ABB's partners for real time production software

An ABB Automation Tech (Instrumentation + Automation) product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 10, 2004

ABB has announced a dedicated UK channel partner agreement for the distribution of its recently launched productivity improvement software, Real-Time Production Intelligence (Real-TPI).

ABB has announced a dedicated UK channel partner agreement for the distribution of its recently launched productivity improvement software, Real-Time Production Intelligence (Real-TPI).

Initially, two companies have been appointed to sell Real-TPI: Coventry-based MCS and Maidenhead company iControl.

These two companies are combining their technical and intellectual knowledge to create a new service based around Real-TPI, called Sustema said ABB.

The channel partner agreement is in addition to direct sales by ABB of Real-TPI as part of its robotics services.

Real-TPI is software that collects and analyses production data, using it to identify ways to increase production efficiency.

The software can help manufacturers recover the estimated 40 per cent of production capacity that is wasted through stops and interruptions.

Real-TPI is claimed to measure how current assets are performing, identifies all losses and weaknesses in existing equipment, tracks daily progress visually using key performance indicators and virtually eliminates data entry time and paperwork, whilst eradicating the need for inefficient stopwatch studies.

The company also said that the software avoids inaccurate and inconsistent floor reporting.

"Real-TPI is a truly standard package, which is non-intrusive in so much that it sits on the existing production line.

It also provides a host of different displays that gives all plant personnel production performance in the formats that they prefer for loss analysis and the facilities to drill down for more detail of the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

There is nothing else in the world today that has the power or the reach that Real-TPI brings to manufacturers," said Peter Fox, ABB's System sales and account support manager.

"While it is cost effective to install and easy to use, understanding exactly how to recover the 40 per cent lost production capacity needs the depth of understanding that both we and our channel partners bring.

MCS, iControl, ABB and Real-TPI are a formidable combination that have the potential to revive the fortunes of the UK manufacturing sector.

The channel partners use ABB Real-TPI along with their own Total Production Efficiency (TPE) methodology to connect all elements of the overall value chain to provide between five to 10 per cent savings directly to the bottom line, making the real time balance sheet," he added.

He continued to explain that the combination of companies allowed corrective actions based on accurate information which lead to increased productivity or production efficiencies, reduced labour, stoppages, machine hours, maintenance and quality issues.

It would also create capacity improvements via production efficiencies and improved control over the production cycle, whilst identifying bottlenecks and performance degradations by getting all departments to work towards common goals.

"We are extremely excited and confident that we can make a positive impact in virtually all manufacturing lines in the UK.

So we are offering CEO's, operations, production directors and financial directors a free chance to challenge our top team by coming up with their biggest or most painful production issue.

We will provide a top level highly qualified team to provide them with a free consultation.

We guarantee that we can solve their biggest issues and have bottom line results for them and their shareholders," said Steve Poole, managing director of MCS.