Risks can enter an automation project at just about any stage. Those risks can result in serious consequences from budget and schedule overruns to unplanned downtime, disrupted supply chains, and more. Therefore, it’s important to de-risk your automation project at every possible stage. This ensures errors are reduced to a minimum, as well as ensuring the project …
8 Essential Elements For De-Risking An Automation Project Read More »
Cloud infrastructure solutions, as well as Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS),
Industry 4.0 as a concept provides manufacturers with impressive benefits and wide-ranging opportunities.
Like most businesses, there are several values and priorities that are important to us at SL Controls.
The business case for implementing smart factory technologies is compelling, with tangible improvements in revenue, output, quality, and safety, alongside reduced costs. It is not surprising, therefore, that smart manufacturing technologies are becoming an increasingly important competition driver. The technologies that are part of the Smart Factory include cloud computing, edge computing, vision systems, robotic …
Transitioning to Smart Manufacturing – A Practical and Cost-Effective Approach Read More »
Advances in Smart Manufacturing technologies are changing the manufacturing sector forever. However, those technologies don’t change your core priorities and goals. New technologies or not, you still need to deliver high-quality products that your customers need and want, plus you must maximise competitiveness, productivity, and profitability. Marrying up a transition to Smart Manufacturing with your …
The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) is due to release guidance on Computer Software Assurance. That guidance aims to put critical thinking at the centre of Computer System Validation (CSV) processes. In our latest infographic, we highlight the main differences between traditional CSV and the new Computer Software Assurace (CSA) approach. Traditional CSV …
Infographic: Computer System Validation Vs. Computer Software Assurance Read More »
Technology and computerised systems have evolved greatly over the past 20 years. In that time, cloud computing has become mainstream, and big data is here. When you also add the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), it’s clear that new manufacturing and business technologies will be truly transformative in the coming years. Yet, in the Life …
Is Your Company Ready for the FDA’s Upcoming Guidance on Computer Software Assurance? Read More »
Technology and computerized systems have evolved greatly over the past 20 years. In that time, cloud computing has become mainstream, and big data is here. When you also add the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), it’s clear that new manufacturing and business technologies will be truly transformative in the coming years. Yet, in the Life …
Is Your Company Ready for the FDA’s Upcoming Guidance on Computer Software Assurance? Read More »
“Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.” That’s a quote from Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company. It’s a famous quote, but what does it have to do with flexible manufacturing and mass customisation? Does it have any relevance in the …
How Industry 4.0 Supports Flexibility and Mass Customisation Read More »
It is common to look at the trends that will impact smart manufacturing over the next 12 months and beyond at this time of year. We are in unprecedented times, though, making the manufacturing trends that will impact the life sciences sector in 2021 even more important. Here are some of the key points you …
Top Smart Factory Trends in 2021 for the Life Sciences Sector Read More »
Understanding what is happening now on your production line, and predicting what will happen in the future, is essential for maximising OEE, optimising productivity, and improving business profitability. You can achieve all these things with digital twin technologies. Digital twin technology is one of the most important Industry 4.0 technologies currently available. Digital twins give …
Implementing Industry 4.0 and smart factory solutions in your manufacturing operation requires a fresh approach to solution delivery, platform implementation, and IT infrastructure. Central to most solutions is the use of cloud technologies, such as Microsoft Azure. At SL Controls, we have extensive experience working with a range of cloud solution providers. Plus, we offer …
Benefits of Microsoft Azure for Manufacturers in the Life Sciences & Technology Sectors Read More »
The manufacturing / ramp strategies in use on your production lines are crucial to the success of your business. Specifically, they enable you to profitably produce the required volume of products and, in most cases, leave room for growth in the future. Smart factory solutions allow you to take this a stage further by adding …
11 Manufacturing / Ramp Strategies that Smart Factory Solutions Facilitate Read More »
As with many other people across Ireland in similar positions, the early days and weeks of the Covid-19 lockdown for Darragh McMorrow involved a process of transitioning on multiple levels. Darragh is SL Controls Commercial Director. For Darragh, the transitions involved adapting and adjusting in the workplace, at home, and personally. There were many challenges …
Lockdown Stories: Managing the Transition with Darragh McMorrow Read More »
Expanding manufacturing capacity is essential to meet growing customer demand, but it also presents your business with an opportunity to take further steps towards becoming a Smart Factory. You can even go further than this – implementing an SL Controls Smart Factory solution when expanding manufacturing capacity can improve your overall business and make the …
Like a lot of companies, SL Controls had to pivot quickly when the first lockdown was introduced in March of this year. The restrictions since then have varied as the country battles the Covid-19 pandemic, but life and work for SL Controls employees remains very different from what it used to be. We spoke to …
