A Real-time system is a technology tool, which gathers and distributes information to everyone in the factory as events are happening. Real-time System is well proven technology to achieve realistic production goals, at reduced cost and increased profit and meets customer needs at on-time delivery.

Need for RealTime System

The real time production monitoring system in manufacturing industries enables users to continually monitor production process and collect real time information with regard to reliability,accesibility and maintainability of the equipement.Information must be collected and disseminated quickly and accurately in order to meet the production goals.

• Today's manufacturers must do more with less
• Improve quality throughput and reduced overheads
• Proactively detect and react to the problems before they escalate
• Analyse and rank problems the best direct corrective efforts
• Learn from the process and use this knowledge and improve and refine

Production monitoring system provides centralized production monitoring and counting for use with any industrial or mass production environment.

The key objective of a real-time system would be its ability to collect production information on real time basis which would enabable the production management team to respond in a timely manner to solve any production related issues that may arise.

RealTime Production Monitoring System is a revolutionary technology desined to provide real time information to production management team to effectively manage the complex requirements of apparel manufacturing processes.

About ProCon

Crystal’s ProCon is a revolutionary digital technology tool for achieving real time goals in the Garment and Apparel manufacturing Process. ProCon is a digital assistant in the quest for maximizing enterprise productivity.

Global market and technology are forcing tremendous changes in the Textile and Apparel industries. ProCon system is focused on the issues, complexities and opportunities for Apparel and Textile companies and their suppliers. ProCon system is fully interactive and integrates with the complete range of distribution, material and capacity planning, manufacturing and financial systems which makes it the most comprehensive real-time system.

The key objective of ProCon system is to collect production information on a real time basis to enable the production management team to respond instantaneously and to solve any problems that may arise within the line. ProCon system operates without requiring any changes or placing unreasonable demands on the way your business operates. ProCon system yields returns with cost savings to pay for your system, right from the first day it is installed. ProCon system has the capability of making almost every apparel manufacturer more competitive and better supplier.

ProCon System can be Implemented for Cutting, Sewing, Checking,AQL, Washing, Finishing and Packing.

ProCon system works on following Identification Technologies commonly termed as i-Tags.

• iButton Tags
• RFID - Low frequency (125 Khz)
• RFID - High Frequency (13.56 Mhz)
• RFID - Laundry Tags(13.56 Mhz)
• KeyPad Input

Crystal ProCon Real Time System can be termed as

• Online Production Monitoring System
• Process Control System
• Work In Progress Tracking System

ProCon system comprises of i-Tag reader and i-Tag. An i-Tag is used to identify Operators, Supervisors , Mechanics, Qas and Bundles with unique color holders. This i-Tag will have a polythene pouch attached to it. This pouch will carry the printed information of the bundle/Operator details.

A reader is attached to every workstation in the production line.

All readers in the line are networked and connected to a Data Capturing PC which captures the Data for Log-In, Log-out, Bundle Start and Bundle End made by the operators and updates the information in central repository in real time.

How ProCon works?

• Operator should Log-in in their workstations with the Operator tag.
• An i-Tag is programmed and tied to every bundle at cutting section and issued to sewing line for production.
• This i-Tag travels along with the bundle in the sewing line from start operation to final operation.
• Operators prior to start the operation for the bundle, will Log-in the bundle’s i-Tag in the reader to record the operation Start time.
• Operators on completion of all the pieces in the bundle, will Log-out the same bundle’s i-Tag in the reader to record the operation End time and the bundle is moved along with i-Tag to the next operator.
• All the subsequent operators will Log-in and Log-out the bundle’s i-Tag for their respective operation to record the production
• Operator should Log-out from their workstations during break-times, moving to other workstations or leaving End of the day.

Benefits of Installing Real Time System

The benefits of installing effective and efficient real time system is seen at following levels due to immediate on screen access to all informations.

• Production
• Work-in-Progress
• Supervisors
• Operators
• Quality Control
• Management
• Customer Care

Production

• Ensures production goals to be established and monitored continually
• Increases production at controlled production costs at all levels of work force
• Provides production scheduling against completion dates, decides priorities
• Enables continuous and improved line balancing

Work-in-Progress

• Incorporates automatic tracking of all work-in-process
• Provides work study database
• Work in progress stock control through complete transaction audit trial and reduced work in progress stock levels
• On screen status of work in progress
• Creates awareness when work is not flowing, as it must sustain the required production

Supervisors

• Gives supervisory tool, which enables movement of people from one job to another when operators are absent or unable to meet production requirements
• Supervisors are being advised of bottlenecks, summary throughput, work-in-progress, stock information and given work-around solutions as problems occur

Operators

• Shows operator how to earn more money by eliminating wasted time to produce few more units each hour,hence increases productive hours
• Guides the operator to maintain a consistent pace throughout the day
• Better implementation of work morale among the employees
• Informs operator of their performance to date, accurate predicted pay, etc., on and up to the second basis
• Accurate attendance of operators

Quality Control

• Makes each operator accountable for the units produced
• Provides management the tools to measure and track quality problems by source and hence are isolated as soon as they are identified
• Everyone is empowered to recognize and solve problems as and when they occur

Management

• All informations are presented to management and supervisors by on screen enquiries, reports and graphs
• Reduces clerical errors and paperwork
• Reduces overhead cost by reducing administrative overhead
• Reduced stock take costs, as accurate work in progress reduces the need for stock taking
• Accurate cost calculations of the finished products and the related jobs
• Management of orders and the combinations of the order incurred with reference to the work-in-progress helps in analyzing the market trends
• Ever-ready state of the factory feasible for the site visits of the clients and prospective investors at any time enhances the market value of the factory
• Increased order booking

