MES for Quality and Compliance
A fast-growing battery manufacturer was opening a new plant in response to increased product demand for automotive lithium-ion batteries. They were challenged to maintain high quality while facing increased volume. RedViking designed, built, and implemented a complete manufacturing execution system with tracking and traceability that improved quality in materials, processes, and final products. Our system quickly identified and quarantined defects, which minimized the rework costs as well as warranty costs.
Key Benefits:
- Quick Identification and Isolation of Defects Before Completion or Shipment
- Quality Control Plan Refined Through Better Data
- Complete Genealogy Created for Each Product
- Cost Savings by Quarantining Defects Before Additional Hours or Materials Added
- Any Recalls are Quickly Confined to Affected Products
- Machine Control Charting to Eliminate Future Downtime
- Plant OEE Reporting for Decisions Based on Live Plant Data
Growing Market Drives Need for Better Systems
Our customer was a fast-growing battery manufacturer that needed to verify high-quality products with a product life history to comply with U.S. regulations. They turned to RedViking for a manufacturing execution system that would help them maintain compliance with government regulations and continue to produce the highest quality product.
RedViking’s MES with track and trace verified quality and identified all material and equipment used in the production process. The integrated quality checks (“error proofing”) create a life history for every finished product to comply with U.S. government regulations.
Quick Problem Identification Cuts Costs
At every step throughout production, raw material and work in process is marked and tracked to provide relevant data, including equipment information. Integrated quality checks (“error proofing”) become part of the battery’s genealogy and provide the foundation for root cause analysis.
Identifying a defect reduces cost in three ways: (1) production can continue full speed for products that did not go through the faulty machine, (2) no additional materials or labor hours are added to the defective product, and (3) the opportunity to reuse materials is better by identifying the defect earlier in the process.
OEE Equipment Health Monitoring was Added Next
This customer added OEE equipment health monitoring to implement better preventive maintenance and minimize unexpected downtime. The combination of traceability and machine health monitoring gives them a complete view of production at any time and helps to refine their plant-wide quality control plan. Quality improved, manufacturing costs were reduced, and the impact of a recall was minimized.
