• Categories:Industry News
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• Time of issue:2021-05-17 14:53
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(Summary description)Andon is not an abbreviation for "install a light bulb", but a proper term for manufacturing informatization. Through Andon, on-site staff can quickly report various problems encountered in production (such as quality abnormalities, equipment failures, lack of materials, etc.), and feed them back to other workstations and production management personnel, so that the problems can be dealt with in the first time , To reduce the impact on the production process. As the concept of lean manufacturing takes root in the hearts of the people, the manufacturing industry's requirements for Andon are also increasing. This article will introduce the evolution process of Andon from hardware equipment to customized software modules, and discuss as the core module of modern MES system, what kind of Andon can meet the needs of different types of production lines and give play to the value of MES. 　　安灯 (Andon) comes from Japanese and means "lantern". In the manufacturing industry, Andon refers specifically to the on-site visual tool in the production workshop first invented by Toyota Motor Corporation. After introducing JIT (Just-in-Time Production), Toyota found that problems that occur on the production line must be dealt with at a faster speed, otherwise it will have a very significant impact on the entire production work. As a result, Toyota has successively used a large number of signal lights for different problem scenarios in major workshops. These signal lights are placed around the workstation or machine tool. When the workers encounter problems, they turn on the corresponding signal lights by pulling wires. At this time, Andon refers to an independent hardware device with simple functions and single scenes. 　　 With the introduction of more automated production equipment, the number of workers in the workshop has also decreased. In order to help production managers to more easily see the Andon signals of multiple production lines, the display screens that focus on the status of Andon are installed in eye-catching locations in the workshop and in the office. Matching with it, Andon's operation mode has also changed from a mechanical pull-wire type to an electronic button type. When the worker presses a call button on the work station, the corresponding light on the large screen in the workshop will be lit, and the office staff can also see the worker call through the computer screen. In this stage, Andon has embarked on the road of "softwareization" from independently operating hardware devices. 　　Technology continues to advance, and the division of labor between production management and on-site support teams has been further refined. Production management and support personnel need to find out what they need to deal with from many problems. As a result, the signal of the Andon system has been upgraded from simple red, green and yellow to a more colorful version. Andon's application scenarios are more abundant, such as pressing the white button when there is a shortage of materials, and calling the supervisor directly through the blue button. 　　 In addition to the improvement of operation methods, Andon system is also further integrated with other modules of MES system, becoming an important part of MES. Workers' reporting and repairs on the Andon system will be linked with MES to automatically generate corresponding data reports to help companies continue to improve production. 　　 Tailoring for the production line is the key to Andon’s success 　　 Like most modules of MES, Andon also faces the problem of "customization". Under different enterprises, different products, or different production organization methods, production line workers have different requirements for reporting problems. How to make Andon "just" cover the production scene of the enterprise, and not because there are too few projects to support the "visualization of problems"; and it will not be mistakenly pressed because of too many projects? Under the background of lean manufacturing, the production process of a company is frequently upgraded. How to adjust the settings of Andon in time after the production process is adjusted? 　　Customized Andon was born to solve these problems. Different from the traditional Andon system, the customized Andon supports the whole process customization from the worker's operation terminal, the large display screen to the data integration with other modules of MES. Generally speaking, the worker operating end of customized Andon is a tablet computer and other touchable devices, and the running Andon calling software lists the "problems" required by the company in the form of large buttons, so that workers can easily find the corresponding problems. Click the button to trigger the process. Matching with the operation terminal is the workshop display large screen and the background distribution, processing, and summary statistics process, which are also tailored according to the actual operation process of the enterp