Within manufacturing, some of the easiest delays to occur come from simple issues.
A machine may be ready, but the required tooling is not present at the expected location. A die may require maintenance, but has been moved to a different area. A punch has been relocated by another production entity. Someone stops their current task to find information.
These scenarios are common, and easily ignored because they do not result from an obvious equipment malfunction.
Sometimes, it is simply one of limited visibility.
Tooling Contains Production Data
Within powder metallurgy, dies, punches, fixtures and related tooling are tightly connected to production.
These assets move between storage, preparation, production, inspection and maintenance.
This information can be valuable, if a plant is capable of viewing the whereabouts of a specific tooling asset, its current status, and its production history.
This is where connected asset management becomes of interest.
Connected Asset Management Enables Enhanced Understanding of Physical Assets
Technologies such as RFID and BLE can be utilized to connect a physical asset to a digital information trail.
Instead of the physical asset simply existing within a certain area, it now has a digital footprint which can contain information such as:
Current or recent location
Asset identification
Movement
Maintenance
Production utilization
Status
The information which the physical asset contains depends on the manufacturing environment, but the value of connecting it to a digital information trail remains the same; improving understanding of the physical asset.
While Location Information is Valuable, Context Information Contains More
Being able to track the location of a tooling asset is useful, but is simply one part of a much larger piece of information.
If a tooling asset is found to be located in a maintenance area, what is its status? What does it need? Is it waiting to be inspected? Has it already been maintained? Does it have a scheduled production job?
A "location" tag alone cannot provide answers to these questions.
By connecting the information about a physical asset to other data sources, such as maintenance and production, the same physical asset can contain much more information than just its location.
Connecting Tooling Information to Other Sources Enables Powerful Insights
The true potential of connected tooling information comes when the information about it is connected to other sources of information.
Powder inventory, equipment, workforce, WIP, production events and traceability all can be sources of information connected to a physical tooling asset.
Some use cases for utilizing connected tooling information could be:
Giving production teams the information to know if the required tooling assets are available for a production job.
Giving maintenance teams the information they need to know the maintenance history of a specific tooling asset.
Giving quality teams the ability to connect production information with a specific tooling asset or process.
Each department may have different needs, but all of them can benefit from having access to the information connected to a physical tooling asset.
AIoT Contains the Tools Needed for Connected Tooling Information
AIoT, as a concept, enables connected devices and industrial data to be enriched with analytics and AI-driven insights. Within a powder metallurgy environment, technologies such as RFID, BLE, industrial IoT-sensors, edge-computing and analytics can be combined to a connected manufacturing environment. PowderForge AI focuses on providing manufacturing intelligence to the powder metallurgy industry, connecting tooling, equipment, inventory, workforce, WIP and traceability into a single connected environment. The focus of connected tooling is not on providing yet another tracking system, but to enhance the operational information connected to a physical asset, making it more accessible and understandable.
The First Step Should not be to Track Every Asset
Manufacturers do not need to digitize every asset they have on day one.
A good starting point can be to find out what issues are frequently occurring, or what information is regularly sought after.
Tooling may be a problem area, due to its frequent movement between areas. A specific maintenance history for a tooling asset may be difficult to find. Production may be questioning the availability of specific tooling assets for a production job.
Find a use case which is relevant and important to your operations, before building a business case around digitizing and connecting all physical assets in your environment.
Visibility Enables Manufacturing Intelligence
Tooling visibility may seem like a small step towards a fully digitized and connected manufacturing environment.
However, physical assets are deeply woven into the production process of a manufacturing plant, and they contain valuable information about people, machines, materials, maintenance and production. Making this information more accessible can enable operations to spend less time searching for it, and more time utilizing it. Connected manufacturing environments begin with visibility, and good visibility begins with knowing what a physical asset is, where it is, and how it fits into the production process.
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