Managing Automation - March 2008 - (Page 23)

process control system visible and available to the Oracle Process Manufacturing module. Since Oracle Process Manufacturing has information on product recipes and formulas, Dairy Crest managers could easily use it to check that specific production batches at the plant were being run properly. Using Oracle’s Discoverer data extraction software and some homegrown analytical tools, the company also was able to quickly develop reports that allowed managers to get up-to-date productivity and waste information on a shift-by-shift or even batch-by-batch basis. “If we have a leaking pipe or somebody sets up a routing the wrong way or is consuming the wrong type of milk for a product, we know that immediately,” Duckett says. Dairy Crest has run into its share of challenges in attempting to integrate ERP and production environments. The project, for example, exposed some data quality problems that had to be fixed. While examining data generated by flow meters and other shop floor equipment, Dairy Crest officials discovered that some information was not accurately calibrated, compromising the data being fed into Oracle Process Manufacturing. So, the company was forced to validate data being generated by many shop floor devices. So far, Dairy Crest has been able to implement the type of extensive plant-to-enterprise integration seen at Chadwell Heath at two other plants. Most other sites have integrated end-of-line plant floor data and data needed for planning applications with Oracle EBS. Long term, Dairy Crest hopes to extend the benefits of plant-to-ERP integration more broadly across its facilities by deploying a standard manufacturing execution system (MES) software layer in all of its plants with which Oracle Process Manufacturing can be integrated. The company is currently piloting CDC Software’s CDC Factory product to play that role. Already, however, the company is seeing significant benefits from automatically feeding plant data into its ERP environment. “Efficiency is improving, and waste is being reduced,” Duckett says. “We’re also able to trace problems more quickly. Where it would have taken four or five hours in the past, now it takes a couple of minutes.” Dairy Crest Ltd. ● ● ● Industry: Chilled dairy products Size: $3 billion; 9,000 employees Integration Initiative: As part of companywide ERP deployment, has extensively integrated plant-generated data into Oracle Process Manufacturing Benefits to Date: Real-time visibility of manufacturing processes at each phase of production ● 23 March 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - March 2008

Managing Automation - March 2008 Contents Take 1 Mailbox Mitsubishi, IBM, and ILS Team Up to Make Integration Easy for Automakers Former Agile Exec Takes the Reins at Arena Solutions The Next Phase for 2006’s PM Award Winner Integration Firm Boomi Redesigns for On-Demand Ex-Wonderware Chief Takes Helm at Apprion Notes Cover Story: A Rare Breed Special Report: Where are Control Architectures Heading? Transformation: Back to Reality Integration: Getting Standards Under One Roof Industries: The Quest for the Perfect Order Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - March 2008

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