Safran Ceramics makes production more reliable with Infodream’s M.E.S.

What did Safran Ceramics need?

Safran Ceramics wanted to :

• eliminate paper from the workshop.
• manage changes to production parameters.
• make data more reliable and have instantaneous production monitoring.
• facilitate communication between teams.
• guarantee the quality of the products to our customers.

Eliminating paper on the shop floor.

In the past, work instructions and production tracking sheets were designed on Word files and then printed.

The data collected in the workshop was written on loose sheets by the operators and then entered into an Excel file.

There was therefore a need for digitisation (electronic route card, work instructions, quality check sheets, record, etc).

Managing changes in the range.

As the process can be long and complex, changes to specifications and parameters can take place part way through production of a work order. It is therefore critical that these changes can be managed quickly and securely into the process.

Reliable data and instantaneous production monitoring.

Excel files could be opened and modified by different people without traceability, with the risk of error that this implies.

It was also necessary to ensure consistency in process definition and methods to reduce the variation in shopfloor working methods and allow operators to work as efficiently as possible.

Finally, it was not always clear who had made what changes, when and why, as three types of people were authorised to make changes :

• The process owner.
• The methods team
• The quality department to control version changes

Facilitate communication between teams.

In order to pass on information, travel between the offices and the workshop was a significant waste of time for the teams.

Guarantee the quality of our products to our customers.

The parts produced by Safran Ceramics are sent and tested on a test bench at the customer’s site (other Safran Group entities). These tests are long and costly, so we must be sure that the parts sent meet certain quality criteria.

How was the implementation of the solution?

The implementation of the solution went smoothly.

During the deployment phase, a dedicated computer was provided to communicate with Infodream. A test database was set up to configure the ranges safely before moving to the production base.

The methodists, the driving force behind the project, were the first to be trained and were able to participate in the training of the operators.

How long did it take to set up this MES project?

It took a year from the choice of the solution to going live.

What were the difficulties encountered? And how were they overcome?

There was no MES software before. The main difficulty of the project was to connect to other existing software at Safran Ceramics:

• Smarteam, for design, product names and versions;
• Historian, for recording OF production data;
• Carl Source for machine availability ;
• SAGE for scheduling, follow-up of planning and launching of OFs.

It was therefore necessary to know the environment of each of these softwares to allow Qual@xy to connect to them.

This was not so much a technical difficulty (the M.E.S Qual@xy is designed to connect to the machines and software existing in the factory) as a logistical one. We had to get in touch with the technical representatives of these companies, organise joint working meetings on the agendas of each one in order to move things forward quickly.

The POC (Proof of concept) was quickly put in place.