Digitizing continuous improvement in manufacturing

Aegis Software, a global provider of Manufacturing Operations Management Software (MOM/MES), and Arch Systems, the leading provider of data and analytics for manufacturing operations, announce a groundbreaking partnership toward digitizing continuous improvement of factory operations.

Manufacturing excellence relies on proactively identifying issues and implementing corrective action. Effective identification requires analytics fueled by maximum breadth and depth of data. Corrective actions rely on revealing insights within those analytics, and then ensuring action is taken on the shop floor. How quickly a manufacturer moves from issue identification to action, and the effectiveness of those actions, is what separates the world-class from the rest.

Aegis and Arch have partnered to deliver an unprecedented AI Copilot to guide manufacturers toward the right actions and, if desired, implement those actions automatically via FactoryLogix on the shop floor. This expedites the cycle of continuous improvement beyond what is possible with even the best process experts alone.

By augmenting Arch data sources with the contextualized product design and human operator interaction data provided by Aegis' FactoryLogix, the Arch Insight Engine becomes even more powerful in suggesting targeted operational and process improvements. The results of those actions are then available for both Arch and Aegis systems to assess the efficacy of the corrective action. This represents an unprecedented application of AI for manufacturing that leverages a greater scope of data than previously possible, while also being able to reach into the physical process and cause improvement.

Of the partnership, Andrew Scheuermann, CEO of Arch Systems, says, “ArchFX customers today achieve unprecedented levels of understanding and actionable intelligence to improve their factories. This partnership will enable our mutual customers to more fully detect and align patterns and trends in their data, leading to specific actions for improvement. Manufacturers are eagerly anticipating the introduction of a complete AI Copilot that drives intelligent actions holistically for their organizations. This represents a crucial step toward that as it integrates intelligent actions derived from previously collected MES data with analytics and AI systems. This is just the start of the novel value this approach can offer.”

Aegis Software CEO, Jason Spera says, “Our technology concept is clear: to power autonomously improving operations, a unique and fundamental aspect of Industry 4.0. This partnership satisfies a need we’ve heard from the market as digitalization has become more prevalent in manufacturing. That is – ‘how do I better leverage all this data I have from my process to make my operation more successful?’ This solution brings to market an AI Copilot able to go beyond data and analytics to actually drive operational improvement – either via factory operators or directly via MES."