HYDRA System of operational planning and scheduling of production

In this article the speech about the HYDRA MES system (MPDV company, Germany) providing accomplishment of functional problems of operational planning and optimization of production, scheduling of production processes, control and the analysis of use of all resources of the enterprise (the equipment, personnel, the tool, etc.) and allowing to organize most effectively production will go.

Feature of this system is the most complete covering of the MES functions and aiming at the solution of functional tasks at the enterprises with discrete or periodic type of production.

The system of operational planning and scheduling of production based on HYDRA considers in real time data on operation of machines and the equipment, information on resources and tools, supply of raw materials and availability of materials in production warehouses and also data on quantity of finished goods and its quality, loads of personnel and its availability, etc. (see fig. 1). Collecting operational data on production, there is possible an optimal operational planning of work of the enterprise in general.

The full integration on Wednesday of production is the fundamental principle for ensuring effective and adequate work of management systems based on HYDRA. At the same time the data entry opportunity manually from production terminals or automatic information acquisition from plants, the equipment, controllers, scales and the other peripheral equipment is given. A system is completed with different hardware of data collection and an output of necessary information (sensors, controllers, scanners, printers, the bar code equipment, figurative terminals, etc.).

A system provides management of detailed specifications of products and allows to keep account and information storage on the history of production of each product / batch, including data on the used raw materials, resources, parameters of technology process of production of a product / batch.

All information on production is saved in uniform production archive that allows to carry out job analysis of the enterprise for any periods in different cuts, and automates creation of production reports.

Structure of a system

The system of operational planning and scheduling of production based on HYDRA consists of a set of the functional software modules implementing the corresponding functions on solving of tasks, connected with production management, quality control of products and personnel management. A system has the traditional client-server architecture (see fig. 2).

Client applications are so-called consoles which are necessary for the automated workplace organization of chief specialists of the enterprise and also the terminal software intended for the organization of dynamic interactive dialog with operation and service staff in workshops, manual and automatic data acquisition about accomplishment of production orders, a condition of equipment, the course of technology process, presence and activity of employees, the movement of materials, semi-finished products and finished goods, etc. (see Fig. 3).

The list of standard system modules of HYDRA is presented in table No. 1.

Table No. 1. Modules MES HYDRA

HYDRA works with the standardized configured interfaces that allows to integrate easily it on the existing IT Wednesday. An integral part of a system are the worked interfaces to ERP systems which provide production orders from ERP, transfer to ERP of the specified orders, providing data on accomplishment of orders, loading from ERP of static these (master data) on personnel, the equipment, materials, etc., information exchange about the current value of the order and costs with cost centers (cost-centers) and is much another.

Let's consider briefly the main functional system modules.

Monitoring of operation of the equipment

The standard module HYDRA MDE (machine data) is responsible for collection of information about the equipment and its further analysis. At the same time are executed:

• registration and classification of equipment downtimes, their reasons and duration;
• registration and classification of losses of products;
• calculation of an operating time of the equipment;
• calculation of overall effectiveness of operation of the equipment and other key indicators of production (KPI).

Data on the equipment can automatically be collected (using OPC, E63, Modbus, etc.) or by means of manual entry.

Within the solution of a task means of the module HYDRA ADE it is possible to perform:

Monitoring of the equipment

• Tracking of "status" of the machine (status, quantity, time).
• Graphic display of the park of the equipment.
• Time of a cycle or clock period depending on machine type.
• The interactive chart of a MRO with a possibility of setup of work types and the color notification.

Job analysis of the equipment and viewing statistics

• The detailed assessment of idle times, performance and time of idle times and their ratio for each machine.
• Reports on efficiency with time reference and productivities.
• Determination of different key indicators, such as OEE (Overall effectiveness of operation of the Equipment), TPI (Indicator of overall performance) and MCE (Efficiency of an operating cycle).

Organization and work planning of the equipment:

• Scheduling of operation of the equipment.
• Determination of a condition of equipment, accounting of performance and degree of reliability.

The module allows to manage loading of the equipment by planning of works orders on accomplishment of orders for each resource and also creates the diagram of repairs, optimization and predictive service, orders for the corresponding works and acquisition of necessary spare parts.

Collection of data on orders and operational planning

The module HYDRA ADE executes collecting, providing and data analysis, the concerning orders for production of products, and provides their accomplishment just in time with necessary quality.

The module provides check of feasibility of orders (on the basis of availability of the equipment, personnel and materials), refining (change) of orders, consolidation or separation of orders, optimization of their placement, prioritizing and detailed planning of orders, control of their accomplishment, registration and representation of the reasons of violations at accomplishment of orders, operational planning and also management of special, urgent and test orders, formation of the sequence of their accomplishment and materials requirement and many other things.

Data for control and the analysis can be received as automatically (from the systems of the top level of ERP), and are entered manually (in case of lack of such systems or in the absence of such data). In the module automatic registration and long-term information storage about all orders is executed (both about executed, and about planned for the future).

Using operational information about a condition of equipment, becomes possible to exercise shop control and the detailed planning of orders on the basis of the actual readiness of the equipment.

Material management and logistics

The module HYDRA MPL (material management and logistics) is responsible for collection of data on materials, raw materials and semi-finished products and provides:

• registration of information on a batch: since receiving raw materials and materials, further - a production process and shipment;
• registration of receiving and delivery of material from warehouses;
• input of the used raw materials, semi-finished products and auxiliary materials;
• calculation of product quantity and time of production of a batch.

