MES/Quality
About MES/Quality Software
Once your equipment is in tune and your operations ready for execution, maximizing production value requires dogged attention to key product and process quality variables, target values and limits.
Wonderware MES/Quality software provides everything you need to marshal your equipment, your procedures and your people around a mission of maintaining and continuously improving production quality. Integrated statistical process control (SPC) ensures that your practices are bound by established rules for predictable performance.
Digitizing and automating the procedures that involve people and equipment brings the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your products have been tested to comply with customer, internal or regulatory requirements before they leave the plant.
Fueled with real-time information derived directly from your processes, Wonderware MES Quality is the foundation for your quality improvement initiatives.
What is MES/Quality Software?
Wonderware MES/Quality is the third pillar in the Wonderware Manufacturing Execution System software suite. Where MES/Performance focuses on ensuring that equipment is working to its fullest potential and MES/Operations ensures that the processes are executed effectively to specification, MES/Quality provides the quality sampling execution management and monitoring for fine tuning necessary to implement Good Manufacturing Practices to keep quality variables in check.
What Does MES/Quality Do?
Wonderware MES/Quality software helps manufacturers increase their efficiency in capturing and monitoring critical quality information on the shop floor in real time. MES/Quality is designed for inline quality operations management and quality sample plan execution, for both automated and manual data collection. Integration with plant automation systems provides quality control and SPC for fast moving goods and automated processes, enabling rapid corrective actions and complements LIMS and quality management systems with process and product quality data collection.
Quality Specifications
With Wonderware MES/Quality Software you set the quality variables and different frequencies for quality data collection. The software then guides you in creating sampling plans that define the events and frequencies of data collection carried out to secure complete coverage of quality data collection along a production process. Finally, you define a quality specification for a product, an operation or piece of equipment by selecting the required quality variables, selecting the SPC rules and a plan definition for sample data collection.
You can define as many quality specifications as you want, specifying quality limits and rules for every product, process, equipment or any context that is meaningful for you. Powerful specification version management functionality ensures data consistency and supports the continuous improvement process in quality operations and production process optimization.
Quality Management is an integral component of Wonderware MES
Watch this success story on F&N Dairies, the largest canned milk plant in the world. The Rojana plant achieved its goal of 2,500 cans a minute (i.e., 3 million cans a day or 24 million cases a year), reduced its quality traceability time from 4 hours to 1 minute and achieved “100% First Time Quality, thanks to Wonderware MES.
Executing a Sample Plan
Starting a work order generates sampling plans automatically and the software maintains alignment with execution progress, status and resources. The software then samples quality data from connected devices and schedules operator quality sample tasks to enter the information on quality variables. This frees operators from distracting and difficult coordination tasks, assuring that quality documentation and control are always in line with the specifications while increasing scheduling flexibility in response to unplanned events.
Workflow Management
The software tracks work order execution events to execute the quality data collection procedures aligned with to plan specifications. Advanced workflow management capabilities automate manual data collection and procedures for corrective or preventive action, reducing the time to action and enforcing the standard operating procedure.
Integrated with Process Equipment and Automation Controls
Wonderware System Platform provides the infrastructure for integrating collection of quality data from the plant automation control system. The Wonderware MES/Quality Sample Recording Object provides native integration to Wonderware System Platform and sample plan execution with quality data capture from real-time process data. It also facilitates transformation of that data into consistent electronic records for storage in the MES database.
Enterprise integration capabilities complement plant or enterprise quality management systems with quality operation execution and data collection automation in work order execution and product genealogy context on the plant floor.
Closed Loop Quality Control
Configure MES/Quality to display SPC charts instantly on updates for production or quality operators enables closed loop quality control. The software includes rich SPC trend and chart display capabilities. These include notifications for violations of control and specification limits. Additional notifications are based on a large set of standard SPC rules, indicating specific trends and behavior of quality characteristics.
Near real-time quality monitoring eliminates time delays to non-conformance notifications so corrective actions minimize losses and impact on downstream operations. SPC analysis can be leveraged to “predict” quality issues and, in response, trigger preventive actions to avoid quality losses or even recalls before they cost time and money.
Quality Reporting
Many standard reporting formats come standard with Wonderware MES/Quality. These include quality characteristic detail reports, which filter sample data on multiple characteristics and quality summary reports, which provide details on equipment, product (item), work order and operation category. These reports are published for flexible information presentation via a web browser.
MES/Quality Features
An introduction to MES/Quality features.
Collect
Automate quality data collection for ever-changing production schedules.
Visualize
Display manual and automatic collected sample data in real time.
Act
Apply Best Practices and operational processes
across multiple plants.
Latest Updates from Wonderware MES/Quality
Wonderware MES/Quality includes improved sampling, quality variation analysis and updated SPC charts. The new BPM connector exposes APIs to enterprise models.
New Sampling Methods
New sampling methods, based on production unit count, to generate sampling after X units of production have been reported. Future samples of a sample plan are then predicted based on the standard production rate defined for the product currently produced.
Sample Recording Object Enhancements
Sample Recording Object Enhancements to allow spontaneous triggering of a quality data sample to be taken e.g. in case of unplanned event or specific process conditions.
Minimize Quality Variation
Define cause/cause groups and assign a cause to a sample, to better analyze the reasons of quality variations or deviation.
Updated SPC Charts
The SPC charts are updated to offer more information and display options including statistics on the chart, individual values, mean, and range as well as Cp / Cpk / Pp / Ppk KPI’s.
