How Fitfactory ’ s “ three in one ” MES is changing the way firms work
TECHNOLOGY
Experienced – Fitfactory ’ s chief technology officer Robert Johnston has been with the company for three years but in the industry since 2008 .
GAME- CHANGER
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURES : TOM BANKS
How Fitfactory ’ s “ three in one ” MES is changing the way firms work
When it comes to Fitfactory ’ s awardwinning MES ( Manufacturing Execution System ), it ’ s clear that three into one DOES go .
To run their businesses , most manufacturing companies have established systems in place that usually involve scheduling , shopfloor data capture or machine monitoring .
But thanks to software specialist Fitfactory , there ’ s an MES that combines all three into a single application – and it ’ s an innovation that ’ s earned the Stockton-based company an array of plaudits and awards from the likes of MakeUK and the Tees Tech Awards .
Developed from the firm ’ s Fusion Hive base , Fitfactory Next Generation MES combines disconnected systems into one app to vastly reduce operational inefficiencies .
And according to the man behind it , there ’ s much more to come .
Fitfactory ’ s chief technology officer Robert Johnston has been with the company for three years but in the industry since 2008 and has worked with Fitfactory CEO Jason Pritchard for more than 10 years .
And Robert says that producing a “ three-in-one ” MES is proving a game-changer for Fitfactory and the companies it supplies .
He told Tees Business : “ It ’ s been in development now probably for about 15 months , longer even , and we ’ re still actively working on it .
“ The various apps are also available from other companies , but we ’ re the first to bring them into one application and connect them so they ’ re all speaking to each other .
“ They are three big apps on their own , so it ’ s been a challenge to build them as one .”
A challenge maybe , but a challenge worth persisting with – and that perseverance is paying off , with several engineering and manufacturing companies already feeling the benefits and more poised to adopt it .
But how does it work ? Tees Business asked Robert to explain its three main features :
Production scheduler : “ This allows businesses to take the jobs from their other systems and plan them so they can take quotes .
“ They can say ‘ based on our current workload , we can deliver this job to you by X ’.
“ It ’ s an advanced way to plan shop floor activities .
Shop floor data capture : “ This goes hand in hand with the production scheduler by tracking time on the shop floor to see how long a job takes .
“ Very intuitive and easy to use , it ’ s a way to be more efficient and gives visibility to management .
Machine monitoring : “ We connect wireless IoT devices to the machines
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