PTC DPM: Dramatically improving manufacturing efficiency again

According to McKinsey's research report "Factory Economic Value from Industrial Internet Use Cases", 2/3 of the economic benefits of factories come from operational optimization. The operational efficiency of ordinary factories is only 40%-60%, and only the industry benchmark factories can achieve an operational efficiency of 85%. Therefore, using professional and easy-to-use digital tools to improve factory production and operational efficiency plays an important role in the survival and healthy development of enterprises.

The purpose of the ThingWorx Digital Performance Management solution (DPM) is to help enterprises seek means to continuously improve and optimize production efficiency or operational efficiency. At a recent media communication meeting, Craig Melrose, executive vice president of PTC Digital Transformation Solutions, and Liu Qiang, senior vice president of PTC Global and president of Greater China, detailed how DPM helps the manufacturing industry improve manufacturing efficiency and realize new value.

Craig Melrose, Executive Vice President, Digital Transformation Solutions, PTC

The only DPM that does statistical analysis based on time

With DPM solutions, companies can correctly identify performance issues to improve efficiency; enable frontline workers to take corrective actions; understand bottlenecks, root causes, and the most critical areas to focus on for improvement; measure results using performance data to ensure that relevant measures produce the expected results; and quickly achieve value and scale, with initial results in as little as 90 days.

Specifically, DPM can collect data from ERP, MES, PLM and PLC at the equipment level in different workshops and factories, and provide decision makers with capacity improvement plans in a real-time closed-loop manner through data integration and analysis. DPM provides a unified view of performance on the software interface and conveys it through the business indicator of "hours". This indicator is easily understood by front-line employees, managers and executives, providing a foundation for enterprise-scale solutions. DPM verifies the results of transformation investments through real-time production data and easily calculable financial improvements.

Craig Melrose emphasized that PTC's DPM is the only DPM on the market that performs statistical analysis based on time. This time is converted from data on parts, efficiency, downtime, quality loss, etc. The data comes from different systems of the enterprise, such as ERP, MES, PLM or the system developed by the enterprise itself. DPM brings this data together and displays it in the form of time.

DPM uses three steps, namely focusing, prioritizing, and analyzing, to understand the main losses of the production line and the causes of these losses. DPM can also track all corrective actions. In the production case of the stacking process, the robot stacks different materials together. During operation, the robot sometimes has unplanned stops. DPM can see the performance of the production line in different time periods, including the time of loss. Through analysis, it is found that the heavy main bracket will cause safety hazards. The robot will stop operating and then reduce the weight by replacing the carbon fiber bracket and other methods to solve the problem.

According to Craig Melrose, DPM is applicable to all manufacturing industries, such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, metal processing, medical devices, auto parts, high-tech, especially factories with higher raw material costs or higher labor costs. By using DPM, factories can significantly reduce excess inventory.

Stop loss immediately and improve production efficiency

Take a North American home appliance manufacturer as an example. The planned production line time was 120 hours, but in reality only 80 hours were produced. DPM collected data from ERP, MES and other systems, found where time and production capacity were lost, and then took measures to improve production efficiency and solve problems. The result was that 2.5 hours could be saved every week, bringing millions of dollars in benefits to production line output and sales. According to statistics, if the manufacturer's entire production line is improved, it can bring about 50 million US dollars in economic benefits.

Another typical case is an aluminum processing company, whose production line runs 24/7, 3 shifts per day, and 168 hours per week. However, the production line has only about 100 hours of effective working time. The company analyzed that it had lost a total of 54 hours. When PTC deployed DPM on the company's production line, it was found that the total lost time was 67 hours. This shows that the company's production line still has more room for improvement.

More suitable for the Chinese market

Liu Qiang, PTC Global Senior Vice President and President of Greater China

According to Liu Qiang, DPM is very suitable for the Chinese market because, first of all, DPM is not just a new technology, but also includes best business practices. Secondly, compared with foreign companies that are more concerned about reducing costs and increasing efficiency, developing Chinese companies are more concerned about how to increase corporate revenue and obtain economic benefits. Compared with building a new factory in two or three years with huge investments, the use of DPM can increase corporate production capacity faster, with lower investment and shorter time. Third, the level of informatization of my country's manufacturing enterprises is uneven, and DPM can collect data in any form, which is very inclusive of the maturity of enterprise informatization. Whether it is data collected from the system, data collected from the equipment, or even manually entered data, DPM can be used.