Lean Digitization System at Schneider Electric Factory

As part of Schneider Electric’s InnovationTalks, a virtual event held in June 2020, the company featured a tour of its factory in Batam, Indonesia. The factory produces a number of products for Schneider Electric technologies, including controllers, drives, relays, and contactors.

According to Budi Sulistiarto, digital transformation leader at the Batam factory, this facility began its digital transformation process in 2017. In 2019, the factory was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Lighthouse factory, indicating recognition of its successful application of advanced automation technologies to drive operational and environmental impacts.

In this video, Sulistiarto shows how workers in the Batam facility use Aveva’s Lean Digitization System, which combines Andon notifications, line performance, work order management, Kanban, workforce interaction, and quality metrics. The system displays levels of good and bad quality product, causes of downtime, and list of products to be produced. The system can also be used to send messages to maintenance or quality technicians to address problems as they arise.

Sulistiarto says use of this software enabled the factory to achieve a 13% increase in operational efficiency.

According to Schneider Electric, the Batam factory has deployed a range of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies, including smart sensors, alarm prediction management, site benchmarking, and augmented reality to create an empowered workforce that has visibility into operations, maintenance, and energy use.

Using these technologies, the factory reported a 44% reduction in machine downtime in one year. In addition, the factory’s use of digital planning and scheduling tools to provide an end-to-end view of demand, align partners, and engage workers led to a 40% improvement in on-time delivery.