The system collects continuous improvement data from raw material consumption through palletized finished goods production.

Data is collected automatically from the control systems where practical and relies on manual data entry where required.

Downtime states and production counts were added to the control system PLCs to help ensure accurate real-time data.

A single production line spans over 100 yards and includes equipment on multiple floors, requiring multiple operator workstations for data entry and real-time status indicators.

The system accommodates diverging and converging product streams consisting of conveyors, cutters, vibratory feeders, scales, metal detectors, creamers, wrappers, and pick and place robots. Because of the converging/diverging streams and product flow flexibility, the entire bakery line was separated into multiple components for OEE and downtime analysis, while production scheduling was still performed at the bakery line level.

Sepasoft’s OEE/downtime module was used to implement structured data collection, calculations, analysis, and reporting.

Some interesting aspects of this system are that it:

• Is designed to be adaptable across the enterprise, meaning it can accommodate multiple production lines at multiple sites, in multiple business divisions
• Integrates with ERP and Time/Attendance systems
• Integrates controllers using a variety of communication protocols