Production Planning and Tracking
PPG, a global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, and specialty materials, was struggling with a cumbersome manual planning system that left them printing out, manually validating, and compiling data on numerous spreadsheets. The data was there but lacked context and process visualization to make it useful.
Because PPG was relying upon data that was more historical than timely, the ability to make informed real-time decisions on the plant floor was compromised. The data was a lagging indicator of what HAD happened at some point in the past with delays anywhere from hours to even a week or more.
They wanted the ability to coordinate everything on the shop floor—from the origination of each process step, to scheduling raw materials, triggering movement of materials to the line, and ensuring the availability and efficient use of equipment.
PPG had a clear understanding of the metrics that were vital for managing their operations and improving their processes. They wanted a system that would allow them to highlight these metrics and provide actionable data to target areas for improvement.
PPG desired:
After researching a variety of OEE solutions and scheduling products, PPG decided to partner with Polaris Automation to implement their Ignition-based Chordata Production Tracking and Production Planning Modules at the Delaware, Ohio, PPG facility.
Polaris Automation specifically configured its Ignition-based Chordata Production Tracking and Production Planning Modules to meet PPG’s unique requirements. Production Tracking was implemented to provide real time data from the plant floor to optimize production and enhance their decision-making abilities. Production Planning was implemented to optimally schedule assets on the plant floor based on orders that were sent to Chordata from the ERP system. Ignition provided a framework for Polaris Automation to develop Chordata using scalable, reusable components that can be easily deployed from client to client.
The Chordata Production Tracking Module was implemented rapidly – the first two production lines were up and running with Chordata within a few weeks. This implementation provided the foundation and insights needed to move forward with the Chordata Production Planning Module. This module was configured and deployed in the PPG facility in Delaware, Ohio in early 2024.
Our solution met all of PPG’s requirements and included:
The implementation helped PPG achieve their goals for functionality, useability, and efficiency. Within a short time, they have seen significant operational improvements and efficiencies in operations. The data entry to set schedule has been reduced by approximately 95%, and the Paint Filling schedule is now set in under 30 minutes with live information from Tank Tracker. This is a fraction of the 3 hours it previously took to set manually.
The drag and drop scheduling function and metric dashboards have been particular highlights for PPG for their intuitiveness and ease of use.
“Using Ignition’s inheritance model has allowed Polaris Automation to expand existing frameworks and configure solutions to meet specific objectives for users like PPG. This makes the development process exponentially faster and more efficient. Following this work with PPG, Polaris Automation now has reusable Ignition-based Production Planning and Production Tracking frameworks that can be deployed even more rapidly on future implementations.”