AS9100

AS9100 is a Quality Management System for the aerospace industry issued by the G-14 Americas Aerospace Quality Group (Aaqg). As a follow up on AS9000, AS9100 follows the same setup as ISO 9001. Beside the ISO 9001 requirements, AS9100 adds about 100 additional requirements. You can get a PDF of the standard for about USD 60.

Batch

A Batch can be used for grouping parts or for parts that are non-discrete. Batches can have a Unique ID. The individual parts within a batch will all have the same Unique Batch ID. Within EZ-MES batches are non-discrete parts that can have any number for their quantity.

Example of Batches: A bag of 500 Screws. Individual screws will not get a serial number, but the bag can get a serial number (batch number). This will enable full traceability, the system will keep track where all screws will end up.

Another example is a bottle of glue. The bottle of glue will be seen as an non-discrete part with a quantity of 1. Consumption of the bottle of glue can happen in fractions, e.g. 0.05 of the unit of the full bottle.

• General information about tracking batches
• How to define Part Definitions for Batches (non discrete parts)

Bill of Material (BOM)

A.k.a: Parts List

The Bill of Material is a list of all materials (parts and consumables) needed to create a product. Within EZ-MES the Bill of Material is defined on the Part Definition. Besides the definition on the Part Definition the BOM is implicitly defined on the Flow Definition by the Materials the Flow is consuming.

Bill of Process (BOP)

A.k.a: Flow Definition; Work Plan

The Bill of Process can be seen as an extended Bill of Material, beside having the information of the materials that are needed to create a product, it also covers the information on how the product is created. This includes the sequence of operations, the used equipment, required labor skill etc.

This functionality in EZ-MES is covered by the

For a large number of industries and applications, full forward (to customer) and backward (to supplier) traceability is required.

You should be able to answer a number of questions fast and efficiently:

• Where is this batch of expired glue used, and where did the affected parts end up?
• Which parts went through a specific machine within a certain time frame?
• Who was the supplier of that part and are there more parts in the same lot / batch?

These questions can be very time-consuming (if they can be answered at all). EZ-MES gives you the ability to answer them fast and efficiently, providing you with the time to deal with the cause of the problem.

Besides saving you time, a good system with better transparency will give your customer the confidence that they supplied the job to the right company.

1 Tracking the use of a Consumable

EZ-MES offers different ways to track consumables (non discrete parts).

• Storing the Batch Number of the consumable. (By defining a process data entry for a process step)
• Linking the consumable part to the part that is using it. (By defining the consumption of a non-discrete part for a process step)

1.1 Tracking Lots by Custom Data Entry

The following figure shows a simple example. In this example 2 parts are combined in an assembly step. During this assembly glue is used with a batch number.

This implementation will work in the following way:

• The operator opens a browser, enters an address or clicks a bookmark and logs in. (EZ-MES can be on a hosted website or on the intranet)
• Scans the barcode of the traveler containing the parts she wants to work on. The system will open the electronic traveler.
• Selects the red parts from Inventory (or from another traveler). And selects the proper IDs of the red parts in EZ-MES. This will provide full traceability back to the supplier.
• Records the glue batch number into EZ-MES. (The flows can be configured to record any batch or individual data)
• Performs the assembly actions and presses OK on the traveler when finished. (The system will notify the user when any data is missing)

1.2 Tracking Lots by linking the Consumable

The following figure shows an example where 2 parts are combined. The resulting assembly will have a link to the batch of glue used for the assembly.

This implementation will work in the following way:

• The operator opens a browser, enters an address or clicks a bookmark and logs in. (EZ-MES can be on a hosted website or on the intranet)
• Scans the barcode of the traveler containing the parts she wants to work on. The system will open the electronic traveler.
• Selects the red parts from Inventory (or from another traveler). And selects the proper IDs of the red parts in EZ-MES. (This will provide full traceability back to the supplier.)
• Picks the glue batch from EZ-MES and enters it as process data.
• Performs the assembly actions and presses OK on the traveler when finished. (The system will notify the user when any data is missing)

There are a number of advantages of this Linking method over the Data Entry method:

• No manual entry of the Batch number, the operator has to select a batch. This will prevent typing errors.
• The Glue batch will keep an instant list of all parts using this specific batch of glue is used. For the data entry method the batch no first has to be queried.
• This way the glue is entered as a part into the system. This will enable simple traceability to the supplier.

2 Tracking Batch Process Data of a Process Step

EZ-MES will enable you to track data values for a specific process run.

The following figure shows how 2 different batches of 4 parts go through a coating run. For this coating step data is stored, like the Run Number and specific process data. Furthermore if the coating required a consumable for which you want full traceability to the supplier, it can be linked as shown in the previous section.

At the moment the operator opens the travelers for this run, she can fill out the data, perform the operation and press OK. The entered data will enable you to query all parts for a specific coating run at any time.

