Case Mectalent Oy

Mectalent Oy designs and manufactures precision mechanics for various fields of technology on a turnkey basis. In 2017, Mectalent adopted Identoi Oy's IoT-based application solution for monitoring the utilization rate of its machine shop.

"We wanted to take our time to build a utilisation monitoring system to get the right data on production. The idea is to build a performance based payroll system with utilisation tracking as part of it. Currently, tracking is used on cnc machine tools and compressors, where it makes sense to monitor and where data is needed on usage. About 30 machines have tracking in place." says Matti Ojala, Sales Director at Mectalent Oy.

The machines are equipped with sensors that provide real-time data on, among other things, machine operating ratios, utilisation rates and load. The data is linked to Mectalent's ERP system, from which the necessary reports can be compiled.

 "We use the system to measure efficiency on a cell-by-cell basis. The machine fleet is divided into several different cells and one cell may, for example, have four machines operated by one or two employees. The utilisation rate of individual machines does not give a sufficiently comprehensive picture. For example, the utilisation rate of a single machine may be 50% if the same user uses several machines, but the efficiency of a cell may still be 100%. Therefore, the overall efficiency of the cells and thus the plant is more important than the utilisation rate of a single machine." Ojala continues.

So far, the monitoring has not required any major action from the production staff. Currently, a feature is being tested, the introduction of which will expand the information available and also motivate staff to improve utilisation and efficiency.

"During 2019, we aim to introduce a root cause code that will allow staff to better analyse the causes of production outages and thus improve efficiency and utilisation. This feature will be phased in gradually, so that the production team can have the right attitude to change and see how their own actions can improve efficiency."

The monitoring works on Android operating system on both phones and tablets, which also allows remote monitoring of production. Mectalent has been pleased with the utilisation monitoring.

 "The system allows us to measure and collect data that was previously unavailable. The data allows us to know which jobs are worth bidding for, so the system also works very well as a decision-making tool. In addition, efficiency is improved because the worker can see directly on a live screen all the machines in the same cell, rather than having to walk back and forth between machines. We have been very satisfied with the system." concludes Ojala.