Production line management: new software to optimize lines

Production line management becomes a different problem when there is more than one plant, in Italy, and priorities change during the shift. Whoever decides which line to move is on the shop floor, not in front of the office computer, and that is where this project started.

Context

The company needed to manage the production lines of its plants in Italy, setting priorities on the move, according to the plant and the needs of the moment.

After a first analysis, the picture presented to us was this:

• Tight production, with short- and medium-term goals.
• Line priorities change often, even several times in the same shift.
• The starting system is on AS400, with interaction via RPC.
• The machines have mechanical arms.

A web app that talks to the AS400

We wrote a web app and the APIs that handle the interaction with the AS400: the web app calls the APIs, and the APIs talk to the system that was already there. The lines are run from the shop floor, on the move, without going through a fixed terminal.

What it runs on

The interface is designed for ZEBRA rugged terminals, with a barcode reader and a screen of non-standard size.

What an operator does

They see production status in real time, and move lines choosing among those of the plant they are in at that moment.