Project Outline
DATAWORKS ROLE
BUSINESS BENEFITS
CLIENT FEEDBACK
Manufacturing Execution System
Shop Floor Information System Introduction
"We were given unbelievable support throughout with the system and typically one day or less turnaround on support with issues. I had multiple comments from the guys on how they wished all our dealings with vendors were as easy as Dataworks."
Senior Automation Engineer
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Challenge
Bausch & Lomb required a system to control their manufacturing process, and provide information interfaces with their ERP systems.
Dataworks was secured as their software development partner in order to achieve their ambitious goal and to meet their very aggressive timelines.
The system was to be product & process independent, enabling it to be rolled out to manufacturing facilities in all its business divisions, notably Healthcare Device Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, Solutions & Surgical. In addition to this, a key objective was that of minimizing validation, training & implementation costs.
Development
Dataworks provided the primary development resource (six of a seven person development team were Dataworks personnel) and played a key role in the architecture strategy & the system design.
The approach was to develop the 2-tier (Machine Integration & Business Layer) component suite first & then develop two front end applications (Shop Floor Application & System Configuration Application). Finally, a suite of Web Reports were developed & deployed over the corporate intranet.
System Integration
Since the first installation in the Waterford Plant, the Dataworks team, headed up by Liam Curham have provided consultancy and systems integration expertise in the deployment of the system in Bausch & Lomb HQ in Rochester, NY; Clearwater, FL; Scotland and France.
Dataworks now provide a flexible consultance and systems integration to the Global CAMS Application Manager to facilitate the rollout of the system globally.
Dataworks is currently implementing the system in what is the 1st deployment in the Pharmaceutical Division, having completed the necessary modifications for CFR Pt 11.
Technologies & Architecture
The system was based on a back bone of Oracle & Wonderware Intrack, with Visual Basic being the adopted toolkit for the development of both the business tier components & a configurable GUI.
Benefits
Bausch & Lomb now have a system which can be configured to provide comprehensive shop floor control & information irrespective of the product line or manufacturing process.
Due to the component architecture of the system, the validation & training effort is greatly reduced for any new installation, any expansion of a facility, or indeed any transfer of product lines from one manufacturing facility to another.
The system also provides the necessary controls to meet GMP & FDA requirements, and provides comprehensive WIP/Manufacturing data for the Global Supply Chain Management within the organization.
Feedback
The CAMS (Common Automated Manufacturing Software) has now been adopted as the Shop Floor Information System of choice within Bausch & Lomb,
It is playing a key role in the global objective of System Consolidation & Standardization.