Automation & Remote Monitoring
There are several technologies that we can also leverage—technologies that have both driven and been driven by the globalization trend.

Line automation
Companies like Jessup continue to improve on automated processing. The productivity of each worker is increased as new tools are put in place. The immediate difficulty with this strategy is that because of the global recession companies are reluctant to make the capital investments such technologies require. Those with foresight and some cash would do well to consider such improvements since the downturn will not last forever, and the companies who have spent this time retooling will be positioned to gain market share as the economy revives.

Internet
network2
This goes far beyond merely throwing up a website. The automated technologies mentioned above are becoming increasingly networkable. Monitoring hardware too is now equipped off-the-shelf with interfaces for the web. This means that physical proximity is no longer a limitation for workers. I have worked with a company that interfaced their entire waste treatment system into the web. The supervisor can pull it up on his laptop from home, if necessary. It is no longer necessary to have a supervisor present at every shift, which means personnel savings.

Suppliers
The trend has been for suppliers to offer less and less service, but the technologies we discussed above allow your supplier to become more tightly integrated into your quality program. In-effect, you are able to realize a greater return for your expenditure on chemistries and materials. For example, HG Products was able to use off-the shelf components to wire an existing process to the web.

internet6

If such a process yielded useful visual feedback, then the addition of some cameras and a few dollars a month for a video-streaming service would allow remote viewing, and by extension, remote troubleshooting. This cuts the information-gathering time for troubleshooting, but it also allows the supplier to become part of the quality team.

NEXT