IAM-Wonderware: Enhancing Manufacturing Productivity with Best-of- Breed Solutions

With rapid advancements in technology, the traditional role of MES is also changing. Earlier, MES just linked the ERP and other business systems to operational plant-control systems. Today, the MES, powered by advanced technologies such as cloud, IoT, and big data, manages every manufacturing process involved in the transformation of raw materials to finished goods, thereby enhancing production output. On the other hand, the evolution of MES has made it indispensable for the manufacturers to implement the best-of-breed MES solutions to gain a competitive edge in the market. Addressing this very need is IAM-Wonderware that helps manufacturers to tackle issues such as high waste, low quality, and inconsistency in manufacturing processes by offering them Wonderware MES. “With decades of experience in dealing with IT technologies related to manufacturing and production, we are a recognised leader in the design and supply of industrial automation systems,” says Tan Terence, general manager at IAM.

Being a Wonderware products distributor since 1999 in Asia, IAM with the Wonderware MES solution helps manufacturers optimise production by understanding current conditions on the plant floor, reducing setup time, accurately capturing cost information (labour, scrap, downtime, and tooling), increasing machine uptime, reducing waste and better managing inventories. The company rather than just offering their software solutions to the customers, takes an unorthodox approach by diving in deep to understand the problem that they face.

Additionally, IAM comes up with case studies of their previous customers that have faced a similar situation, and how they benefited after using Wonderware MES. IAM’s first step is always to study the customer’s various conditions on the plant floor. Later, the company builds a prototype or a proof-of-concept (POC) designed to address the client requirements. Once the client approves these, IAM begins the implementation of the final system on-site and educates them about its various functionalities.

Terence elaborates more on the product capabilities, "Wonderware MES software solution is very flexible and can model any manufacturing environment, be it a batch process or a discrete process or a hybrid.” This unique capability of the solution enables IAM to customise Wonderware MES to manage complex or simple manufacturing processes as per the client requirements. Giving an analogy, Terence compares Wonderware MES to LEGOs, wherein, it can accommodate any user-specific demands or customisation. Similarly, adding modules or functionalities at a later stage in the system is also possible without incurring a high cost or rearranging of previous modules. The other interesting aspect of the Wonderware MES is its reliability—the stable system once implemented, can last for years given it should have periodic updates and maintenance. With this regard, IAM’s technical support teams are available across different time zones, assisting the customers with round-the-clock maintenance to ensure high reliability of the system.

Apart from the MES system, IAM offers other products from Wonderware suite, including HMI/SCADA system, Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) system, Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) system, and others. Their Wonderware InTouch HMI software provides graphic visualisation that takes the operations management, control, and optimisation to a completely new level. Whereas, their EMI system empowers manufacturers to analyse their overall operational performance using simple yet powerful data analysis and reporting tools.

IAM, moving forward, is venturing into other domains such as medical, wherein, they have recently rolled out HIPAA complaint proofreading system that validates the name printed on the box, resulting in no wrong item being dispatched from the manufacturing facility. Besides, the company is focusing on leveraging more predictive analysis into their offerings as this will future proof many aspects involved in the manufacturing process such as, predictive maintenance, which will result in manufacturers knowing exactly when the maintenance should be performed.