The digital twin
When setting up the system, a digital twin of monitored entities are created in Matics. For example, for machines. Each machine is represented with its current and recent data in various Matics dashboards.
Accessing the machine page and its basic structure
Clicking the machine's name in different contexts will lead to the machine page, which drills down in its various tabs to the different connections between the currently running job on the machine, to the job's real-time execution.
A 'sticky' toolbar keeps the machine's status, currently running job and communication controls (#7 below) visible throughout the machine page's different tabs.
Return to the production floor Online tab.
Machine status.
Machine name. To view a different machine, click the arrow next to the machine name and choose from the list of machines for that department.
Time elapsed from start of job.
Machine status in words.
If the machine is in alarm status or has stopped, the alarm reason if thus configured, or the reported stop reason will be presented too.Display up to three parameters of your choice that reflect the job currently running on the machine. In this example we have the job ID, currently produced product name, and product catalog ID. Click the edit control to change the defaults or what is currently set.
Controls for opening the service call, task and message panels.
If a main operator has signed in, the operator's name is shown.
To change the main operator, click Change Main Operator in the Actions Menu.View or select pending jobs. (Doing so is also offered from the widgets in the Main tab.)
For production lines, the high-level context of the current machine within the line is visible in all the machine page tabs.
Production line's status.
Name of the production line, number of machines/points in the line, and highlighted below is the line's status spelled out.
Line's performance efficiency.
Machines in the production line. For complex production lines this diagram will show the route this machine is part of.
Click any machine in the line to go to its page.
The following indicators may be shown on the line diagram:Signpost for end of line/route:
Unreported stop event(s) for machine on line.
Click the arrow to open a list of all the lines configured for your site so you can choose a different line to view.
Click to return to the line master view.
Main
Overview
The Main tab serves as the machine's operational hub. Operators using PCs on the production floor can do all operations through this Web-app machine view, which includes widgets and more and can be considered an equivalent for using the tablet. Through this machine view, Operators, shift managers and others can perform common and frequent job actions such as reporting stop event reasons, ending setup, activating jobs, dealing with tasks, communicating with other people on the production floor as well as with technicians, and more.
Another element of this page is its data analytics. Shift managers can visualize and analyze machine performance in real-time using different time contexts and the process control displays. These graph displays enable managers to examine various combinations of machine parameters, as well as observe patterns of selected KPIs.
If the machine is part of a production line, the page adjusts to accommodate the specific characteristics of lines
In general, those who want to attend to the current situation and update information per what's happening now to the machine, will use the Current shift period, while those who are interested in more context for examining performance will use more extended periods.
(Machine actions are also available in the Matics Operator app, if tablets were implemented at your site.)
Functionality orientation
Period selected for the data presented:
Current shift
Last shift
Last 24 hours
Custom date
When the data were last updated.
To manually refresh data, click the refresh control.Show or hide the process control display(s).
Operators would most likely hide this component.Timeline widget from which you can report stop event reasons directly, or click its Open log control to display the logs of events, alarms and rejects in a more detailed format and report reasons from there.
If needed, you can zoom in on the timeline to examine events in finer resolution.
To exit the zoomed-in view, click:
If you want to reposition the timeline widget that's by default at the top of the page, do so via drag & drop.
Since the timeline and Process Control chart are synched in the time range displayed, that is, zooming in (or out) on the timeline will zoom in (or out) on the Process Control chart and vice versa, when you move the timeline it bundles the Process Control chart with it and both will be moved to the desired location.
To drag the timeline widget use the grip control:
Design a widgets dashboard that will include precisely what you want to display and
track.Actions menu with options you can apply to the currently running job.
The Actions menu is available in all the machine's tabs.Process control display. By default process control displays are in hidden. Click the show/hide control (#3 above) to display them.
Widget dashboard. From the job and josh progress widgets you can activate pending jobs when the production target is reached.
For more information about the widget dashboard and how to customize it, see Customizing the Widgets Dashboard.
Here's a walkthrough of most of the functionality on this page:
Production lines
As mentioned in the machine page's basic structure above, when the machine is part of a production line, the layout adjusts to the specific characteristics of lines.
For a simple line, you'll see the entire context in the top-right corner on all the machine page's tabs, for a complex line you'll see in the top-right corner the active route that machine is a part of.
Line master view
Click any machine in the Online dashboard of the production line's department to open the line's master view. The data in this view are aggregated data for the entire line: the PE value, the line's status, and the values of parameters presented in the widgets dashboard.
Complex manufacturing system configurations are characterized by branching and convergence of production lines. This includes asynchronous and heterogeneous production lines with series-parallel flows, which incorporate processes such as reworking, scraping, and product splitting/merging. These complex lines are rendered in Matics using the following diagram conventions:
Route types
A dynamic dashed line indicates the currently working segments of the route, for example:
Complex lines can have multiple active routes working simultaneously.
A static dashed line indicates segments of the route that stopped working, for example:
A static solid line indicates an inactive route in the complex production line, for example:
Machine notations
Machines marked with a double-line frame, for example:
are machines assigned to multiple lines, meaning they are used not only in this complex line,
Machines marked with a single dashed frame, for example:
are machines assigned to a single production line.
