Digital Work Instructions are an integral component of a smart factory, coordinating with the Manufacturing Execution System to achieve paperless manufacturing and greater profitability.
If the MES is the central nervous system of a smart factory, digital work instructions (a.k.a. smart work instructions) are the heart and muscle, distributing the latest instructions to everyone on the shop floor and enforcing the new instructions. The more workers you have, the more valuable digitized work instructions are, but even a single factory benefits from delivering accurate instructions to every workstation exactly when needed every time.
What are Digital Work Instructions?
Digital work instructions software is the paperless solution to guiding operators through their workflows on the shop floor. By replacing paper instructions with digital instructions, manufacturers streamline deployment to minimize downtime, improve quality and compliance, accelerate throughput, and make more money.
Monitor and enforce production processes
Work instructions can easily be tailored to each worker’s task and skill level. With a couple of clicks, you can add any supporting documentation needed such as illustrations, 3D models, animations, videos, and more.
Smart work instructions ensure compliance at every step with built-in verification, data collection, and signature prompts.
Accelerate Deployment – Improve Accuracy
Speed-up deployments and change orders while at the same time improving accuracy. Workers get exactly the instructions they need, accurate and up to date. Instructions are easily accessed by specialized workstations, or through smart tablets and phones.
Manage Variations
Create and manage different variations in work instructions with ease. Instructions are customizable for different lines/workstations, work shifts, variable product features, or parts availability.
Because it’s all digitized, changes can be made and implemented quickly. Authorized users can configure workflows and distribute them in real-time. The system manages version control, so a record of all instructions is always available.
Gain Visibility
Data gathered by Digital Work Instructions can be turned into real-time reports for improved decision-making. You can see work orders completed by day, cycle times, work shift productivity, or any other variable you designate.
Am I having a good day? This is one of the hardest questions to answer in manufacturing. Learn how digital reports can give you the answer.
Expand Your Vision
Digital Work Instructions can be integrated with other corporate systems like Digital Planning, ERP, and PLM to provide a more complete view of your manufacturing operations.
Benefits of Digital Work Instructions
- Improve first-time right metrics and reduce defects with precision and the ability to update process plans after engineering change orders in real-time
- Create a feedback loop with engineering to refine processes after defects, scraps, etc.
- Make more money with a track record of first-time accuracy and compliance
- Leverage IoT to make use of all available data from the shop floor
- Share real-time data securely with other decision-makers in the company
- See how your shop floor is performing in one main interface
- Deploy to fit your needs, from a single shop floor to a global operation
- Automatically enforce certification, signatures, and data collection
- Verify user training to compliance standards
- Decrease training time while maintaining quality
- Incorporate supporting media and documentation to increase productivity
- Provides the foundation for AR and other advanced worker technology
- Leverage tools like barcode scanners for data input and streamlined process execution
- Collect data on operator performance to better understand achievable workloads and hold operators accountable
- Eliminate searches for missing paper and manual rewrites
- Immediately deploy change orders everywhere needed
- Standardize processes and set the foundation for continuous improvement
- Maintain as-built history for full traceability
- Streamline quality reporting and inspection processes
- Promote quality with permissions linked to shop-level certifications
- Digital instructions provide better security and traceability than paper
- Adaptable user-level permissions and SOC 2 compliance
Planning a Path to Profitability
iBASEt works with manufacturers of all sizes to identify the areas that are most in need of improvement. Then we help implement MES, Digital Work Instructions, and other applications in a phased approach that adds value and profitability at every stage.
With these applications now available via the cloud, they are practical and profitable for even medium and smaller sized companies.
In the end, you are talking about operational change management. You need end-user involvement – those who are doing the work to be involved in the process – in order to have any lasting success.
