IoT-BASED MATERIAL & ASSET TRACKING FOR AEROSPACE & COMPOSITES

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1 THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO IoT-BASED MATERIAL & ASSET TRACKING FOR AEROSPACE & COMPOSITES January, 2018

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS// 03 OVERVIEW 04 FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS 07 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 08 SCALABILITY & COSTS 08 GETTING SUCCESSFUL WITH TRACKING 08 THE COST OF DELAYING THE IMPLEMENTATION

3 Overview// Modern manufacturing requires real-time decisions based on a long and growing list of variables and constraints. As production volumes and complexity increase, manufacturers are faced with more unforeseen problems, and have less time and ability to make optimized decisions resulting in waste and inefficiencies. Leading manufacturers are realizing that harnessing IoT (Internet of Things) to tightly manage material, WIP, tools and other assets on the shop floor is the way forward. Nevertheless, bringing such innovation to your organization requires planning ahead and paying attention to the key factors described in this document. The Material & Asset Tracking System should offer real-time visibility into the production floor managing of the various raw materials such as rolls, core splices, fiber spools, resin buckets, tools and kits lifecycles, including creation, tracking and maintenance cycles (where applicable). The system should provide alert mechanism, history log and a traceability mechanism to ensure top products quality and serve audit requirements, out-life tracking, efficient production and inventory planning. More broadly, linking the physical and the digital worlds via the Industrial IoT (Internet of Things) could create significant efficiency gains. PAGE 3

4 Functional Requirements// Manage Assets and Asset Properties The system should manage multiple assets (new assets can be added), each with a rich set of properties such as name, ID and shipment date. Each asset has predefined properties. The system should allow to edit properties labels and show or hide properties. Configure Expiration Date (alert once getting close to the expiration date of material), Exposure Time Left (alert once getting close to the end of the allowed exposure time), Tool Autoclave Cycles Left (calculates the amount of autoclave cycles allowed until the next tool treatment). Usage Time left: relevant only for tool tracking. Calculates the remaining time until the next tool treatment. Track Assets Location Track the location of assets as they move from one station to another throughout the manufacturing process: rolls, kits, resin buckets, resin kits, core splices, tools or other assets. MAT integrates to RFID and other shop floor sensors to collect real-time, context-aware information of assets location and condition. Barcode or manual reporting of location is possible, or a hybrid of barcode and RFID. Configure Locations The system should support multiple locations (Stations). Assets are reported to move from one location to another using RFID or other sensor technology. Each location has an exposure factor which represents the influence of the location on the asset s exposure time. The locations and their exposure factors should be configured based on your requirements. Track Tools Duty Cycles for Preventive Maintenance Tracking of tools whereabouts among deferent locations and their duty cycles for preventive maintenance. Report maintenance activity preformed for a specific tool. Track Shelf Life of Raw Material and WIP Automatically calculating exposure time and expiration of composite material and WIP (Work in Process). Track shelf life of assets by providing screen notifications, alerts, s or SMS. Genealogy and Digital Thread Handle asset relationships - creating the asset s full genealogy by tracing which raw material is added to a kit. This operation triggers the recalculation of the shelf life parameters so that the new created asset will inherit the strictest expiration date. Extend Material Shelf Life Extend shelf life parameters (expiration date and exposure time) based on authorization control. Cutting and Kitting Support cut and kit operation by representation of roll cutting, nest data, and derived kits. Sort, Filter and Search for Assets Sort asset list by selected column such as Asset Name, Material ID, Expiration Date etc, or search for a specific asset using typing or scanning. PAGE 4

5 Manage Assets Events The system should track and maintain the events in a history log (asset ID, time stamp and event type). For example, archiving, changing station and changing shelf life extension parameters. Performing a single operation on multiple assets simultaneously is supported for the operations: edit, change location, archive, export log history, print PDF label, change in shelf life and curing of a kit. Trace History of Events View assets that were added to other assets such as creating kits from rolls and resin kit from resin bucket. Add assets to other assets. This operation triggers the recalculation of the shelf life parameters (expiration date, exposure time and maximum temperature) so that the resulting asset will inherit the strictest values among its components. View assets that were added to other assets (pulling back the digital thread to the raw material). Export asset history log into excel or csv for audit purposes. Create New Assets as Manufacturing Progresses Manually (one by one) Batch creation of kits and resin kits with similar characteristics Mass import from excel or csv file for independent assets Creation of child resin kits from parent resin buckets Report Cured Kits Once assets are reported to be cured their expiry date is deleted in the system while the exposure time and the maximum storage temperature of a kit is modified to be N/A. After curing a kit, the user will not be able to remove the components and resulting assets that were already added to this asset. Archive an Asset Archive an asset when not in use (e.g. exhausted, damaged, expired). Support automatic end of life of an asset (without UI intervention) PAGE 5

