Procedures and instructions: the industry and services sector use them on a daily basis.
Just think of the many mandatory quality controls (FDA, IFS, ISO, etc.), preventive maintenance actions, inspections (5S, safety, etc.) or the daily reporting of line parameters (speed, temperature, etc.). One by one, they are typically carried out on the basis of paper forms, as well as their feedback. And this on the basis of procedures and instructions where there is a good chance that the most recent or correct version will not be used. In addition to generating erroneous data, this also requires a huge time investment from those responsible. After all, this information must be collected and be entered into a system after a check. This in turn will increase the chance of creating incorrect data.
A spearhead of Factory of the Future is the digitisation of processes. One of the philosophies behind this is to evolve into a paperless environment.
Imagine that we immediately report the results of the monthly maintenance digitally, enter process parameters directly online, etc. Predictive maintenance and problem cause analysis then become much easier to implement. We ultimately all aspire to a Factory of the Future that is based on robust processes.
Jeroen Van den Hove
