Good morning. My name is Will and the boss asked me to say a little about our new manufacturing ERP system. Since I started working here at XYZ Manufacturing in 1985 we have changed or upgraded our internal systems a couple of times. This is the first one that really made a difference where I work - in welding. I guess the others helped in the office but mostly that did not affect me.
Now, as I start work and walk up to the kiosk where we punch in to the time clock and get our job assignments, the computer recognizes me and says “Hello, Will, are you ready to start work?” I don’t know how that works but it is a lot nicer than entering an employee ID. Once I am on the clock, I get a display showing the job I need to start on first.
The old system showed a list of several jobs and I would select one. The system selects for me now based on analysis of years of data and I see the job name and the number of units to work on and other information. The same data checking that provides the next job to work on has helped in other areas too. Business has doubled over the last couple of years and while we added some people we now quote a two week lead time and usually beat that. We used to have trouble meeting a six week lead time. The voice asks if I am ready to start on that job and I touch the “yes” icon to begin.
I used to see a list of part numbers that I was supposed to assemble. Now, I have a list with photos or drawings of the parts. The material handlers are supposed to have those parts ready on the rack by my work station and usually they are ready. The parts have the same old bar code label but now I can easily find a part using the photo and then I can touch the screen and move the photo to the job tile with my fingertip. I have a headset with a camera lens too. Sometimes I look at the parts on the rack and let the computer identify them. After moving all the photo icons, I see a short description of the work I am to do along with a drawing that shows where to weld and how my weld will be tested.
Then, when all the welds are complete, my headset camera works like an electronic caliper. It measures the welds and the spacing and compares the cosmetics of the weld to a standard. All the readings are recorded directly to the job. I used to have to type the measurements myself and it is hard to type accurately wearing gloves. Someday we are supposed to begin using a nano-robot to see inside the weld and record that data too.
After my operations are complete, I drag the job icon to the finished tile section on the screen. This will alert the material handler and pretty soon one will show up and they know already if they need a fork lift or can carry my finished work to the next operation. My screen will change right away to the next job for me to work on and the process goes on again. At the end of a day, the computer will say, “Thanks, Will, see you tomorrow”. Some of the guys are thinking we should give the computer a name. We all hear the same voice and it is female. She is a part of our team now.