Plant Increases Efficiency With Mitsubishi Electric Industrial PC Solution

In manufacturing, speed and accuracy are paramount. Anything that slows down production can have a significant effect on a company's bottom line. When manufacturer FCC (Adams) wanted to increase its efficiency, reporting ability, simplify visualisation on the production line and become more cost efficient, Mitsubishi Electric Automation was there to help the company achieve its goals in spectacular fashion.

Headquartered in rural Berne, Indiana, FCC (Adams)  creates automatic transmission clutch assemblies and components for major automotive companies in the United States and abroad. The company does everything from development of products, such as friction materials. to assembly.

Pen-and-Paper Processes Inhibit Productivity

FCC (Adams) wanted to modernise the way it collected and reported on production line data. The manufacturer has four main production lines, each containing several dozen stations. The data collection procedure at the time was completely manual, requiring station operators to record manufacturing problems or line issues throughout the day on paper forms, which were then processed by one employee who typed the handwritten data into an Excel spreadsheet. This process left a wide margin for human error, and daily production reports were typically delivered to the production manager 24 hours later, or more.

During daily production meetings, the team was limited in the ability to discuss specific issues and problems from the previous production day due to the lag in production reports. Company leaders wanted the ability to react quicker to areas that needed attention, such as which stations had downtime or which machines were kicking out too often.

After learning about the possibilities with data collection solutions, Mitoshi Sawaki, Assistant Chief Engineer, and others informed company leaders of the possibilities, and the manufacturer began to make plans to implement a change on the production floor.

"We went from basically using pencil and paper to having an accurate data
collection system that helps us understand the issues that we have on a daily basis."
- Tony Ingram, Senior Staff Member at FCC (Adams)

Industrial PC Provides Real-Time Data Access

FCC (Adams) was a longtime customer of Mitsubishi Electric and had been using Mitsubishi Electric PLCs, servos, and other tools for years. Because of the consistent reliability, discussing a data collection solution with the vendor was a natural fit.

When connected to the assembly line, the MI3000 Industrial Computer provides automated, real-time visualisation of the entire process, including any alarms or issues on the line itself. It collects data seamlessly and compiles it into any number of reports as defined by the user. The CC-Link IE network provides a full 1 Gbit/s performance across the whole network, regardless of device type, eliminating hidden bottlenecks. It allows manufacturers to integrate a wide variety of automation components into a single, seamless automation system.

5 Reasons The Team Liked The Mitsubishi Electric Solution

• One-time purchase with no additional maintenance fees after installation
• Easy learning curve, thanks to the plant's high familiarity with Mitsubishi Electric network architecture and PLC software
• Flexible solution that could accommodate future design changes at FCC (Adams)
• Willingness of the Mitsubishi Electric team to fine-tune and optimise the solution after installation to meet specific needs
• Data output format support for Excel and ability to change or organise differently as desired
• Easy programming to pinpoint the specific data points for collection

FCC (Adams) finalised the deal and installation on Line 1 in about a week after both sides got together to create the project specifications and define the system architecture. The system was set up to measure target production, actual production, efficiency (in %), and downtime, among other parameters.

Empowered to Do More, with Less

These days, production Line 1 at FCC (Adams) is more efficient than ever. With automatic visualisation of data in real time, production managers can see right where issues are occurring and address them quickly so they don't escalate or slow down production for days.

"We were able to simplify our process through this, versus doing all the
hands-on and going out to the machine and doing the recording and everything.
Now it's right there, a few clicks on the computer and you've got the information
you need."
- Tony Ingram, Senior Staff Member at FCC (Adams)

It used to take at least two people to gather the line data and compile it into a report. Now just one person can manage the entire process and still have time to focus on other tasks.

Biggest Benefits of The Solution:

• More accurate information on line performance - no human error
• Line operators working more efficiently - issues addressed immediately
• Significant time savings in completing and reacting to reports

Now FCC (Adams) can record automatic operation status, alarm history, test results and other metrics on its machines and lines. The solution has allowed them to streamline, manage, and organise their data in a way that made it more readily usable.

Looking for more information? We can help with that...

If you want to know more about how Mistubishi Electric automation solutions could benefit your automotive manufacturing operation, or have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch on 01254 685900 and our Technical Support Engineers will be happy to chat. Or, get you local Field Sales Engineer down to your site for some face-to-face advice!

Check Out The Success Story Video Below