Deploying Automated Production Analytics

The Challenge

Orchid Orthopedic faced significant challenges with its manual hour-by-hour tracking sheets. Operators spent 22.5 hours daily filling out paper sheets, diverting time away from managing machines. This process also demanded an hour and a half of the area leads’ time each morning to compile and input data into spreadsheets. The manual system was prone to errors, missing data, and misplaced sheets, complicating root-cause problem-solving and overall productivity.

As a result of existing processes, reporting was entirely manually driven, making it both time-intensive as well as difficult to generate insights from the data. Further, as production data was delayed, there was no reliable source of real-time production visibility, resulting in a delayed response to shop floor issues.

The Solution

The implementation of MachineMetrics revolutionized data collection and analysis at Orchid Orthopedic. By replacing hourly paper-based sheets with tablets at each machine, key production data could be automatically captured, standardized and compiled for reporting and analysis.

This change drastically reduced operator touch time and ensured accurate, real-time data was immediately available to shop floor personnel and management. While MachineMetrics offers prebuilt reports and dashboards, the Orchid team used an API query to pull production data from the platform into customized Excel reports to break down data by different product families

In addition to capturing production data, Orchid has taken advantage of workflows to enable alerts to leads, managers, and engineers automatically. In this way, machine events as well as prompts from an operator can notify a manager that help is needed without the operator having to leave the machine.

Another key use case for Orchid is the analysis of cycle times. Rather than relying on manual time studies to understand the cycle time of each part number, the team has accurate cycle times automatically captured across all parts, which can then be used to update standards.

With production data across all products, Orchid can understand in real-time the status of production, enabling them to allocate labor and machines accordingly. For example, in the case that weekly part goals have been met for Product 1 and 2, the operators can be shifted to work on machines running Product 3 and 4.

Results

Since deploying MachineMetrics, Orchid Orthopedic has seen remarkable improvements in efficiency and productivity. The automation of data collection has eliminated 24 hours of manual data collection per day, enabling operators to focus on managing machines rather than collecting data. The company also experienced significant gains in machine performance increasing utilization from 28% to 47%.

The ability to quickly allocate people and machines based on real-time data allowed for more effective use of operator and machine time to hit weekly production goals. Workflows and alerts have enhanced communication and response times across the shop floor, reducing downtime and enabling operators to focus on maintaining production.

Orchid also has plans to integrate additional systems with MachineMetrics including Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs) and their ERP.

• The implementation of MachineMetrics at Orchid Orthopedic has significantly enhanced operational efficiency, data accuracy, and overall productivity. By automating previously manual processes, Orchid has not only saved time but also improved its ability to respond quickly to production issues and make informed decisions based on real-time data.
• 24 hours saved daily by eliminating manual hour-by-hour tracking sheets.
  Utilization increased from 27-28% to 47% on the ten initial machines.
• Enhanced communication and response times through integrated workflows and alerts.