supply chain.

Digitizing the shop floor enables real-time visibility and the agility to react quickly to broken equipment with automated alerts and service calls, move work when productivity levels are not being met and provide a higher quality work environment. Mobilizing the operators with wearables (think Apple Watch) and barcode scanning or RFID tracking provides tools to improve individual productivity goals and real-time communication with coworkers and management.

The benefits of mobilizing the shop floor include:

Operator Empowerment: Productivity and task completion are recorded digitally versus the need to fill out reports and paperwork at day’s end. Workers gain higher accuracy and productivity levels, which translates into higher wages.

Production Improvements: Automated alerts on hardware failures and other material issues can all be reported in real time, allowing management to react immediately. Real-time data analysis can also identify new opportunities to streamline and improve the production line.

Collaboration: Communication across operators, management and the main office are achieved by digital task management, including time stamps and quality control processes such as booking inspections when ready. Operators can easily report tasks completed and chat with other operators or management to gain instantaneous feedback and guidance.

Quality Work Environment: For today’s manufacturers, attracting new talent is critical to the supply chain. Creating a work environment that provides mobile apps and instant feedback, visibility to individual and team productivity, and tools that add value to the operator’s job success are required to attract this new generations of workers.

Many ERP providers are delivering shop-floor applications to automate the global supply chain. Integrating the shop floor into a manufacturer’s ERP provides the visibility required to meet delivery demands with quality products. The factory is an integral part of the overall supply chain and can be the weakest link if not equipped with the right technology.

Software providers for the industry are providing shop-floor solutions to their clientele as an extension of their ERP and supply-chain management. They include:

The CGS Blue Cherry Shop Floor Control application was acquired from Leadtec and is delivered via mobile and Wi-Fi networks. It includes operator controls, payroll, an AI dashboard, line balancing, inventory control and performance metrics.

The NGC Shop Floor Control utilizes barcode tracking for operators and provides labor and production reporting, evaluation of plant workload, capacity planning, and tracking of employee and productivity performance.

The Exenta SFC Shop Floor Control delivers an Android app with a management dashboard and tablets running on Wi-Fi to provide production visibility, workforce feedback, time and attendance, payroll, and quality control.

Tukatrack by Tukatech is based on RFID technology, providing real-time reports and analysis by style, operator and production line including performance tracking and quality rating.

Visual Next RTS’s Real-Time Shop Floor is the newest addition to the market with a browser-based tool deployed over Wi-Fi, enabling operators to provide ticketing and labeling details, a time clock, SMS Chat for operators and management, data analysis and reporting, and productivity tracking.

The business benefits of mobilizing the shop floor are plentiful, from streamlining highly manual and labor-intensive processes in the factory to improving work conditions that create higher efficiencies, productivity and quality, and speed-to-market savings. l

Paula Levy is the Chief Strategy Officer for Demand Worldwide. She is a business-technology strategist whose focus is assisting retailers and brands in transforming their marketing and customer engagement strategies with the adoption of new technologies and business practices.