Better production from T&A integration?

Linking time and attendance (T&A) systems into production and thus up to the enterprise IT environment can be a relatively low-cost route to improved factory floor visibility. Manufacturers that have done it have seen it pay dividends in terms of efficiency and cost improvements, or the ability to implement and run leaner manufacturing regimes, or to offer flexibility and agility in a fast-moving marketplace. The problem is, what do you link to what, and how useful is it going to be? One of the choices to be made when integrating the T&A system is how it should be integrated with other manufacturing systems for best value and most reliability. It may be an obvious point, but remember, in general it is a good idea to keep integration as simple as possible, only exchanging specific information across systems where it makes real operational and/or business sense. So rather than delivering information about how long things are taking, and who is where and when directly to an ERP system, it may be of more use at a lower level, like some kind of manufacturing execution system (MES). Most T&A systems come with built-in functionality for calculating hours and pay depending on what people have done, and will upload this information to a payroll package. There is no reason why some of the information should not be constructively used by a MES to help continuously improve and streamline the manufacturing process. “Time and attendance systems can tell you a lot,” says David Trowell, general manager of MES vendor Seiki Systems. “They’ve got all the software for salary calculations, but they don’t always have anything to do with throughput. But companies need information about throughput and productivity, and to understand this you need to know what the people are doing as well as the machines. If you know what your plant is capable of and you know when the operators have been in a position to use them, you can look for ways of improving production flow through the factory.” Manufacturing processes can thus be redesigned to be more efficient and more responsive when the shop floor system is up to date with data from T&A – although the benefits of this have to be made clear to the workforce. Quite simply, more efficient production should lead to improved profits for the plant, which in turn will lead to improvements in conditions for workers, and improved salaries. “The technology for this integration is all available,” says Chris Estridge of T&A systems vendor DCS Solutions. “But in the UK manufacturing industry is behind, mainly because of the cost. An integrated system is a capital cost [but] the business gains are enormous: with accurate recording it’s possible to cut the cost of making components, you can do cost analysis, and you can also see who is most efficient at any particular job. People are all different and can often do the jobs they’re good at, which makes for a happier workforce.” Lean manufacturing A sensible aim for manufacturers is to move towards lean (or at least more cost efficient and responsive) manufacturing, not least because of the change in market conditions being brought about by Internet technologies. Seiki Systems recently helped Parker Hannifin in the UK make a move in this direction. But in the USA Kronos Systems has helped Stratoflex, a division of the same company, introduce its new StopTrac Pro MES to consolidate manufacturing and time and attendance data so the company’s production environment can operate integrated lean manufacturing. “The system gives managers the tools they need to manage their labour resources,” says Keith Statham, Kronos UK managing director. “Manufacturers understand how it provides a vital connection to the shop floor by making real-time labour and production information available instantaneously. [But] it also makes the same information available to planning applications so that operational improvements can be realised over time.”