Art for OEE’s Sake

COALVILLE, England - Neustro, the business systems experts, specialising in ERP, CRM and data collection, have commissioned Californian artist Matt Gaulden to create a kinetic sculpture for the PPMA Show at the end of September 2009 at the NEC, Birmingham England. www.ppmashow.co.uk/page.cfm/Link=1/t=m/goSection=2

Neustro were appointed as a Value Added Partner by Shoplogix, a developer of Real-time Performance Management (RPM) solutions for sustainable Continuous Improvement, in April 2009. Director Martin Roberts was seeking a way to showcase the capability of Plantnode.

Roberts explains “Plantnode, which is a self contained device, enables our customers to automatically track and monitor production as well as equipment, and gain real-time visibility on the plant floor to make better decisions. Plantnode can be installed on legacy machines whether they are PLC or non-PLC based; this opens up a whole new avenue of opportunity that other solution providers just can’t offer. Our manufacturing clients can now have a real-time feed to the plant floor and get a more realistic picture of productivity for the entire plant. The extraordinary visibility Plantnode provides helps to quickly identify opportunities for improvement and helps manufacturers become substantially more efficient to reduce costs on every machine, not just newer more expensive machines.”

“However,” Martin added, “We were looking for a way to show Plantnode working to demonstrate how it can give instant insight to OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness). After some thought I hit on the idea of a toy marble run but realised that it would have some limitations.”

After some research Martin discovered Matt Gaulden who produces rolling ball and kinetic sculptures as works of art. Matt’s sculptures are displayed in museums and are commissioned by private collectors around the world. After some discussion Neustro placed their own commission with Matt for a rolling ball sculpture that is over five feet high and more than two feet wide. It will have 3 three tracks which will allow Neustro to simulate a production machine. Sensors from Plantnode will be placed on the tracks and they will represent the ‘heartbeat’ pulse, quality measurement and a temperature sensor. The information gathered will then be displayed in Plantnode’s graphical web based interface showing ‘machine performance’ - particularly OEE.

“I think that visitors to our stand will be in for a visual treat when they see our rolling ball sculpture in full flow,” said Roberts. “I also believe that people will appreciate the full power of Plantnode in helping them improve their operational efficiency.”

About Neustro Consulting Ltd.

Neustro is an independent company that specializes in the optimization of business processes and systems in the manufacturing, distribution and service industries. Neustro also specializes in the implementation, optimization and support of Microsoft Dynamics AX and all versions of the Infor Baan product suite. For more information visit, www.neustro.com.

About Shoplogix

Shoplogix is a leading provider of real-time performance management solutions that optimize manufacturing processes to reduce costs and increase profitability. Shoplogix solutions form the foundation for continuous improvement by providing manufacturers with the tools to rapidly improve plant performance and the technology to sustain productivity.

For further information contact: Martin Roberts, martin.roberts@neustro.com, +44(0)1530-811400

Source: Neustro Consulting Ltd

For further information contact: Martin Roberts, martin.roberts at neustro.com, +44(0)1530-811400