Work in process inventory
WIP is the count of products in process, which is calculated for each step in the line. For example, subtracting Point 2's units produced from Point 1's units produced. This can result in negative numbers when the preceding machine produces more than its following machine. The calculation considers rejects, so units produced minus the count of rejects is the value used for each machine.
Maximize the view
The line's display area has a pull-handle for expanding the area or constricting it. The line's diagram size adjusts automatically to maximize its size within the available area. Manually control the size of the line's diagram using the size controls (zoom in, zoom out and fit view).
TIP
You can also reposition the line by clicking in any empty area of the line display and dragging your mouse in the direction to which you want to move the display. This enables focusing on specific areas.
Line settings
In the Line settings menu you can control what data is presented on the production line diagram:
A, AE, E indicate how that machine was configured:
A: this machine is included in the line's availability calculations.
E: this machine is included in the line's efficiency calculations (cycle time calculations)
AE: this machine is included in both availability & efficiency calculations.Count of rejects
Unreported root events -
Products in process -WIP count of products in process, also known as work in progress.
Leading parameter - displays the machine's value for the leading parameter. Hover-over the machine to see which leading parameter is set for the machine.
Lines event log
Production lines usually have a workflow dependency between machines, therefore the reason one machine stopped could be applicable to the following machines. This scenario is when there's a root cause and the following machines stops are linked to the initial (root) stop.
The line's event log is presented on each of the line's machine pages. It lists the line's events in descending order for ALL the line's machines, and root events are expanded to show the root event's linked events.
The high-level context of the current machine within the line (detailed breakdown for this is provided above).
By default the production line's event log is expanded with the total count of stop events for the scoped period for all machines. Click Close log to collapse the event log section in the machine's page.
Unreported stop events are indicated with this icon.
Reported stop events are indicated with this icon.
Reported root stops are indicated with this icon.
Unreported root event. In the line's infographic it's a blinking icon that draws users' attention that there's an unreported stop event and also points out in which machine.
Root events are signposted with a red separator line and all the root event's linked events are displayed beneath it, until the next separator line.
Click the Report stop event control to report the stop event reason. If this isn't a root event, you have the option to split the event too.
Edit the existing event reason and/or add informative notes about this event.
Filter the log to focus on specific events.
Options are:All (no filter)
Reported
Unreported
Events duration longer than (set the threshold duration)
Click the arrow to collapse the display of the root event's linked events.
Additionally, each machine has also its own log, which lists all the events for that specific machine.
Recipe
Presents the Recipe of the job currently running on the machine. You can both view the recipe standards and materials as well as make changes to the recipe.
TIP
You can also access the recipes of the machine's Pending Jobs if you need to make recipe adjustments or preparations ahead of activating any of those jobs.
Process control
The Main tab includes Process Control displays, which are much more effective in conjunction with the Event Timeline widget that's presented above them, yet in this tab there's a richer selection of periods you can set for the machine's process control display:
Hour
Day
Week
Month
Year
Custom
Also keep in mind that there's the Process Control module in which you can compare between different machines, so the process control context you choose: the machine's Main tab, this tab, or the site level process control, will depend on what you want to examine through process control displays.
Mold details
Here you'll see which mold the machine is currently using, and how many of the mold's cavities are in use. The cycles count is a lifecycle statistic of how many cycles the mold has done and the countdown to maintenance indicates the number of cycles until the mold should go through maintenance. To view additional mold details, click the go to control in the Mold field.
In the following tab, Extra Details > Mold section you also have the mold's units in cycle efficiency calculation.
Extra Details
Provides a wealth of information on the job that's currently running on this machine:
General job parameters
Time distribution
Mold's cycle efficiency
Materials
Cycle time
Weight data
Reported units statistics
KPIs (OEE, PE)
Setup data
Notes if entered
Efficiency
Logs all the joshes for the jobs run on this machine for the last 7 days.
Rejects
Logs all reject reporting events for the current job. Click the index of that record to make changes in the details of this reject event: you can change the reason, cause, amount and weight of the rejects for that logged reject event.
Shift Workers
Workers that have signed in as machine operators for the currently running job will be listed here.
Events
Data is for the last 24 hours. You can report stop event reasons from here too.
Alarms
Alarm data are for the current job.
Quality Tests
Quality tests that have been run for the current job will be listed here.
Dosing System
When the machine is connected to a dosing system, users with administration permissions will have this tab available for performing two actions:
Connecting / disconnecting the machine to the dosing system configured for this machine in its system settings.
Command the controller to use current material settings.
To do the first action, select the Connected to Dosing System check box.
If you need to disconnect the machine, for example when the job requires that the machine use a different source for raw materials, clear this check box.
When you need to reconnect the machine back to its configured dosing system, simply select the check box again.
To apply the second action, when you need to signal to the controller to use the most current material settings, select the Command Controller to Use Most Current Settings check box. This will reset its previous signal and prompt the controller to read the current signal.
Related articles
Operator app - main dashboard (the machine digital twin in the tablet app)