Additive Industries

Project description

The main question of the research report is: “What is the best method to visualise and monetise the production process for the customers and how can it be visualised in a user-friendly and personalised method for Additive Industries customers?”

The reason for this project was to fully utilize the data generated by the Metalfab 1.0, Design a dashboard to enable Additive Industries customers in the world to monitor and analyze their production process. The design is based on the request from Additive Industries to help customers to optimise their production process. PowerBI is used to display and interpret the data.

The dashboard will be used by operators of the Metalfab machines, production managers, and product owners. These different stakeholders of the dashboard will be using it for various targets but all with the same end goal. Different users will be using the end product of this project. Something to take in mind during the process is that not all these end-users have a background in IT, that’s why it is of great importance that even non-technological people can make easily use of the dashboard. The users will be listed below.

Context

Additive Industries want more insight into the data of their machines and would like to sell this insight to their customers. Interest is placed especially in the analysis that can lead to optimizing the production process. Production data that can help problem analysis (such as Overall Equipment effectiveness data) can be extra valuable for the different end-users of the final product.

The analysis that the dashboard creates can be used by the stakeholders to specify production problems and a better direction for the problem-solving process. The users of this solution will be outlined below.

The objective for this project is to deliver a proof-of-concept to the management of Additive Industries of a working dashboard with real-time information about current printing machines and make recommendations to them about the dashboard based on the findings in the research report.

Results

The results of this project are based on the Project Initiation document and research document of this project. This chapter lays out the different milestones and deliverables that are applicable to the project.

The first deliverable is the research that has been done for the project as explained in the Project Initiation Document. This research is the backbone of the rest of the deliverables explained in this chapter.

The deliverables after the research are the wireframes for the dashboard. The wireframes were designed with the different end-users mentioned in the project description. The different users have different use cases and different needs for the end product.

After the wireframes. A dashboard is delivered to Additive Industries. This dashboard is tuned regarding the specifications and customer preferences. The dashboard contains the data for the three end-users. The dashboard is designed with sub-sections for each of the end-users. It contains a live part: valuable intel for operators. A semi-live part for analysis: valuable intel for production managers.

The dashboard Is at Technology readiness level six as of the end of the semester. This means that the technology is not ready to be used in practice. There are a few reasons the solution is at level six.

Firstly, the data that is being used is not live. In order to fully serve all three of the end-users, the dashboard needs to be adjusted to display and analyze the live data that comes from the final data solution.

Secondly, the dashboard as it is now is not tested in a production environment. This means that the effectiveness of the analytic tools is not proven. The solution as it is right now would still need hardware implementation to be evaluated in a real-life scenario.

The final deliverable is the recommendation document. This states the steps that the product has to make in order to reach its full potential. This recommendation document is written with the technology readiness level theory in mind.

The validation of the dashboard is done by:
Talking to the client weekly to make sure the dashboard is going in the right direction. Receiving weekly feedback and direction for the project. This is the showroom part of the validation triangle.

Inspiration has been acquired by looking at dashboards of other production machines that have already been implemented. Interviews with customers and end-users have also been very insightful in the process of deciding how the dashboard should be designed. This is the Lab part of the validation triangle.

Methodology

These are the research questions and the research methods that are applied to the research:

Research question 1:
What insights can be provided for the customer using Additive Industries machinery data?

To answer this research question a combination of field and library research has been done. Interviews with the client company, analysis of their current documentation, and observations at the client company are substantiated by desk research in the form of literature studies and expert interviews in the field of optimizations in production processes (OEE).
The outcome of this led to brainstorm sessions within our company with input from other colleagues and experts to improve and validate the findings.

Research question 2:
What are the requirements for a solution regarding data visualization?

To answer this research question a combination of field and library research has been done. Interviews have been held with both Additive Industries and a client of theirs (K3D) who uses Additive Industries’ machines, to come up with a list of requirements regarding the visualization part of the research. Different requirements for different end-users have been made up which led to deciding to add a function on the dashboard where you can choose the relevant information per person of the machine.

Research question 3:
What is the best tooling for the data visualization, and what are the best practices?

To answer this research question a combination of field and library research has been done which led to the showroom. To find out the best tooling for the data visualizations a stakeholder analysis has been done where you identify the stakeholders and ensure their needs are considered. This is in combination with desk research/literature studies about tooling options and incorporating what has been proven to work somewhere else and previous personal experiences with dashboarding. With the choosing and comparison between tooling mechanisms also peer reviews were taken along and the guidelines for conformity. This means conforming to guidelines and standards helps ensure the credibility of the quality of your product and prevents reliability, privacy, and security issues.