After Toyota adopted the ANDON production management tool in Japan, ANDON gradually gained widespread use and adoption in the global manufacturing industry. As our company's business has expanded, the ANDON system has consistently been a crucial product in our projects. It's a broad category that can be divided into multiple parts, including lower-level data acquisition and transmission, intermediate business logic processing, data interaction layer, observability interface, and alarm information dissemination.
The ANDON system primarily includes three functions for calling equipment, quality, and materials. During operation, alarm buttons are installed at production workstations. In case of equipment malfunction, material defects, or production process problems, ANDON calls can be made using these alarm buttons. Pressing the button then relays the situation to other relevant personnel.
(Figure 1)
Equipment and Quality : The equipment and quality call function refers to pressing an alarm light when equipment malfunctions or quality issues are detected during on-site production. After pressing the light, the workstation alarm information will be promptly displayed on the hanging signboard (Figure 1) and related interfaces in the workshop, and an alarm will sound simultaneously. On-site personnel will handle the faulty workstation, and once the fault is resolved, they will press the light to reset, ending the alarm. Simultaneously, the backend database records and archives the time of the alarm press and the response/resolution time to statistically analyze the number of alarms and the speed of response and resolution.
ANDON Kanban : (Figure 2) Our developed ANDON Kanban can display the daily production plan of each workshop, count the actual production output, and calculate the standard value and JPH cycle value through production time and quantity.
(Figure 2)
Through the ANDON system, we can promptly understand the implementation status of on-site production, enabling rapid responses and timely notification of relevant personnel to resolve equipment malfunctions. If materials are insufficient, we immediately notify material delivery personnel to deliver materials to the called workstation. In the material call alarm system, we consult with on-site workstation operators and warehouse material management personnel to set a material "thumb count" for each workstation. When the material quantity at the line edge is below the thumb count, and the material patroller has not found a need for material delivery, the operator at the line edge workstation immediately presses the material call button at their workstation. The button then flashes, transmitting the material shortage information to the warehouse material manager's display interface and the ANDON electronic dashboard in the workshop (Figure 3). Upon learning of the material shortage, the material manager immediately responds to the alarm from the line edge worker and notifies the delivery personnel to deliver materials. The line edge button stops flashing, but the button light remains on until the delivery personnel deliver the materials to the line edge, at which point the button is reset, the material call ends, and the call information on the alarm dashboard is canceled. Based on the alarm information and the quantity of materials fed, the system begins to perform statistical recording.
(Figure 3)
Important considerations during ANDON system implementation
Numerous problems arose during the implementation of the ANDON system project; different projects presented different challenges that consistently troubled our implementation engineers. How can we summarize our experiences, improve the ANDON system, and productize it during project implementation? How can we ensure user satisfaction?
Needs assessment : After receiving the project implementation plan, we need to conduct research and analysis on the implementation environment and various factors to explore and compare.
Data source accuracy : Before all functions are implemented, we must first ensure the accuracy of the data collected by the system. The credibility of a system is very important for users to use and rely on it.
System stability : To ensure that a system does not experience delays or crashes during use, before implementing ANDON system functions, we must first consider whether factors arising from concurrent situations will cause problems for the system.
Aesthetics of the Kanban Board : When using the ANDON system, aesthetics are one of the most important factors affecting user experience. The interface should clearly reflect the real-time production status and be easy to understand.
ANDON Programming Phase : After the program design is completed, it is submitted to the client for review. If any issues are found, the software engineer can make modifications. During development, we must fully consider the accuracy of uploaded data, conduct tests in a test environment to avoid affecting the official data; test all buttons installed on-site to ensure they are functional and that there are no errors in the basic data configuration; and test for hardware issues such as buttons not working or experiencing delays to avoid further unnecessary impacts.
