Anchor Manufacturing Group Wins Innovation and Technology Award
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
For more information, please contact Christie Carmigiano
CLEVELAND, OH—November 6, 2018—Anchor Manufacturing Group, Cleveland, OH, has received the 2018 Plex Systems Innovation and Technology Award, as part of the Precision Metalforming Association’s (PMA) Awards of Excellence in Metalforming. The manufacturer specializes in appearance and decorative stampings, high-strength aluminum and steel, stainless-steel exhaust products, and safety-critical parts. Anchor won for implementing software that aids the company in attaining accurate, real-time data for use in streamlining work for employees at all levels.
Recognizing the importance of collecting data, and the negative consequences of acting on inaccurate data, Anchor decided to implement Ignition software from Inductive Automation. Key software functions employed by Anchor include supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), data reporting and dashboarding. Because it can connect with a wide variety of device types, the software enables Anchor to capture real-time data easily, no matter what type of equipment produces the target data. And, because Ignition is web-based, Anchor easily can access data, reports and dashboards anywhere via a PC or mobile device.
The first phase of implementation tackled the human-machine interface (HMI), enabling ease of access and use for employees throughout the company, and seamless integration with Anchor’s other resource-planning and data-producing systems. Other implementations followed, allowing for capture and use of real-time data.
For example, due to the Ignition project, Anchor’s dashboards now reflect real-time information. In the past, the company used TVs and PC modules to display work center information such as status, count, efficiency, OEE or other key machine-performance indicators. But the information displayed was only as current as the most recent production recording. In some cases, production was recorded only once or twice per shift. As a result, displayed information offered little value because it didn’t represent the current situation of the work center. Now, dashboards and other modules used to view work-center information relay real-time conditions to all interested parties. This allows Anchor employees to react to issues much more quickly, and improve conditions before they spiral out of control.
In the testing phase of the project, Anchor ran the HMI offline in parallel with the standard way that operators recorded production and machine statuses for one shift. On one piece of equipment, according to the data logged by the operator, the machine was down for 54 minutes in that period. Ignition revealed that the machine was actually down for 94 minutes. The difference of 40 minutes is quite significant, especially considering the testing covered only one shift of 7.5 hours.
Implementation of Ignition has benefitted operators by providing real-time performance awareness and easier status updates. Management has benefitted through enhanced data acquisition and access to timely information. Overall, the company has gained a better understanding of current performance that allows for targeting of specific areas in need of improvement, and has the ability to expand data collection and control in the future.
The Innovation and Technology Award is one of eight Awards of Excellence in Metalforming presented annually by PMA. It recognizes a metalforming company that has implemented cloud technology to drive innovation from a product or business perspective, transform business operations or leveraged it in order to scale and grow from a size or product perspective in order to emerge as a leader in their industry. The award is sponsored by Plex Systems, Inc., Troy, MI.
PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $137-billion metalforming industry of North America—the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating, spinning, slide forming and roll forming technologies, and other value-added processes. Its nearly 800 member companies also include suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry. PMA leads innovative member companies toward superior competitiveness and profitability through advocacy, networking, statistics, the PMA Educational Foundation, FABTECH and METALFORM Mexico tradeshows, and MetalForming and 3D Metal Printing magazines.