Reduce Lead Time in Make-to-Order Production using RTLS

Convenience, responsiveness, and personalization are nowadays the three key attributes of customer expectations. Customers want tailor-made, custom-built products in the shortest time possible. A company that can meet these expectations wins with customer experience, creates company advocates and increases customer retention. For manufacturers, to meet this increased customer expectations, the make-to-order (MTO) production approach must be adopted, which also comes with strict performance objectives. Real-time production visibility is often the key to meeting them.

If you identify with any of the following, read on:

•  Is your production’s efficiency affected by human errors?
•  Are you missing real-time data on the production process?
•  Could you benefit from lowering the manpower costs?
•  Is managing your audits time-consuming?

Paper Work Order vs Digital Work Order

To reduce the lead time in the MTO production process, the current paper work orders are being replaced by digital work orders carrying the same information and extending it with real-time location and other data types based on the sensors used.

Digital Work Order in Make-to-Order Production

MTO vs MTO using Digital Work Orders

How to Reduce Lead Time in Make-to-Order Production

Make-to-order (MTO) Production Objectives

Short lead time: Customized orders must be quickly satisfied requiring the shortest lead time possible and precise synchronization between processes to avoid loss of sales.
Real-time delivery: Delivery on-time needed as each step is dependent on the previous and no gaps are permissible as inventory safety is absent.
Quality control: Increased quality control as each defect comes at a high cost with small batches and non-inventory items.
Costs: Decreasing the costs by reducing the wasteful activities.
Audits: Shortening audit times while increasing available details, including GMP audits.

Benefits of MTO with RTLS

Shortened lead time – the overall lead time is shortened thanks to the absence of waste and gaps in production.
Elimination of wasteful activities – employees no longer spend time searching for components.
Gain full real-time visibility of processes – management can achieve greater control by being notified immediately if the flow is not following the momentum. Improved transparency across all departments and facilities.
Streamlined audits – full real-time assets and equipment tracking which minimizes additional queries in both customer and legal audits.
Increased quality of products – real-time location makes it easier and quicker to find defective parts and prevent them from reaching the next step in production.
Streamlining production process – gaps in consequent operations are eliminated.
The ability for continuous improvement (Kaizen) – having real-time and correct data management can continuously optimize processes.

Real-life Case Study of Improving MTO

The following results were obtained using Sewio RTLS for improving the make-to-order process in one of the top five industrial enterprises – yet, due to an NDA, unnamed – companies.

  • 20% reduced wastage of unproductive time

    The ability to immediately locate the components needed for production eliminated non-productive time wasting and shortened the overall lead time by 20%.

  • 66% shorter average searching time

    The actual time for searching, nicknamed within the company “mushrooming”, went down from an average 45 minutes to 15 minutes – a 66% drop.

  • Streamlined and faster audits

    The customer auditing process has also been streamlined as auditors have a quick and easy way to access details about the production and its processes.

  • Higher visibility gained and an increased ability to plan

    As the managers planning the production now know where all of the needed components are located, they can also better plan the operation and estimate the time needed to finish the operation, thus, improving the effectivity of the planning.

  • Higher quality of production

    If a part is identified as defective, it is quick and easy to find it, preventing it reaching the next step in production and resulting in a higher quality of products.

Anchor Placement in Make-to-Order Production
Make-to-Order Production Hall
Digital Work Order Placement in Make-to-Order Production

Benefits of Using Sewio RTLS

  • 30 cm accuracy that allows the full flexibility and variability of virtual zones without any changes of infrastructures.

  • Unlike RFID and Bluetooth, Sewio’s UWB-based technology works with higher precision and reliably in harsh metallic and variable
    environments.

  • The ability to scale the system easily and quickly to track more objects and expand the system to more halls.

  • Open and well-documented API.

  • Short deployment time.

Learn More on Sewio RTLS
Sewio UWB RTLS Anchors and Tags

Have any questions?

“

Sewio has given us an enterprise Indoor Positioning System that we can rapidly deliver innovative solutions to our customers. Our previous experience with other indoor positioning technologies and their deployment within automotive industry showed us that harsh metallic environment is the common attribute of all the projects and the main reason why technologies other than Sewio failed. Sewio UWB TDoA based technology is not just a right first-time option for industry projects, but often the only reliable solution on the market.”

Peter Mačuš
CTO of Ceit Group a.s