Manufacturing intelligence start-up SlipStream Software has unveiled a root-cause analysis tool that it says helps to programmatically identify the source of production problems that are hard to diagnose through conventional means.
The .Net-based product, PM Event Analyzer, is a post-process tool designed for industries such as pulp and paper, steel, chemicals, and mining, which have complex manufacturing procedures. These industries are also the most likely to have adopted lean and Six Sigma strategies in an effort to eliminate waste and improve efficiency.
Any kind of process improvement, however, requires understanding the source of the problem. PM Event Analyzer does just that, according to Gary Hopkins, the SlipStream's founder, president, and CEO.
"Complex processes have multiple variables that can cause a problem," Hopkins explained in an interview with Managing Automation. "The only way to do root cause now is to send an engineer onto the floor, collect all the data, and do the analysis." SlipStream's patented technology pulls data tags out of each production area and models the relationship between each tag by comparing the actual and optimal times for task completion. After digging through different parts of the process, "we'll show a customer a statistical root cause of why the problem happened," he said.
Founded in February of 2004, Atlanta-based SlipStream is part of an MI uprising that includes vendors such as Activplant, Acumence (see story), Informance, IndX (acquired by Siemens), and Lighthammer (acquired by SAP), which are vying for attention among customers that are trying to squeeze additional efficiencies from their manufacturing processes.
The timing for MI solutions is just right, noted Jane Biddle, an independent consultant in Chatham, NJ. Manufacturers that have completed their big ERP rollouts, she says, may now have time and money to devote to manufacturing intelligence projects. "The question is, how do you get all of the equipment in place, increase throughput, and turn on a dime? That's what's driving spending on technology solutions [now]," she said.
Originally SlipStream targeted mid-range manufacturers, but the company is now talking to big manufacturing outfits. SlipStream already has nine customers using the PM Event Analyzer, one of which is MeadWestvaco Corp., which used the product in a coated paperboard mill to identify the cause of a moisture spike on a machine. Using the tool, the company was able to determine that a pressure controller was the root cause for the excess moisture.
Without the tool, "we simply could not have dug deep enough into our process historian quickly enough to see what the problem truly was," a MeadWestvaco spokesman said in a case study published by SlipStream.
SlipStream's original product, the Enlighten Application Suite, is a Web-based "KPI collector," as Hopkins calls it. Enlighten is completely separate from the PM Event Analyzer, which acts as a mining tool that works with any data historian including OSI PI, as we well as products from Rockwell Automation, GE Fanuc, and Wonderware.
Using DLL, SQL calls, or an API, it can extract the necessary information to present to the user the statistical variables of the cause of the problem.
The PM Event Analyzer currently examines manufacturing processes in steps -- and delivers its analysis after the fact. In September, however, SlipStream will roll out a yet-to-be-named real-time event analyzer, Hopkins said. No additional details were provided.
Overall, the SlipStream concept is solid, Biddle noted. "Any time you see Six Sigma, you need root-cause analysis," she said.
PM Event Analyzer is priced at $15,000 for a single license and $60,000 for a plant-wide license. "I wanted to design it so that price model is not a capital discussion," Hopkins noted.