New Solution to Close the Loop Between Product Design and Factory Floor

Manufacturers are currently undergoing a transformation driven by digitisation of the manufacturing process, “lean” streamlining of operations, and increased regulatory pressures on product quality.
To respond to this pressure, GE Intelligent Platforms and PTC has announced the availability of a new solution today to help manufacturers close the loop between product design and production execution on the factory floor. This new and innovative solution, Proficy + PTC Windchill Solution, ensures real time visibility between the key business systems that support engineering and manufacturing, which enables manufacturers to:

1.    Improve plant performance and quality
2.    Shorten production times
3.    Reduce and optimise work-in-progress inventories
This closed-loop process capability ensures real time visibility between the key business systems that support engineering and manufacturing, which enables manufacturers to improve plant performance and quality, shorten production times and reduce – and optimise – work in progress (WIP) inventories.
Manufacturers are currently undergoing a transformation driven by digitisation of the manufacturing process, “lean” streamlining of operations, and increased regulatory pressures on product quality. In addition, manufacturers are recognising the value of Master Data Management to protect the fidelity of the data generated and exchanged between the core systems of record – enterprise resource planning (ERP), product lifecycle management (PLM) and manufacturing execution system (MES). The Proficy + PTC Windchill Solution provides a PLM-MES connection that can manage a closed loop of product information between engineering, manufacturing and production.
“Product structures that were defined by engineering can now accurately become the basis for manufacturing routings and manufacturing’s bill of materials – which are then used to manage shop floor activity,” said Jim Walsh, general manager, GE Intelligent Platforms. “Shop floor information such as the as-built bill of materials and non-conformance can then automatically be shared back with the PLM system to complete the closed loop.”
Customers can immediately begin leveraging this solution to: shorten product release cycles and respond faster to changing market demand, avoid rework and thereby lower product development costs and increase upstream and downstream visibility to ultimately increase overall product quality.
“The Proficy + PTC Windchill Solution allows manufacturers to build faster, better and more cost-effectively,” said Brian Shepherd, EVP Enterprise Segments, PTC. “But equally important, this integrated, fully featured offering has been developed in partnership between two best-of-breed solution providers. That level of knowledge, experience and reliability cannot be matched.”