The visual factory or the power of information to achieve operational excellence

For a manufacturing plant to operate at peak performance, employees must have immediate access to the information they need. To this end, it is essential to lay the foundations of the visual factory: a working environment designed to facilitate decision-making and minimize errors and waste.

Ignorance and uncertainty on the shop floor can put any industrial company on the ropes. Not only are they the root cause of most errors during the manufacturing process and major contributors to efficiency losses, but they can also lead to serious occupational safety problems.

For this reason, more and more industrial companies are turning their work environment into a visual factory, putting information where it is needed and giving their employees immediate access to the answers they are looking for.

Next, we look at what the visual factory is and explain how it relates to Lean Manufacturing. In addition, we point out some of the benefits of implementing this approach with the help of an MES system such as the Mapex platform.

What is the visual factory?

A visual factory is a production environment in which all workers obtain the information they require at all times in an immediate, clear, concise and reliable manner.

In other words, it is an approach that takes into account that 50% of the function of the human brain is dedicated to finding and interpreting visual data. Hence, we are able to remember 80% of images, but only 20% of text.

However, to implement this strategy, we must first identify what we want to communicate and for what purpose. Some examples are:

• General information: Signs that are placed in central locations in the factory, where everyone has easy access, and that serve to alert employees of possible risks or dangers, notify of any event, indicate areas that should or should not be walked on, etc.
• Work instructions: Critical information to ensure that workers perform their tasks correctly and in accordance with established standards. That is why, in addition to being always within reach of the operators, these instructions must be understandable at a glance by any worker and incorporate more illustrations or photographs than text.
• Manufacturing process metrics: Real-time data without which it would be impossible to reliably track the status of production processes and overall plant performance. This information is even more useful for decision making and the implementation of continuous improvement actions if it is presented on intuitive dashboards, highly visual and easy to interpret, as well as accessible on terminals or mobile devices within the factory.

The importance of the visual factory in the Lean Manufacturing methodology

An organization that implements the Lean methodology is committed to continuous improvement and that is why small changes are part of its daily routine. It is in these situations that the visual factory plays a fundamental role: visual elements are very useful in introducing new habits to employees and guiding them through the adaptation process.

On the other hand, if with the help of this information all factory workers are able to know what to do, when to do it and how to do it responsibly and autonomously, supervisors or department managers are no longer needed at all times and can devote their efforts to more value-added tasks.

In addition, the use of visual elements such as dashboards in the work environment provides a global view of the factory, increases the transparency of the production process and facilitates the interpretation of data. All this makes it possible to act quickly in the event of problems and implement corrective actions before it is too late.

In short, as a good ally in improving communication and the transmission of knowledge, the visual factory is one of the pillars of Lean Manufacturing: it helps to create value for the end customer, is key to minimizing waste throughout the manufacturing process and promotes continuous improvement.

The 10 benefits of the visual factory

In addition to boosting their Lean management system, industrial companies that know how to make the most of the visual factory achieve the following benefits:

1. Less waiting time and less time spent searching for information.
2. Improved communication, transparency and collaboration on the shop floor.
3. Reduction of errors.
4. Reduction of non-conformities and rework.
5. Improved operator training level.
6. Increased safety in the work environment.
7. Increased motivation among employees.
8. Reinforcement of manufacturing standards and methods.
9. Increased productivity and performance.
10. Improved decision making.

How can our MES system help you to enhance the visual factory?

Thanks to the implementation of Mapex’s MES system, companies can monitor in real time and in a completely visual way everything that is happening in their production plants.

Our platform facilitates the connection of different data sources in the same dashboard and provides organizations with user-friendly control panels that are very helpful for all members of the company:

• Dashboards with the most relevant KPIs for top management to achieve their business objectives: performance, quality, availability, cost control, production plan compliance (planned vs. actual status), etc.

• Dashboards intended for middle management in the areas of production, quality and maintenance to measure the progress and status of manufacturing processes and react immediately to problems detected: OEE, units manufactured, non-conformities, cycle time, changeover time, defects, scrap, stoppages and their causes, MTTR, MTBF, repetitive failures, etc.

• Dashboards used by production operators for real-time, line-side tracking of manufacturing orders, eliminating inefficient paper-based documentation management and facilitating their work.

With Mapex, companies can create, edit and consult their dashboards in the MapexBP environment or in the web browser. In addition, all dashboards have a responsive design (ensuring correct viewing on any device, whether computer, phone or tablet), allow interactive data visualization (filters, drill-down, etc.) and can be exported to different formats (PDF, Excel, JPG, etc.).

For more information on how we can help you lay the foundations or enhance your visual factory by implementing the Mapex MES system, please contact our team.