Digital Manufacturing Transformation for Global Mining Equipment Manufacturer
Company Overview
A global leader in mining and rock excavation technology, this manufacturer provides equipment, tools, service, and support for the mining and construction industries. Their product portfolio includes underground drill rigs and bolters, surface drill rigs, underground loaders and trucks, mechanical cutting equipment, crushers and screens, rock drills, and rock tools. The company operates a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Hyderabad, India.
IcSoft Mes Solution Implementation
ChallengesThe company chose to implement IcSoft MES, along with IcSoft’s Data Acquisition Interface and HMI modules. The MES was integrated with the company’s ERP, enabling:
- Seamless import of work orders, route cards, BOMs, drawings, and productionschedules
- Barcode-based MO selection and RFID-based operator login
- Real-time production tracking and bottleneck detection using midpoint scheduling
- Paperless factory with digital route cards, work instructions, and revision-controlled documents
- Quality management with inspections, SPC & SQC, SAR reporting, and ECN tracking
- Machine data acquisition from Fastems/CIMCO and integration with gauges and instruments
- Production and process data logging with reasons for delays and rejections
- Real-time dashboards, alerts for machine downtime, and automatic ERP dataposting
- Use of IcSoft’s barcode feature for traceability from production to final sale (under implementation)
Scope of Work
- Real-time machine loading, operator login, MO tracking and completion
- Document access and revision control from Team Center
- Intermediate material warehouse management and traceability
- Quality data capture, SPC/SQC generation, and inspection alerts
- Order generation and planning with routing, cycle time, and material availability checks
- Reports & MIS: Daily Production Log, OEE, Production Loss Analysis, Inspection Reports, and custom MIS dashboards
Business Challenges
- Despite having modern infrastructure, the company was not able to realize the full potential of its investments due to key challenges:
- Lack of real-time visibility into production operations and bottlenecks
- Inefficiencies caused by releasing orders after the first operation without regard to downstream load
- Frequent changeovers and inventory pile-ups
- Absence of traceability, digital document control, and seamless data integration between ERP and shop floor systems
- Manual data entry and reporting prone to error
- Lack of real-time decision-making data across production, quality, and maintenance
Objectives
To address these challenges, the company defined its key objectives:
- Implement ISA-95 compliant integration of ERP and shop floor systems
- Improve equipment efficiency (OEE) and reduce manual interventions
- Achieve traceability, visibility, and digitization across the production lifecycle
- Enable vendor integration for Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory management
- Enhance quality management and decision support through real-time data capture
Key Outcomes And Benefits
The MES implementation has resulted in the following measurable and strategic benefits:
- Reduction in production lead time from 14 to 10 days
- Realistic delivery date commitments from the sales team
- Considerable reduction in WIP inventory
- Real-time visibility of equipment utilization and quality metrics
- Early detection and resolution of bottlenecks and quality deviations
- Improved document control with live revision tracking
- Rejections and quality-related downtime significantly reduced
- Intelligent quality inspections prompted at defined time intervals
- Expansion of MES usage to support annual planning in the company’s tools division
Testimonials
“The IcSoft team fully understood our needs and configured the MES within planned timelines. The implementation has already brought substantial improvements in our manufacturing operations and now we are exploring it further to take our factory to the next level.
— A Senior Executive