6 Configure Customized Alerts Alerts for items that are close-to or exceeded expiration date and exposure time; Short rolls alert for improving material utilization; Maintenance cycle alerts for tools, and more. To support optimal utilization of material and improved quality control, the system should offer an alert mechanism that allows the following configuration, for example: For material & kits: Alert threshold of number of days for Expiration Date (red indication for overdue, yellow indication for close to expiration) Alert threshold of number of hours for Exposure Time (red indication for overdue, yellow indication for close to exposure) Alert threshold of number of meters for Roll Length For tools: Alert threshold of number of hours for Usage Time Left (red indication for overdue, yellow indication for close to expiration) Alert threshold of number of Autoclave Cycles Left (red indication for overdue, yellow indication for close to exposure) Live Map Real-time visibility into the production floor using a live map view of the tracked locations including a summary view. Presents all movement of assets within the tracked locations including a summary view enabling better control of the production floor. Integrate with Existing Systems The system should be easily integrated with ERP, Inventory Management Systems and other existing systems to ensure the continuity of information flow, avoiding the need to re-enter data. Integrate with Downstream Cut Planning Optimization Systems (e.g. FabricOptimizer) The system should provide an up-to-date list of raw material including information about exposure time and remaining shelf life to systems that plan the jobs for the cutting machines to streamline the Cut & Kit manufacturing processes.kits planned to be created by a Cut Planning Optimization System are inputted on-the-fly to the Material and asset tracking system replacing manual reporting of the physical kits created. In-house Printing of Passive RFID Tags Integrate to a passive RFID printer to generate passive RFID tag labels and a label printer. Support configurable data to be printed on the labels. PAGE 6

7 System Requirements// User Authorization An authorization control mechanism should support different roles, such as: 1. Administrator define users and passwords and can change shelf life parameters 2. Supervisor can change shelf life parameters 3. Standard user Quick Installation The system should be easily installed with preference to modern web-based application that can be viewed on standard internet browsers such as Microsoft Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox and alike. Ease of use The system should offer a modern and intuitive user interface and be accessible from every internet browser on PC s, tablets and mobile devices available on the production floor. Integration to Future IoT Platforms As the market moves towards IoT cloud platforms, it is important that the system can integrate to these upcoming digital platforms developed by industrial leaders such as GE (Predix) and Siemens (TeamCenter). RFID support Automatically change assets location using cost effective passive RFID. Readers will be used as gates to identify that an asset passed into a predefined area. Receiving tag number, IP and port from the reader. Converting the reading into location (station) and updating the asset s location automatically. Visual or auditory feedback for change location event, oriented in RFID, can be added using a GPI Box, that will notify the user that the asset changed its location in the system. In addition, option to perform the feedback after checking the asset conditions based on its properties. Supporting three tags attaching mods: - Auto generating a tag for an asset and printing it. - Manual attachment of pre-generated tags that were already printed. - And mix mode (supporting both). Automatically printing tags when importing assets to the system. Support health check - alerts regarding disconnection with a reader should be presented on screen in real-time and can be sent to predefined address (require access to a SMTP server). History log of such events is available to all users. Based on RFID signal, assets that left the tracked area can be defined automatically as archived assets. PAGE 7

8 Scalability and Costs// The system should be flexible and easily scale to cover larger areas as well as track further asset categories. The system should combine RFID sensors alongside with economical barcode technology to optimize infrastructure costs as necessary. The software cost model should allow organizations to pay per the level of usage, for example, per number of tracked assets. Getting Successful with Material & Asset Tracking// As with any complex project, it is highly advised to hire professional consultants specializing in Tracking, IoT and manufacturing disciplines. Make sure your vendor offers experienced consultants that have the proven proficiency required for a successful deployment, taking care of the various stages starting from project definition, through integration, testing and finally successful launch. The Cost of Delaying the Implementation of Material & Asset Tracking// The Cost of Delaying the Implementation of Material & Asset Tracking OBJECTION We have too many important projects. We lack the staff to run the programs. RESPONSE All the more reason to bring in Material & Asset Tracking software, since it can increase the ROI of every other program you run. By automating and streamlining the processes, you can react far faster and more flexibly to customer demands, and with less mistakes (making the wrong part, or of the wrong configuration!). The early you start, the higher the chances you manage your material and WIP properly avoiding re-work and scrap. It s true that Material & Asset Tracking doesn t run itself. The more you put in, the more you get out. That said, you can hire consultants or select a vendor that offers Professional Services to help you get up and running. PAGE 8

9 PLATAINE 465 Waverley Oaks Rd, Suite 420, Waltham, MA Copyright 2018 Plataine Ltd. All rights reserved. This document is intended for general information purposes only and does not consider the reader s specific circumstances. Plataine disclaims to the full extent permitted by applicable law, any and all liability for the accuracy and completeness of the information in this document.