news

Monitoring Combibloc Filling Lines

Wed, 2 Jun 2010 14:45:34 +1000

WHAT IS OFS MONITOR?
An OFS console has the capability to monitor a number of line components and graphically show the impact of component faults on overall line efficiency.
In a single, intuitive view, OFSLive compares overall line performance against dynamic efficiency targets, current shift and product performance as well as showing operator diagnosis and commentary for stops.
OFS then automatically displays the status of the monitored line components at the time of the stop.

Labelling with OFS

Fri, 28 May 2010 10:15:12 +1000

OFS has recently been installed into a 23,000 sqm label making facility that manufactures pressure sensitive, wet-glue, roll-fed wrap around, pallet ID, promotional labels and shrink sleeves into both domestic and international markets.
The business made the decision to use OFS across all 5 of their MAN Roland presses in the sheet-fed litho print area as well as a number of other Heidelberg and Uteco sheet and roll fed printers.
Although these printers all included some productivity monitoring systems as supplied by their manufacturers, the operations management chose to replace these with OFS.
“OFS was just easier to use, it made more sense to the guys and they really knew how they were going. Also, it allows us to compare all our machine and crew performance but if we used the Roland system or the Heidelberg system we couldn’t do this.”
One of the first projects OFS was applied to in the plant was to successfully optimise the number of cylinders and cylinder sizes in the roll fed press area, saving the business considerable capital investment.
OFS also quickly identified significant differences in setup practices between crews. This discovery prompted a campaign to optimise and improve the standard operating procedures used for changeovers resulting in reduced setup times.

Toasting OFS

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:43:24 +1100

Popina Food Services is a family owned company specialising in the manufacture of muesli based cereals and snack bars. The company, which has operated for more than 25 years has a 10,500 sqm facility and currently provides employment for some 110 employees. The company’s main customer base includes major supermarkets in Australia and overseas together with a number of Brand Owners.
After a 3 month trial, Popina elected to proceed with a full deployment of OFS onto it’s Toasting line. OFS was integrated with the line load cell conveyors and records kilograms of product through the oven.

OFS - A Factory Manager's Perspective

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 18:35:05 +1100

Fazzil Noureddine speaks candidly about his experiences with OFS and OFSlive.

Make a better product

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:05:35 +1100

In many manufacturing industries, stop reasons associated with poor material qualities occur all too frequently.
In fact, at times such issues are so endemic in a process that they become accepted by the machinery operators and supervisors as a normal part of operations. Not only is time lost due to stoppages, but there is an associated speed loss as well, due to an operator’s tendency to run slower with poorer material quality in an attempt to avoid the stop altogether.
The problem then gets put into the “too hard basket” ...its just business as usual ???
Meanwhile, the source supplying the poor material quality may remain completely unaware of the incredible negative impact one or two grades could be having on downstream manufacturing processes.
OFSlive includes a number of tools that are designed specifically to monitor the impact material quaity has on a manufacture process. These tools clearly show which material grades are responsible for the most downtime during a process, providing direction, facts and clarity for management to focus and fix problematic raw materials.

Helping Machinery Suppliers

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:35:21 +1100

The TRC engineering team monitor the processing lines they have installed at their customers’ premises using the OFSLive suite of productivity and knowledge tools. This helps them arrive on site prepared in advance with a detailed picture regarding the key issues their customers are facing. More importantly, it helps the team to be proactive and visit their customers to deal with problems before a complaint is ever made.
OFS also helps the team to identify new areas to improve their equipment installations, enabling them to prepare pointed and relevant proposals based on real feedback supplied by the machinery operators - and typically services revenue increases as a result of these activities.
Finally, all the benefits of OFS are available to the machinery customer, who ultimately benefits from the increases in productivity and efficiency that are the cornerstone of OFS.

OFS Knowledge Base in Action!

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:49:46 +1000

The OFS Knowledge Base typically receives more than 2,000 knowledge base contributions per factory per month!
Our customers are amazed at the “engagement” from the machine operators - and although at times management find the knowledge base confronting, it is one of the most valuable OFS tools available in the OFSLive suite.
OFS automatically asks operators to provide knowledge entries against any event that occurs on the factory floor.
These knowledge entries are then processed by OFS algorithms which look for key words in a machine-specific dictionary, and allocates each entry into an area of responsibility for management to review and add their dialogue.
It is like Google for the factory floor!
Once it gets started, the OFS Knowledge Base takes on its own life, with operators and management actively engaged in fixing key issues.

Monitoring Corrugators in OFSlive

Thu, 28 May 2009 13:55:29 +1000

OFSlive makes monitoring corrugators simple. Taking the age old concept of corrugator chart recorders to a whole new level, OFSlive for corrugators shows speeds, target speeds, slow runs, stops and even shear waste all together in an intuitive, easily understood, real time tool.
Targets are set automatically by OFS for each board quality based on actual crew achievements - rather like a ‘personal best’ and these are clearly shown to operators, who are encouraged to beat their own previous efforts. Each slitter change then represents a chance to set either a new target or even a “record” best.
Operators are encouraged to provide a live commentary against the information recorded by OFS and quickly engage in explaining what they need in order to make the targets that are being shown to them in real time.
OFSlive for corrugators allows many corrugators to be monitored at once, live, from anywhere there is internet. Many businesses use this live monitoring to foster healthy competition by empowering crews to see and comment how other corrugators within the organisation are performing relative to their own performance.
The real power of OFSlive for corrugators occurs when it is combined with the OFS Knowledge Base - a fully searchable repository allowing operators, engineers and supervisors to contribute their expertise as to causes and solutions of corrugator issues.

Using OFS to improve Engagement and Morale

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:15:15 +1100

One of the key factors in delivering efficiency gains is engaging all levels of a manufacturing business into the improvement process. An engaged person contributes to the ongoing dialog constantly asking "What do we really want here?", "How can it be done?" and "Why haven't we done it yet?".
Our customers have proven again and again that people whom are engaged in improving performance achieve consistently better results. We have also seen that as engagement increases, KPIs such as absenteeism reduce, and morale increases.
Whilst the absenteeism KPI is quite easy to report, measuring and gauging Morale is far more difficult.
We have discovered that by recording the frequency and usefulness of contributions by machine crews and service personnel into the OFS-KB (Knowledge Base), we are able to effectively measure an indicator that demonstrates Morale.

Introducing Knowledge Base

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:12:51 +1100

The OFS Knowledge Base (OFS-KB) automatically groups current issues together into a common "Thread". It then allows for management and service areas to contribute to the thread, thereby gathering all knowledge about an issue in the one place.
Threads are tracked against key management responsibilities and machine areas. Some examples of how OFS-KB is expected to be used by our customers include:
• Whilst running a job, showing all relevant knowledge collected for that job, including setup tips, best speeds to operate at
• Collect design feedback from the operator as to how this job might be altered to run faster.
• Track all issues and downtime related to a piece of equipment, tooling or material grade - all in the one place.
OFS-KB will also include management KPIs as to whom is raising issues, how useful they are deemed as being by the area that the issue is raised against, and of course track the time taken to resolve and confirm that an issue is completed.
OFS-KB includes a number of commonly used best practice internet principles, such as the "feedback rating" found on e-bay, and the "was this useful" rating found commonly in Microsoft and Apple web sites.