Summary
When a data center client needed hundreds of custom electrical panels built on a tight schedule, DMC’s Manufacturing Center faced a significant challenge. Each panel variation required unique assembly instructions, quality standards, and inspection procedures, making consistency and traceability critical but hard to achieve.
To manage this complexity, the Manufacturing Center partnered with the Automation team to develop a custom MES application using Ignition. Leveraging their Ignition development expertise and a strong partnership with Inductive Automation, the team created a digital platform that guided assembly, streamlined quality control, and tracked progress from production through shipment, ensuring every panel was built to specification and delivered on time.
Customer Benefits
Unified Shop Floor Data Access
The dynamic application created a single-pane-of-glass experience that enabled technicians and project managers to access build and Acumatica ERP data from anywhere on the facility floor, removing roadblocks to vital information.
Increased Operational Efficiency
The ability to scan and verify part numbers and important warranty information, while also managing production scheduling, greatly improved operational efficiency in a project with many moving parts.
Expedited Training & Onboarding
Access to granular build information from anywhere on the production floor made it possible to quickly bring in new team members and effectively scale the project to meet important deadlines.
Enhanced Traceability & Quality Control
Timestamping, operator ID, and important information at every builder’s fingertips greatly reduced operator error and created systemic traceability.
Solution
The application needed to meet several requirements to support the Manufacturing Center through this complex project; it had to be dynamic, integration-ready, and effective as a training tool while serving as a centralized resource for kitting information, assembly instructions, and build requirements. As importantly, it needed to provide end-to-end traceability and support quality checks to ensure the panels were built and inspected to the highest standard, enforcing build consistency and minimizing any potential issues with the equipment post-shipment.
Workstation-Based App Design
Due to the scale of the project, creating a dynamic app that allowed technicians to access build instructions and panel requirements from workstations throughout the facility was essential to prevent disruptions to the assembly workflow.
The Automation team worked with Ignition’s responsive design features to build this flexibility into the app, allowing builders to successfully work on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. This gave every technician the ability to quickly reference instructions, upload photos, and scan barcodes specific to their designated tasks.
The digital workflow, supported by a SQL backend, made it possible to seamlessly update procedures and work instructions on the fly. Rather than replacing printouts or retraining individuals on process changes, updates could be made once in the application and reflected at every workstation on the production floor. These efficiencies saved the Manufacturing Center significant time over the course of the project, making it possible to quickly deploy and re-train technicians on the assembly process. Additionally, the application’s modular design made it possible to add new variants with their own unique instruction sets and QC checklists.
Production Scheduling and Sales Orders
To manage resources effectively, the Automation team designed the app to integrate with Acumatica, DMC’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Ignition’s ability to query information from our ERP system enabled quicker production scheduling and the ability to streamline production and sales orders. Integrating these two systems vastly improved planning and operational efficiency, which allowed the team in the Manufacturing Center to hit important milestones throughout the project while avoiding scheduling-related setbacks.
Training and Onboarding Efficiency
The Manufacturing Center had to quickly scale its team to build the large number of electrical panels for this project. The project’s timeframe necessitated that DMC start production before the team was fully staffed, which made onboarding new team members a persistent effort throughout the project.
To support onboarding, the Automation team built training capabilities into the app, providing granular step-by-step instructions that acted as an aid for onboarding new team members, answering many questions that would have otherwise required time from a team lead to answer.
This approach significantly reduced training time for new employees, allowing the Manufacturing Center to effectively scale the size of the team and support the complexity of each panel build. While you can’t replace hands-on training, having quick access to accurate work instructions supports large-scale onboarding and easy knowledge transfer.
Component Tracking and Kitting
In addition to assembly, technicians needed to scan the components of every unit. The application streamlined the Manufacturing Center’s ability to scan and store serial numbers of each component and kit them according to assembly instructions. Automating the kitting process made it possible for builders to easily access the number of components tied to a unit, creating consistency across every panel variation and simplifying the team’s ability to track and organize serial numbers.
Traceability and Quality Assurance
The application also needed to be capable of detailed traceability, including timestamping, user identification, part numbers, and maintaining traceability from kitting through final inspection. This level of visibility helped the Manufacturing Center track critical components, support warranty requirements, and achieve the documentation standards required by the client.
Additionally, the data and photos captured during the assembly process allow the DMC team to support equipment post-shipment, enabling long-term management for deployed equipment and quick access to historical inspection photos.
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits came during quality control and project documentation. The system centralized photos, inspection records, and build data tied to each unit, eliminating the need for manual data entry. Information archiving and quality control would have taken much longer for a project of this size; however, the digitized system allowed this process to happen quickly as an integrated part of the workflow.
Key Technologies
Results
Using their extensive knowledge and expertise in Ignition programming, DMC’s Automation team created a custom MES application that helped the Manufacturing Center successfully complete one of DMC’s largest electrical panel build projects.
The resulting digital resource centralized build instructions, production tracking, and quality assurance checks, making it possible for the team to maintain consistency across hundreds of complex units. The application’s detailed traceability gave the Manufacturing Center and the client confidence at every step of the process, from kitting and component assembly through final inspection and shipment.
While DMC is no stranger to using digital tools and standardized quality processes in panel manufacturing, this project highlights DMC’s ability to design and deploy purpose-built solutions capable of scaling production in some of the most complex project environments.
Gearing up to start your next project? DMC can help you scale effectively.
DMC’s Automation team can effectively partner with you through every step, providing MES optimization and digitization expertise.