Customer Care

• Supports to become more reliable and trusted supplier, to meet the needs of customers
• Enhances accurate delivery of orders to customers
• Improved customer relations with accurate information on hand whenever needed
• Better customer services resulting from all workstations

ProCon Data Readers

ProCon Data Readers (wireless)

Identification Technologies

i-Tags

i-Tag for bundle identification

An i-Tag is physically attached to every individual bundle and sent to sewing line for production. This Tag travels along with the bundle in the sewing line from start to end. As each operator starts his/her bundle he/she will tag onto his/her reader ,which will denotes the start of the bundle.On completion of the bundle the operator will again tag onto the reader to indicate the end of the bundle.

i-Tag for Operator identification

An i-Tag is provided to every Operator for his or her identification purpose. Operator uses this tag to login at the workstation before starting work and logout while leaving the workstation.

ProCon Softwares

Data Capturing Software :

This software is installed in the Data Capturing PC in the production floor which captures the punches from all the readers and updates the central database instantaneously.

Production Management System : (PMS) Application Software

This application software is installed in all the client machines. All Masters and Transaction details are entered in this application. Style Order details, Laying, Cutting, Bundle Generation, Tag Assigning to Bundles, Operation Bulletin, Line layout etc., are entered in this application

Dashboard :

ProCon DashBoard is a Business Intelligence (BI) tool that displays the Macro level information in real time of all the Production lines graphically. Micro level information can be viewed by drilling down the respective cells. Provides various types of graphs at all levels for analysis and comparison for better decision making.

Web based MIS Reports :

This software is installed in the central server. This software collects all the production information from all the PROCON installed factories automatically and produces the following MIS reports.

• Efficiency report (yearly/monthly/ factory wise/ line wise / buyer wise / style wise / day wise)
• Production Report (yearly/monthly/ factory wise/ line wise / buyer wise / style wise / day wise) - cutting / sewing / passed / rejections
• Capacity Utilization (planned Vs Actual – month wise / factory wise / line wise – PCS and Time)
• Cut to Ship efficiency report (yearly/monthly/ factory wise/ line wise / buyer wise / style wise / day wise)
• Costing Profit & Loss (monthly/ factory wise/ line wise / buyer wise / style wise / day wise)
• Style / Order Tracking used to track the style / order status when it is run in multiple factories / lines.

ProCon System Networking

ProCon System provides efficient and effective real time information for the performance of the company to implement business strategy successfully.

Instant Reports at all levels.

ProCon system reveals real time information and reports at all levels.

On-Line Production Status

ProCon system provides on screen access to production order and their progress, to eye production status.

Improvements in effective and efficient usage of man & machine

Efficient Line Balancing

ProCon system furnishes accurate information of line balancing

• Details of employees present and absent on the day
• Information on current production in progress against target set
• Status of work-in-progress with reference to operational level currently andin-relation to achieving target in fixed time
• Line balancing in workflow

Reduction of Work In Progress Time

ProCon system makes production tracking more transparent and this removes the need for checking the work-in-progress every two hours.Workforce analysis on who is working under each section of workflow and the cost of their performance against the project can be monitored whenever needed

Reduction in Downtime

ProCon system reduces unproductive downtime by 20% by providing downtime reports which will enable management to initiate corrective action

Improved In-Line Quality Control

Eliminating the need for Supervisory Checks

Accurate time keeping

ProCon system ensures that the operators check-in directly in time at their workstation. This ensures considerable reduction in queuing time per operator.

Accurate Payment to Operators

ProCon system prevents unnecessary waste of labor time in maintaining their own records and resolves disputes among operators in calculating the cost of the work done by each Operator. The operators are paid only for perfectly completed work and appropriate reductions are applied for faulty pieces before payment. ProCon system eliminates holding back of work tickets and paying twice for the same work. Errors in payroll claims are also reduced to great extent. ProCon system calculates the gross payroll faster than the traditional book keeping system.

Reduction in Overtime Working with maximum utilization of HR

Absence of key workers adds on to the overhead charges and affects the productivity. ProCon system highlights the problem immediately and eliminates unnecessary overtime. An efficiently implemented real time system would reduce the overtime expenses by 50%. Future production planning is made easier.

Reduced Administration Costs

ProCon system reduces paperwork and clerical errors.

Accurate MIS Reports

ROI In Less than 2 Years

By installing ProCon system, you will reap return of investment within two years. You can also benefit from the ProCon hardware depreciation over a period of time.

• Centralized real time production monitoring tool
• Seamless integration to other application systems
• Operation time (SAM) validation
• Maintains Sequential integrity of the operations
• Supports Progressive Bundle movement, Piece movement, Unit Production System and Bundle Sharing
• Flexible Line Layout ( Split / Merge Lines )
• Accountability of On-standard time viz, Worked Minutes, Produced Minutes and Cycle time
• Accountability of Off-standard time viz, Idle time, Nowork time, Breakdown time, Rework time and Non Productive time
• Line balancing - Pitch Diagram to identify bottleneck operations
• Work In Process monitoring at all levels
• Total Quality Management at In-Line & End-Line Check points
• Supports Piece Rate / Group / Individual Incentive methods
• Maintains the Skill data of all operators
• Alerts for exceptional situations via SMS / email
• Features and validations of this system are user configurable