Small Steps, Modest Investment, Manageable Risk And Big Payback

There's always the feeling that if you invest in new plant you can see where your money has gone - it's going to make a return. IT investment isn't so straightforward. Many promises are made - just look at ERP. Did you get everything back you expected? So how can you inspire confidence in the board to invest in plant systems? How can you guarantee the returns?

A low-risk investment that proves itself

Today's manufacturing environment is a relentless drive for cost reduction and efficiency gains, yet achieving even marginal improvements can prove difficult and expensive.

The obvious starting point for efficiency gains is investing in new plant and equipment. However, the right IT investments can make dramatic improvements for a fraction of the cost.

For the most part, big manufacturing companies have spent millions on large-scale IT projects such as ERP - with returns that often disappoint. But few of these investments are actually targeted at making a real difference at a manufacturing level e.g. reducing spoilage, reducing downtime, improving quality, operating leaner and gaining efficiency.

Of all the investment possibilities open to you, a Lighthouse Shopfloor-Online MES Factory Information System provides some of the highest justifications in terms of ROI and customer satisfaction.

Shopfloor-Online MES is software-based and does not require investment in new plant. It is relatively inexpensive to implement and users confirm that payback periods are exceptionally short.

The software is modular so you don't have to commit to the full suite at the outset. You can start with a modest project, piloted in a key area (e.g. OEE on key plant) and build from there when that delivers results.

Shopfloor-Online MES works by focusing on the vast volume of manufacturing data that until now has been recorded in an uncoordinated way, whether manually or automatically. There are big savings to be made if you can interrogate this data, but making much sense or use of such valuable, yet disparate, information has been practically impossible in the past.

Shopfloor-Online MES performs this function in real time, automatically analysing and presenting data in a way that enables management and operational decisions to be made on the basis of clear and accurate information, not informed guesswork.

As you implement each application, you can expect significant improvements to every index of production efficiency - process capability, machine availability, performance and quality. Lower reject or product return rates will have an immediate, positive effect on profitability; manufacturing cycles, lead times and work-in-progress are likely to be significantly improved.