Downtime Analysis
Measure and report automatically detected downtime. Understand common causes.
One of the most fundamental capabilities of Busroot is its ability to automatically detect and record periods of downtime on stations.
Downtime is any significant stoppage during a period when the station is scheduled for production. Idle time outside of planned production is tracked separately and not referred to as 'downtime'. (i.e. unscheduled time, planning maintenance, etc.)
Each period of downtime can (and should) be assigned a reason. This can come automatically from the station (using the error code signal), or be assigned by the operator using the tablet interface.
Downtime Detection Methods
Downtime can be detected in 1 of 2 ways:
Lack of Production Output
As Busroot is aware of the planned cycle time of SKUs, if production output has not been observed for significantly longer than this time, downtime can be assumed.
By default, the threshold is set to 150% of cycle time. e.g. If an SKU has a cycle time of 2 minutes, downtime will be assumed after 3 minutes from the last observed production output.
This is a useful method for having reactive downtime detection on stations that produce a range of SKUs with differing cycle times.
Prolonged idle time
By looking exclusively at the productive signal, a threshold of time can be set so that if the station is idle for longer than this time, it is considered downtime.
This is most useful for processes that have long cycle times, and we want to be more reactive than is possible by just looking at the production output.
It is a simpler method that cannot be varied based on SKU being produced.
Benefits
Gain insights into which issues cause the most downtime, to prevent future issues and maximise efficiency.
Setup
Downtime data can be used from Production Cycle monitoring, Utilisation Monitoring or Independent Process Speed.
For downtime related to production cycle monitoring:
Each station to be monitored must have a production schedule. This can be created via Schedule Management page or Quick Schedule Start.
All SKUs to be produced must have a Performance Target set. This is the ideal rate that the SKU should be produced, based on Cycle Time, Units per Minute, Units per Hour or an Independent Process Speed.
For Utilisation Monitoring:
For each station to be monitored, set a utilisation downtime threshold. This is the minimum number of minutes that should be considered as excessive downtime of the station.
Ensure the setting 'Assume All In Shift Time is Planned Production' is set to true.
For Independent Process Speed:
Stations and SKUs must have a Performance Target set. This is the ideal rate that the station should run or SKU should be produced, based on Cycle Time, Units per Minute, Units per Hour or an Independent Process Speed.
A tablet for each station to be monitored.
Daily Workflow
An issue is detected by Busroot.
Production manager will receive a notification via email or by viewing the cockpit. Operator will see an alert on the tablet..
Either operator or production manager assigns a cause to the issue. During team meetings, the previous days Slow causes are reviewed and discussed.
Over longer periods of time this data can reveal trends with the most commonly occurring issues, so they can be prevented in future.
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