Manufacturing Software optimizes factory operations.
Press Release Summary:
Manufacturing Pulse enables manufacturing engineers to maximize return on investment by increasing capacity of equipment on production floor. Software monitors each line at machine level, and collects data on performance of individual machines for utilization analysis. This helps eliminate bottlenecks, balance equipment between machine types, evaluate effectiveness of shift changes and enable line-to-line comparisons to maximize performance.
Original Press Release:
Motorola Offers Innovative Manufacturing Process Software For Improved Profitablility
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Illinois - June 4, 2001 - Motorola's Global Software Group (GSG) introduced a new manufacturing software solution called Manufacturing Pulse, at the Manufacturing Execution Systems Conference and Exposition 2001 in Baltimore, Maryland, this week. Manufacturing Pulse was developed by GSG's e-Business Products and Solutions team to maximize enterprise profitability through productivity improvement, scrap reduction and quality control of manufacturing processes. Manufacturing Pulse eliminates the error in data collection by removing human intervention and offers the distinct advantage of bringing process monitoring to the level of the factory equipment.
Motorola's implementation of this software solution in its own best-in-class factories resulted in documented capacity improvements ranging from 2% - 30% and helped Motorola (NYSE:MOT) achieve its Six Sigma Quality goals by stabilizing and continuously improving processes.
"The value that Manufacturing Pulse and the e-Business Products and Solutions team provides to our business operations has been one of our fastest payback programs and is unparalleled in the industry," said John Thome, director of manufacturing technology for Motorola.
Motorola is now making this proprietary software solution available to the electronics manufacturing industry as part of its outsourcing strategy. Through the use of this software, combined with the services of the e-Business Products and Solutions team, factories are optimized, quality is improved and costs are reduced. All of these benefits are now available to its manufacturing partners and others. Manufacturing Pulse enables manufacturing engineers to maximize their return on investment by increasing the capacity of equipment on the production floor. Manufacturing Pulse software monitors each line at the machine level, collecting data on the performance of individual machines for utilization analysis. Eliminating bottlenecks, balancing equipment between machine types, evaluating the effectiveness of shift changes and enabling line-to-line comparisons maximize the performance of existing equipment.
Manufacturing Pulse enables engineers and operators to continuously and accurately monitor quality through real-time collection of statistical process control (SPC) data as part of the Six Sigma corporate initiative. Six Sigma Black Belts, a society of experts whose skills in Six Sigma tools and leadership help Motorola achieve goals in continuous improvement, designed the software to manage production processes. Alarm notifications are automatically generated when control limits are exceeded for rapid closed-loop response. This minimizes the impact of out-of-control events, reduces scrap and raises the confidence in the manufactured product quality.
Manufacturing Pulse compares the performance of each machine and line without bias using industry-accepted standards for productivity measurement. The software directly interfaces with electronics manufacturing equipment from a variety of vendors using standard communication protocols. This enables enterprise-wide comparison of manufacturing productivity for improved decision-making on line balancing and plant optimization. Quality improvements are made with confidence and reflect the true performance of the equipment.
Motorola GSG has the distinct advantage to leverage both its manufacturing and software development expertise into a highly sophisticated solution for process monitoring and control.
"Manufacturing Pulse is the first product in a series of enterprise solutions that can be expected from Motorola GSG's e-Business Products and Solutions team," said Ranjan Chatterjee, general manager, e-Business Products and Solutions. "Our long history, experience and dedication to the manufacturing industry positions Motorola well to develop solutions that will help keep companies at the leading edge of supply chain technology."
About Motorola
Motorola, Inc., is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2000 were US $37.6 billion. For more information about Motorola, please visit the web site at www.motorola.com. The Global Software Group is a globally recognized best-in-class organization that produces critical software for Motorola and its customers. A leader in software development practices and domain competencies, GSG has one of the highest software development productivity levels in the world, while consistently delivering on-time customer-driven solutions. GSG provides software engineering technologies, custom software development and software products and end-to-end system solutions.
