GKN Sinter Metals implements a digital culture

Digitization as a key towards taking advantage of opportunities in the future of the industry

The potential of digital culture in production plants is committed to a technology that evolves hand in hand with employees, because as automation, artificial intelligence and the internet of things are part of production processes, the future digital is present in the competitiveness of companies.

For GKN Sinter Metals, embracing digitization not only ensures that the business model remains in an optimal position in the market, but also that employees receive the necessary support to prepare and adapt to their professional future. 

Alejandro Nieto Paz, manager of GKN Sinter Metals, announced that, to achieve competitiveness, it is necessary to think in a different way, since currently speed is synonymous with success in the industry, which is why the company implemented systems of digitization since the beginning of its operation in 2018, which have been adapted to the needs of the GKN group.

"For the company, digital culture does not only mean the use of digital tools during our workday, it means doing things with a shared digital mindset," he said.

Digitization is integrated on the production floor and each of the lines that make up GKN Sinter Metals as a way to connect what is on paper with what is done on each of the machines, thus forming a network so that operators and area managers can review their operations in real time and analyze their statistical diagrams, in order to make accurate and fast decisions.

GKN Sinter Metals has best-in-class machines , which are connected via Wi-Fi with a software that GKN developed called GQS, a system to control the quality of its products.

"With this system we develop products more quickly and obtain data from them to generate strategies to be more efficient in the mass manufacturing process and in solving problems, in addition to delivering the final documentation to our clients in a more concrete way. ”, He explained.

DATABASES TO SPEED UP QUOTES

From the beginning of the plant's operation, they used machines that already had software to obtain data; However, with the integration of robust manufacturing processes , process documentation, and database records, a more efficient quotation process can be achieved.

Aldo Bustamante Mosqueda, Product Engineering Manager at GKN Sinter Metals, announced that for the quotation of projects and their monitoring, digitization is of vital importance, since the information stored in the system generates quotations in a robust and fast way , which allows to achieve customer satisfaction and to be able to adapt them to their needs as soon as possible. He commented that by working with a global system, all GKN employees in various plants around the world have access to the information stored on the network, which is updated in real time .

He commented that by working with a global system, all GKN employees in various plants around the world have access to the information generated in the network, which is constantly fed.

"All this information generated allows us to streamline quotes and we have the information on any device, since it is software that does not require many resources," he added.

The software was also developed as a result of this need, because nowadays companies need to obtain information in the most precise and fast time possible and that it be contained in digestible and interactive databases, this allows the information to be centralized and available in any moment.

"This gives us a competitive advantage because we need fewer resources for administration and anyone has access to the database, which saves us time in making decisions for corrective actions," he reiterated.

The digitization program is standardized globally and is implemented in GKN plants with more years of installation; However, in the case of Sinter Metals de Guanajuato, being a recently created company, the digitization system was already implicit from the start of production.

STANDARDIZED AND IMMEDIATE DATA

Andrés Garza Unda, value stream leader at GKN Sinter Metals, announced that materials and process developments have evolved from simple designs to complex systems with many functional characteristics, so have these in real time and know how it goes behaving production on the floor, it helps them to obtain a complete and fast view of the processes.

"Knowing in real time all the characteristics of the components we produce, volumes and cycle times, because if something unforeseen arises, the digitization of the data allows me to make a decision to solve it as soon as possible," he added.

Being the main supplier of precision metal powder components, the design and production of solutions are customized , through the use of data, advanced engineering can be achieved for products in industrial and automotive applications, therefore, Andrés Garza reiterated that the The use of new technologies within this division is important as a competitive strategy.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM

Itzel Daza, a quality engineer at GKN Sinter Metals, said that the main advantage is the quality control system and the use of data, is that it allows analyzing deviations in processes, trends, quick reaction and objectives in terms of time of reaction.

“This helps us to analyze the causes of the main problems, we even analyze improvements in the processes that have a greater impact on issues such as scrap reduction or cost reduction. The software is fed by what we generate in each area, but specifically in quality control it is where the greatest amount of data  is generated from the production process when the prototypes are started, until the end of the project life ”, he reported.

As responsible for the software and its configurations, Itzel Daza added that it is in charge of generating the labels, updates, control plans, visual aids and the analysis of results or data that the production floor throws up .

“The information is for everyone in the plant, through digital stations installed in each process, engineers and floor managers can consult it. Later, in the weekly improvement meetings, we analyze this data and initiate follow-up actions ”, he explained.

The information feed flows from the operation, since they are the ones who enter their measurements with equipment that automatically generate and upload the information to the system, they are also in charge of monitoring the parameters of their processes; Another area involved is the laboratory, where data related to measurements is uploaded, adding other problem analysis software where quality and process engineers intervene. 

"We store the records in accordance with the IATF, as it requests a certain number of records, even years after the end of the product's life, we have all this in a database and it is available for the time necessary and required by law," he reported. .

The connection with other GKN plants, located in other parts of the world, also provides another competitive advantage, since, according to Itzel Daza, many of GKN Sinter Metals' projects are transfers from other sites, which becomes easier because There is easy access to the designs, records and documentation, in addition to a more fluid and rapid coordination with the person in charge of the project of another plant of the company.

"Digital culture is very enriching for all our projects, it is important to be clear about how we integrate technology into our daily activities, how teams get involved, communicate and work together, as this is how new processes are built and created", ended.

MORE INFORMATION:

Year: October 2018

Location: Apaseo el Grande, Amistad Chuy María Industrial Park

Division: Metal Powder / Sinter Metals

Product:

Contributors: 90