In today’s fast-paced manufacturing environment, efficiency and productivity are critical to the success of any organization, key among which are its people. Nearly every manufacturing organization today faces a common challenge: how to capture and preserve the valuable knowledge of factory experts before it churns out of the organization. The ArchFX Action Manager is a groundbreaking solution that addresses this challenge by capturing expert knowledge and rendering it alongside real-time analytics, identifying problems earlier in the process, and driving accountability throughout the organization.
The importance of preserving factory experts’ knowledge cannot be overstated. In many organizations, much of the knowledge that guides process resolution is inside the heads of experts on the factory floor. These experts have years of experience and know the intricacies of each machine and process. However, when experts leave the organization, the lion’s share of their knowledge leaves with them, and the organization is left with a knowledge gap. This gap invariably leads to inefficiencies, downtime, and decreased productivity.
The ArchFX Action Manager solves this problem by capturing and preserving the knowledge of factory experts. It provides an easy-to-use interface where workers across the organization can view relevant data and access a playbook of recommended solutions for factory issues. This ensures that valuable knowledge is not lost when experts leave the organization and can be shared and used by workers across the organization in the meantime.
In addition to preserving expert knowledge, the ArchFX Action Manager also helps detect issues earlier in the process. In many manufacturing organizations, production issues are typically detected at the end of the manufacturing process. This is because most data-collection practices are not designed for real-time analysis, and experts may not be aware of the issue until it is too late. The ArchFX Action Manager captures experts’ knowledge and renders it alongside real-time analytics, identifying problems earlier in the process, resulting in improved efficiency, output, and reduced rework.
What good is all the data from your machines and process, and intelligent analytics pulling valuable insights from it, if it doesn’t provide guidance to your factory workers? Action Manager was developed to make sure manufacturers don’t find themselves in this position as they develop Industry 4.0 strategies for their operations. An integral part of the Action Manager is the Playbook. Traditionally, knowledge about how to solve specific problems has been passed down through word-of-mouth, which can lead to information being lost or diluted as it is passed from person to person. By capturing this knowledge in a digital Playbook, the ArchFX Action Manager ensures that it is preserved and can be accessed by anyone who needs it, regardless of whether the original expert is still with the organization.
Moreover, the Playbook functionality drives accountability within the organization. When a problem is detected, the Action Manager creates an action item or ticket, which is then assigned to a specific worker for resolution. This ensures that problems are not left unresolved and that everyone within the organization knows who is responsible for solving them.
One of the key benefits of the ArchFX Action Manager is that actions are known and available to factory workers immediately. Unlike other systems that may have latency issues or require workers to be IT experts, the ArchFX Action Manager provides domain-specific alert modules, complete with the playbook to solve those alerts. This ensures that workers across the organization can view relevant data and access a playbook of recommended solutions for factory issues. This leads to quicker issue resolution and reduced downtime, which results in increased efficiency and productivity.
Another important feature of the ArchFX Action Manager is that it drives accountability throughout the organization. Rather than just providing data to analyze, it works on analyzed data to create actions and tickets and then guides workers to resolution. This ensures that issues are resolved quickly and efficiently and that everyone in the organization is aware of the status of each issue. This level of transparency and accountability can help drive a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
Furthermore, the ArchFX Action Manager is an automatic and customizable solution that helps organizations create a more streamlined workflow. Users can determine which combined triggers create necessary actions and automatically assign the action to a designated operator or supervisor. Those actions can also be manually created and assigned. The ArchFX Action Manager’s library of simple-to-use alert modules takes care of all of the technical details needed to implement complex factory-relevant trigger conditions and guided resolution of production issues.
The ArchFX Action Manager was designed to grow with the organization. As the organization expands and new processes and machines are added, the ArchFX Action Manager can adapt and evolve to meet the changing needs of the organization. This ensures that the organization can continue to capture and preserve expert knowledge, detect issues earlier in the process, and drive accountability throughout the organization.
The ability of the Action Manager to capture and preserve factory experts’ knowledge, provide immediate actions to workers, and drive accountability through action items and tickets makes it an invaluable tool for any organization looking to improve its efficiency, output, and overall quality. And with the Playbook functionality, organizations can be confident that they are using the most effective and consistent methods for problem-solving, today, tomorrow, and beyond.