Lockdown Stories: Taking on New Challenges and Supporting Local Causes Read More »
The smart factory and digital manufacturing technologies are the future of manufacturing. That said, change in business carries risks, particularly when those changes involve creating fundamentally different business and manufacturing processes. Smart factory technologies are not immune to such risks. One of the clearest examples of how the smart factory can go wrong comes from …
Too Much Too Soon – Avoiding Factory Automation & Smart Factory Implementation Risks Read More »
Everyone’s experience of living and working during lockdown will have been different, but there are a lot of similarities, too. Many of us are now working differently than we ever did before. Re-evaluating how we use our time is another common theme having lived through the spring/summer lockdown, as is looking again at our work-life …
Company, Team, Family: The Lockdown Experience for SL Controls CEO Keith Moran Read More »
Manufacturing in all sectors is increasingly becoming data driven. Part of this shift to data is the use of databases for parts tracking on a production line, rather than the more traditional PLC shift register approach. With a database managing the movement of data, individual machines on the line can operate independently, processing multiple lots …
Case Study: Performance Monitoring of Databases in High-Volume Production Facilities Read More »
The needs of the high-volume manufacturing sector are rapidly changing, particularly in highly regulated industries. If you are in a leadership role in one of these industries, you need solution providers who can respond quickly to your requirements to ensure you remain competitive while also maintaining accuracy, quality, and compliance. This requires a new approach …
Taking an Agile Approach to Talent Management to Meet Client Requirements Read More »
Two concepts known as vertical integration and horizontal integration are key to moving your manufacturing facility closer to an optimised Industry 4.0 operation. We discussed the benefits of Industry 4.0 vertical integration in another blog. Here, we’ll look at the advantages and benefits of Industry 4.0 horizontal integration. Let’s start with a recap – what …
Vertical integration is about converging OT (operational technology) and IT (information technology) in your business, in addition to integrating processes and other systems across different departments and business units. In its most advanced form, it involves all aspects of the business, from factory floor systems and processes to the ERP (enterprise resource planning) platform, CRM …
Benefits of Industry 4.0 Vertical Integration – Where OT and IT Converge Read More »
In an Industry 4.0 context, horizontal and vertical integration offers substantial benefits to pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. These benefits include everything from improved agility and flexibility to enhanced productivity, decision-making, and competitiveness. Horizontal and vertical integration delivers these benefits by achieving unprecedented levels of alignment across entire organisational ecosystems, from the factory floor to …
Industry 4.0 is transformative. Among other things, it enables you to move from being a product-centric organisation to being customer-centric. This presents massive and potentially game-changing opportunities for your business. Implementing Industry 4.0 and Smart Factory solutions is, of course, a marathon rather than a sprint. That said, even in the early stages of the …
The Human-Centred Approach: A Key Component to Industry 4.0 Success Read More »
OEE is a well-established method of measuring productivity in manufacturing operations. Its origins can be traced back to the 1950s, however, so does it still have relevance today in the Industry 4.0 era? Not only is OEE still relevant, but its importance has been amplified with the opportunities and challenges created by Industry 4.0 technologies …
The Relevance of OEE in the Industry 4.0 and Smart Factory Era Read More »
Often when discussions take place around Industry 4.0, they revolve around technologies. In other words, how technologies like cloud computing, robotics, AI, digital simulations, autonomous vehicles, data analytics, etc are creating opportunities for manufacturers to move into the Industry 4.0 era. Industry 4.0 is about much more than technologies, however. Instead, it is about digitally …
Industry 4.0 and the Importance of Technology, Executive Support, and Skills Alignment Read More »
Modern technologies make it possible to create digital simulations, digital twins, and virtual 3D models of products, parts, manufacturing processes, machine processes, systems, and more. Engineers can then use these simulations and models to facilitate the design process, improve quality, identify errors, and improve performance. They can do this by testing multiple design variations in …
Digital Validation and Why It’s Important to Pharmaceutical and MedTech Manufacturers Read More »
In a previous blog, we outlined what the digital supply chain looks like in the Industry 4.0 era. To briefly recap, it is not just about operating digitally – communicating digitally, analysing data digitally, etc. Instead, it is about connecting all elements in your supply chain in real-time, providing you with simultaneous and instant communication …
How Developing a Digital Supply Chain Will Improve Your Business Read More »
Traditionally, supply chain management was a back-office function in manufacturing businesses. It was important, of course, particularly in regulated sectors like pharmaceuticals and MedTech, but it wasn’t central to the performance and management of the company. In other words, it wasn’t on the day-to-day radar of C-Suite executives – CEOs, CFOs, etc. This is changing …
The Importance of Industry 4.0’s Digital Supply Chain Read More »
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