When Manual Scheduling Hits Its Limit: R. Moore and Sons' Journey to a Smarter Shop Floor
Manual scheduling at R. Moore and Sons was becoming too much to handle. So when they couldn’t find a tool that met their needs, they worked with technology partner COREIoT to create something custom.
From those 4 years of grease, sweat and tears came Smart Shop Floor: an automated scheduling system built by job shops, for job shops. And it’s the only thing that could handle R. Moore and Sons’ complexity. At any given time, 70 staff are operating over 150 machines, revamping 500 components – meaning they need to manage over 8,000 possible combinations of people, processes and machines when it comes to their daily workflow.
R. Moore & Sons regenerates mechanical componentry for heavy industry, inspecting, testing and re-machining components back to zero-hour status so they can be reused. The bulk of their work is restoring diesel engine parts for the mining, oil and gas, and power generation industries.
Lean Manufacturing with One-Piece Flow
Once components are received at their Kewdale facility, parts are inspected and entered into the system. After customers give the go-ahead, the job is automatically scheduled and assigned by Smart Shop Floor.
To control the flow of components and be able to schedule each job individually, R. Moore and Sons uses continuous (or one-piece) flow with a staging area at each work centre, where material handlers prep the component for the upcoming stage. A tablet beside each machine informs operators of their work assignments, allows them to access job specs, activate an Andon light for assistance and even chat with the back office team. A central display shows a live dashboard summarizing who’s where and what they’re working on.
The pre-prep plus the optimized scheduling keeps the machinists focused on their high-value work and has increased capacity.
Combining this just-in-time workflow together with Smart Shop Floor’s granular, per-step visibility means everyone knows “exactly, almost to the hour” when components are going to come off the line and be delivered back to the customer, said Stuart Davis, Managing Director. Because they have better tracking of individual component completion, it’s easier to manage partial dispatch while maintaining proper documentation and customer visibility.
Technology Tackles Complex Scheduling
“There’s a lot of components scheduled through a lot of different work centers. Many of those components need to be sequenced through a number of machines in order. So for us to be able to schedule all that in our heads was becoming extremely difficult,” said Davis.
With more than 100 years of innovation, leadership has always placed a heavy emphasis on finding and embracing relevant technology as a way to stay competitive. “We’re always searching for the next best thing to be able to introduce into the business. It’s going to keep us at the forefront of technology globally to support our customer base,” said Davis.
Automated scheduling was the next big innovation that was going to move the needle. With more orders coming in as the company continued to grow, manual scheduling was creating a lot of confusion and noise. They needed to simplify things, ASAP.
Smart Shop Floor integrates with their ERP system and keeps a running tally on machine availability and staffing schedule. Pulling released jobs from their single source of truth, Smart Shop Floor’s algorithm slots the work according to priority, labour availability and ready materials, then assigns jobs to the fastest and most skilled operators. “It tells us what parts we need, when the ETA due date is, and schedules it all for us without us having to work that out manually with a team leader,” said Chad Geary, Service Manager.
Being able to concentrate on the work itself and not the scheduling has helped move the business forward, said Davis. Overall, it “has really lowered the stress level”.
The Connected Customer Experience
The same progress visibility is also shared with R. Moore & Sons customers through their branded, secure customer portal.
“Before Smart Shop Floor, I pretty much had a phone glued to my ear, even to the point where I trialed one of those headpieces, which drove me absolutely insane,” said Geary. He explained that he was constantly taking calls from customers inquiring what was going on with their orders and when they were getting them back. But now, “the system does everything for me.”
Within the portal, RMS customers see live updates on their job, including current status and delivery date. Photos and reports are available for review. Customers can also chat with the supervisor and operator working on their part.
Conclusion
“Smart Shop Floor, with their technology and being able to understand the challenges we have in manufacturing…I’m so proud of what’s been established,” said Davis – a transformation that’s simplified complex scheduling, streamlined operations, and given customers the visibility they need.