In Week 4 of our Celebration of Collaborative Manufacturing, we examine some of the advanced communication tools included in Excellerant!
Why traditional communication tools fall short.
Communication is vital for a healthy and productive manufacturing environment. But maintaining communication between the shop floor, engineering, and office staff is a difficult task.
Machine operators are often unreachable by traditional email methods. Operators aren’t even assigned company emails in many shops, as their primary responsibilities don’t revolve around frequent computer access.
In some cases, critical cross-department communications are taking place via text messaging on personal devices. Or cross-shift notes might be transferred via paper sticky notes on machines.
If a job or machine experiences an issue, following the communication trail is nearly impossible. Person-A may have emailed Person-B, who texted Person-C, who left a handwritten note for second shift. Communication is spread across multiple channels, individuals, and chains.
“By creating a direct line between the office and the shop floor, Excellerant’s chat system helps our operators stay focused on the task at hand.
It reduces the time they spend searching the shop for information, helps them relay concerns, and work through issues with senior staff.”
Jeff Cunningham, McMellon Bros., Inc.
Excellerant’s production-centric chat system.
Based on feedback from our customers, Excellerant developed a chat system designed to eliminate the issues of traditional communication. We took a production-centric approach that keeps the whole team involved and updated.
Using Excellerant, operators no longer need to rely on texting, emailing, and handwritten notes. Via machine-mounted tablets, operators have direct and immediate access to team leaders, engineering, office support staff, and more. Chat messages are grouped together per machine and job, so you never have to search your email inbox again.
When a new operator logs onto a machine, the previous conversation history is always available. Unread messages are automatically highlighted, so second shift stays up to date by reviewing notes from earlier in the day.
Order numbers, part numbers, and other important contextual information is automatically included with each message. Excellerant automatically tracks which job is running, who is operating each machine, and hundreds of other data points that help provide context.
Ultimately, our goal is to promote cooperation across departments and solve common areas of miscommunication. We include access to Excellerant’s chat module in both our full Collaborative Manufacturing Platform™, as well as our standalone DNC licenses. Give us a call or schedule a demo to learn more!
Join us at IMTS 2022 for a chance to win $600 in prizes.
In celebration of collaboration, we’re hosting a free raffle at IMTS 2022! If your entry is chosen, you’ll receive (3) $200 gift cards that you get to share with two of your co-workers. Entry is free at our Booth # 133354, East Building, Level 3. We hope to see you there!