Having information on availability of raw materials, semi-finished products, materials in warehouses and production sites, this module controls and analyzes these stocks and allows to fill up timely them (for maintenance and performance improvement) or to reduce (for reduction of costs) (see fig. 9).

Control function of materials by the movement includes control of existence and their availability in intra shop warehouses and in buffer zones, quality control and expiration dates of materials, their blocking on quality, formation of transport orders for a material transfer and finished goods, etc. (fig. 10).

Within the solution of a problem of planning and forecasting of material consumption are performed by means of the module HYDRA MPL:

• calculation of stocks on the basis of the production schedule;
• assessment of the remained stocks in a production process;
• tracking of term of stay of semi-finished products in a warehouse;
• tracking of a current status of a batch (in production, it is finished, quality check, loading, etc.);
• analysis of history of production of job lots;
• printing of accompanying documents and labels for marking (a barcode, RFID, etc.).

The module MPL provides data on product genealogy. Detailed information on the applied raw materials, materials, the technology modes by production, results of quality control and the personnel which were taking part in production is available to the analysis for any period on all turned-out products or by the specific order. Data can be applied during the work with claims on a delivered goods and also help to reveal violations of technology processes on certain sections of production.

Management of production personnel

Modules of management of production personnel include problems of time management of work, access control, work planning of production personnel taking into account qualifications and the automated calculation of the stimulating (price-work) compensation.

The basic HYDRA functions include accounting of work of production personnel by the executed orders and transactions, quantities of the made products and defects. In a system information on personnel which work at the enterprise and also the calendar of work of personnel, types and durations of changes, models of day, etc. is brought. Thus, at any moment it is possible to obtain operational information and the report on actions of personnel on production.

Modules on personnel management provide functions on management, accounting and planning of human resources. On the one hand, it is access control and accounting of really spent time at the enterprise or in production workshops (at the machine), with another – planning and optimization of the working hours of personnel spent on production sites in relation to production resources (for example, planning of operating time behind certain units or for delivery of raw materials from a warehouse on a production site).

In a system perhaps automatic drawing up different sheets, schedules, working schedules taking into account various models of working time and wage systems. Previously prepared data on use of working time can be transferred both for separate payroll systems of the top level, and to the separate module of a MES system which will execute such calculation taking into account data on efficiency of section of factory at which this specialist worked.

Quality control of products

The module HYDRA CAQ allows to carry out data analysis of measurements of product quality and to make calculations for the set models in real time on the basis of information arriving from production level. Creation and individual preference of diagrams of checks of products on quality and control of their accomplishment with saving the results of such checks is possible.

For quality control the quality assurance method which is based on continuous control of keyword parameters of a production process, raw materials and semi-finished products, and not just on check of finished products is also used.

Optimal operational planning of production

One of the main tasks connected with processing of operational information is optimal operational planning of operation of the equipment depending on different criteria of optimization.

This problem is solved by use of the module HYDRA HLS which allows to distribute automatically orders on machines, groups of machines or on jobs. Within certain time frames the specialist in planning of production process can set the ideal sequence of production operations according to the set criteria and algorithms of optimization set manually or automatically. After the beginning of production process its current can be checked in real time.

Formation of production schedules is implemented in tabular or in a graphic type (Gantt chart).

By optimization of the production plan the strategy of optimization – a ready set of key rules and restrictions on which distribution of orders will be counted are selected (the maximum production, the maximum quality, the minimum costs, the minimum time of execution of the order, etc.). After that there is a possibility of optimization by different criteria and with additional restrictions (on time, resources, personnel, etc.).

Thus, MES HYDRA provides full vertical integration between the production rates and managements. It eliminates an interval between the technical focused process control systems, the park of machines and the equipment (PCS) and more commercial focused world of enterprise management systems and resources (ERP). System implementation of operational planning and scheduling based on HYDRA allows:

• increase transparency of all resources in a production chain;
• carry out availability analysis of production resources;
• perform more exact planning of term of order fulfillment;
• perform optimal operational planning on different strategy and criteria (readjustment time, minimization of waste, etc.);
• reduce a downtime of the equipment;
• reduce terms of accomplishment of orders;
• perform optimal load of personnel;
• provide quick response to non-staff situations.

Effective management of production – a task of each head. HYDRA focused on this process considers as machines and the equipment on which the finished goods, and everything that is connected directly with production are created: resources and their planning, supply of raw materials and availability of materials, quantity of finished goods and its quality, existence of the necessary tool and equipment, load of personnel and its availability, etc.

Today in the world there are about 800 complex installations of a system. HYDRA is successfully used, both production companies of average value, and large multinational corporations. Among users of HYDRA there are such known enterprises as Siemens, Thyssen Krupp, Egger, Bomag, Dunlop, Pirelli, Bosch, Zeiss, Adidas, L’oreal, Unilever, Hero, Knorr, Alcan, Legrand, Coroplast, etc.

HYDRA allows to consider the hidden capacity of the enterprise, to optimum plan a production process and it is rational to distribute resources that leads to significant cost reduction, decrease in cost value of finished goods and as result, to increase in income of the enterprise.