CFR

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States. Read more...

Title 21 Chapter I of the Code of Federal Regulations is the portion of the CFR that governs food and drugs within the United States for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Title 21 CFR Part 11 of the Code of Federal regulations deals with the FDA guidelines on electronic records and electronic signatures in the United States. Part 11, as it is commonly called, defines the criteria under which electronic records and electronic signatures are considered to be trustworthy, reliable and equivalent to paper records. Read more...

CIM

CIM stands for Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Outdated model from the 1980s to describe manufacturing information technology. CIM describes a manufacturing software model. The CIM pyramid focused on the hierarchy of the manufacturing enterprise. The CIM Pyramid is more or less reused in the ISA 95 model.

CSV

CSV stands for Comma Separated Values format, a.k.a. Comma Separated File. Values are separated by commas, and rows (records) are separated by line breaks (CLRF). Fields containing Line Breaks, commas, double quotes should be enclosed in double quotes. Double quotes in the value are escaped by preceeding them with an other double quote.

Read more about the CSV format...

Discrete

A Discrete Part Record only represent a single real-world part or product, while A Non-Discrete Part Record can represent a Batch of parts or products, or a fraction of a part or product.

DHR

The Device History Record shows the sequence of operations that were performed on a product. This information can be obtained on the 'History' tab of the Part Record or when the Part Record Report is printed.

EZ-MES Object

All information in EZ-MES is stored using EZ-MES Objects. Examples are: Travelers, Part Records, Flow Definitions etc.

• List of EZ-MES Objects

Flow Definition

The Flow Definition defines the sequences of steps that represent the production process.

Within the different industries different nomenclature is used. Different names for Flow Definition could be:

• Traveler (we use Traveler for an instance of a Flow Definition)
• Routing
• Workflow
• Work Plan
• Recipe

Within EZ-MES we use 'Traveler' to show an instance of a Flow Definition. Other possibilities are:

• Work Plan - Production Order (Order)
• Traveler - Flow
• Routing - Router

Object State

Most EZ-MES Objects move through different states, the states are dependent per object. Look in the Objects Manual for a complete list of the EZ-MES Objects.

Operation

A.k.a.: Step Definition; Step

Products are created by sequencing operations. An operation can have an input which is transformed into an output using resources. The resources can be a combination of consumed material, equipment, labor and time. Within EZ-MES the operations are configured by the Step Definition.

Parts and Part Records

Within the EZ-MES Manuals if the word 'part' is used, it means the actual real-world parts or products that you would like to track by using an MES system like EZ-MES. Part Records are the representation of these parts within EZ-MES. Part Records can be Discrete or Non-Discrete.

A Discrete Part Record only represent a single real-world part or product, while A Non-Discrete Part Record can represent a Batch of parts or products, or a fraction of a part or product.

Part States

Part States are the state of parts that is determined by the Traveler to which the Part Records are connected. The traveler gets the Part State from the connected Flow Definition

Process State

State of Travelers or Part Records, that depends on the progress of the operation.

• List of the different states for Parts

Routing

Routing in EZ-MES is defined by Flow Definitions. Flow Definitions serve as the templates for Travelers. Travelers will perform the actual routing of the parts throught the production flows.

S88.01

S88, shorthand for ANSI/ISA-88, is a standard addressing batch process control. It is a design philosophy for describing equipment, and procedures. It is not a standard for software, it is equally applicable to manual processes.

S88 defines hierarchical recipe management and process segmentation frameworks, which separate products from the processes that make them. The standard enables reuse and flexibility of equipment, and provides a structure for coordinating and integrating recipe-related information across the traditional ERP, MES, and control domains.

• ISA-88 Description in Wikipedia
• Tutorial on S88.01

SECS/GEM

(SEMI Equipment Communications Standard/Generic Equipment Model) Communications protocols between a host computer and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. SECS is a layer 6 protocol that describes the content of the messages while GEM is a higher layer application protocol that defines the messages themselves. SECS/GEM is used to control wafer steppers, lithographic equipment, etchers, ion implanters and other machines. Ref. PC Magazine

GEM is formally known as SEMI standard E30

SEMI

SEMI is the global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chains for the microelectronic, display and photovoltaic industries.

Traveler

• General Information about Electronic Travelers
• Typical sequence of events for a Traveler

Unique ID

A unique identifier for a Part, Batch or Lot. Unique Identifiers can only exist once in the system. Even if the Part Definition is different 2 parts can not share the same Unique ID. Examples of Unique ID's are Serial Numbers or Batch Numbers

Work in Process (WIP)

A Part Record (or Part) in various phases of production in a manufacturing plant. This includes raw material awaiting processing up to final assemblies ready to be received into inventory. At the moment when parts are added to inventory, they will not show up on the WIP Report.