Agility in manufacturing means being able to rapidly respond and adapt to change. In practice, this means having the capability to adjust production processes, reconfigure operations, adapt to unforeseen supply chain disruptions, and more. More importantly, having an agile mindset means being prepared and having tools in place to help your team pivot in real-time.
Digital transformation is closely intertwined with agile manufacturing. Automation technology, like Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), provides tools that enable agility, allowing manufacturers to respond swiftly and effectively to events that may arise.
Historically, MES has been viewed as a technology exclusive to larger manufacturers, but that isn’t the case anymore. The manufacturing industry is slowly but surely seeing the democratization of MES and making the benefits of digitalization—including agility—a reality for companies of all sizes.
This piece takes five meaningful quotes from existing Parsec content and explores how TrakSYS™ helps contribute to manufacturing agility.
Table of Contents
Production Management
What we said:
“Operations are inherently complex; utilizing TrakSYS helps address those complexities.”
How it relates to agility:
TrakSYS helps make managing your operations as simple as possible—emphasis on as possible. Manufacturers will always face complexities, but TrakSYS does its best to minimize those intricacies and mitigate lapses in quality, equipment breakdowns, unplanned downtime, and more.
When teams are equipped with the tools to handle complex problems, they can be more nimble and ready to adapt when necessary. Visual Workflow and Algorithmic Production Scheduling (APS) are key features of TrakSYS that are designed to give manufacturers visibility into their production and unlock actionable insights that can optimize production and maintain an agile mindset:
Visual Workflow
TrakSYS Visual Workflow creates a living, visual layout of your processes—without the need for technical coding skills. Process steps are laid out and connected visually using simple drag-and-drop functions. This UI is approachable for technical and non-technical users alike, allowing any team member to participate in workflow development; anyone and everyone can “see” and understand workflows.
APS Workflow
APS helps your team be more agile by suggesting adjustments to your production schedules in real-time based on your needs and priorities so production can stay on track to the highest degree possible.Historically, production schedules have been crafted weeks in advance , but disruptions happen—employees call in sick, equipment breaks down, customer buying habits change, etc. Trying to strictly stick to a pre-set schedule could be to the detriment of your production deadlines.
With APS, users can weight criteria based on importance (factors such as customer demand, inventory levels, equipment availability, and more), which will inform the APS algorithm when proposing schedule changes. Scheduling teams can then confirm, deny, or make modifications. Once the changes are approved, TrakSYS will rearrange jobs as necessary.
Performance Management
What we said:
“From long-term continuous improvement plans to simple bottlenecks, TrakSYS Performance Management solution can help.”
How it relates to agility:
TrakSYS Performance Management is equipped to collect and organize data to solve your most pressing performance challenges. As we said—from long-term projects to simple bottlenecks—TrakSYS can assist with it all, and the platform can be configured to fit any size of operation.
The Real-Time Performance Management solution monitors KPIs—like —and productivity metrics in real-time to enable manufacturers to quickly identify and address delays or issues and mitigate their root causes.
Quality Management
What we said:
“TrakSYS provides deep insights into the causes of poor quality—and provides the tools to take quick action to address those insights. This creates a closed-loop system of quality management.”
How it relates to agility:
Maintaining a “closed-loop system” of quality management is critical to all industries—but especially to those that are highly regulated. A closed-loop system is continuously monitored and used as feedback to make adjustments as needed while keeping all relevant stakeholders informed throughout the entire process. This is a key aspect of what we call quality by design, which can build resilience and agility into your operations.
When quality management is baked into every step of production, from initial raw material sourcing to final distribution and everywhere in between, maintaining your operations to a satisfactory degree becomes much more attainable—that’s quality by design.
Inevitably, problems will still arise; variations in quality will occur, but when you already have a quality-by-design culture in place, you’re prepared to be agile. Problems will be fewer and farther between because your equipment and processes are already functioning at their best. And when issues arise, they’ll feel less severe as your baseline is already consistent and high-quality.
Maintenance Management
What we said:
“TrakSYS works alongside your maintenance crew, providing greater visibility, knowledge, and control.”
How it relates to agility:
When it comes to maintenance, being agile means being able to keep your equipment in its ideal state: up and running.
Predictive Maintenance—a practice that monitors factors like actual vs. assumed asset utilization, equipment performance, variability, and more—helps extend equipment lifespans, prevent over-servicing, and optimizes:
Scheduling
Knowing when maintenance will be needed means being able to optimize production schedules so you can work around machinery you know is set to be taken offline, enabling you to keep production commit dates and minimize costly delays.
Performance
Keeping equipment in good working order helps manufacturers maintain product quality, align with their sustainability goals, and bolster overall performance.
Inventory Management
Knowing when and what parts of your machinery will need to be serviced allows for spare part inventory optimization. With TrakSYS, your purchasing departments will be notified when item stocks have diminished or are projected to exceed a user-established baseline volume.
Batch Management
What we said:
“In a manufacturing environment, where there are many recipes and batch processes, creating (and repeating) golden batches can be difficult. When it comes to optimizing recipe and batch management to create wonderful, repeatable, golden batches—TrakSYS has you covered.”
How it relates to agility:
Most manufacturers are in pursuit of their golden batch—that perfect batch that meets all quality standards and production specifications and can be used as a benchmark for producing consistent and high-quality products.
However. Progress doesn’t stop when the golden batch is reached; it’s best to stay agile and continue to find new ways to improve. There will always be opportunities to unlock new efficiencies and thereby change what constitutes the golden batch.
Continuous improvement and maintaining an agile mindset is made as simple as possible with TrakSYS Batch Management, with:
Recipe Management
Batch and recipe procedures can be configured in TrakSYS or pulled in from your ERP.
Pre-weigh and Execute Batch Steps
Define batch functions, sequential/parallel steps, and tasks to enforce standard operating procedures.
Track and Manage Events and Overages
Gain a clear view of what is happening on the plant floor, stay informed of events requiring attention, and keep detailed records of specific causes of delays and overages.
Conclusion
One of the many benefits of implementing MES is the preparedness and flexibility you can weave into your operations—keeping your team agile so they can handle changes in the market, along the supply chain, and in consumer demands.
As an extensible, configurable platform, TrakSYS boasts a range of solutions designed to aid manufacturing agility. Be it performance, workflow creation, dynamic scheduling, quality, maintenance, or batch and recipe management—TrakSYS collects and analyzes your data to provide actionable intelligence, helping you maintain agility across your operations.