6 Ways to Leverage Worker-Machine Connectivity

For any team, good communication is paramount. It allows us to share knowledge with those who need it and attain information we haven’t personally experienced. The ability to communicate well also facilitates how we use manufacturing systems and machines, leading to proper methodologies, greater insight, smarter decisions, and faster performance.

But what if you could extend that level of communication directly to your systems and equipment, and enhance how the manufacturing team communicates with powerful worker-machine connectivity?

This level of communication is already here, enabling your tools, systems, and people to work as one cohesive team, providing fast and accurate actions across the manufacturing operation.

Do you know how it works?

VKS DataConnect: The Digital Middleman

DataConnect is a VKS feature that enables your digital work instructions to communicate with external databases in real time. These databases can then interact with physical systems, machines, and tools to create a strong and reliable digital thread.

In essence, worker-machine connectivity functions as a “digital middleman, sitting at the center of the manufacturing operation and facilitating the transference of information so that each system can record data and act accordingly.

This technology allows operators to automatically access, activate, retrieve, and initiate other systems and tools by solely interacting with their digital work instructions, greatly mitigating the back-and-forth many manufacturers have to put up with on a daily basis.

Worker-Machine Connectivity: Data Flows Up & Down the Digital Thread

With VKS DataConnect, information flows both ways through the connected system to ensure that all people and associated systems share the same information within the same digital thread.

VKS initiates the process by sending out parameters to a stored procedure on a database. The data within the database can be monitored by another system or tool, such as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), to activate other processes.

The stored procedure then replies with the requested data, enabling VKS to monitor and retrieve data from every worker-machine connection.

6 Ways You Can Leverage Worker-Machine Connectivity

1. Send Programs to Robot/Machine
2. Label Printing
3. Verify Tool Calibration
4. Vision System Integration
5. Receive & Store Data from Test Bench
6. Daily Rounds/Mobile Audit

1. Send Programs to Robot/Machine

VKS DataConnect enables your work instructions to receive data while also sending programs to activate external systems and tools. This worker-machine connectivity provides smart error-proofing as well as increased efficiency for the operator.

In many manufacturing environments, operators are required to interact with several tools and systems to accomplish their tasks. But what if the operator only had to look and interact with one screen?

VKS digital work instructions and DataConnect enable your workers to perform each of these functions while only interacting with one system. Once an operator has performed their work, VKS can autonomously initiate the functions and actions of other systems and tools.

For example, operators loading the jig of a welding robot simply need to follow their instructions in VKS, and the rest of the process is automated.

2. Label Printing

When operators need to fill out a non-conformance form or print a label, it can often require the use of other systems or worse… writing it down on loose sheets of paper.

Using DataConnect, businesses can connect their work instructions with an external printing software to automatically print a label when the operator needs one.

By allowing VKS to communicate with the printing software, companies can ensure that the crucial data entered into their Smart Forms is exactly the same as what’s being printed on the label. This capability enables businesses to unite digital and physical processes with one simple solution, thereby enhancing process control. The operator only needs to enter the information once, ensuring that there is one strong source of data and zero deviations.

This process can be used to visually identify product details, shipping information, non-conformance parts, and more.

3. Verify Tool Calibration

A key feature of VKS DataConnect is its ability to communicate with external databases. This communication manifests itself in a few key ways.

• Retrieve information from the database to accomplish specific actions.
• Verify data is accurate and up-to-date.

For example, imagine that you are assembling a control panel for freight locomotives. Because the parts will experience different stresses due to the movement of the train, you need to validate that your assembly tools have been recently calibrated.

If tools are not properly calibrated, registered torque values could veer away from the real-life applications of torque. For this reason, manufacturers need a way to connect with their tools and machines to ensure that they will work properly at every working moment.

In this situation, VKS DataConnect can quickly communicate with an external database to ascertain if the tool was recently calibrated. VKS confirms when the last recorded calibration was and communicates with the user on the next appropriate steps.

Additionally, VKS logs the calibration results and stores evidence of the validation, ensuring companies have a detailed record of actions on the shop floor.

4. Vision System Integration

Another method to enhance worker-machine connectivity is to activate various inspection tools directly from their work instructions.

For example, imagine a process where each assembled component needs to be inspected by a visual inspection system with an integrated camera. Once a piece is completed, the operator places the part within the inspection area and then initiates the inspection program through VKS.

Once the inspection has been activated, the operator can start the assembly of a new piece, streamlining the inspection process.

5. Receive & Store Data from Test Bench

Similar to our last example, VKS DataConnect also enables users to connect and directly communicate with test benches while automatically storing the results.

With a direct line of communication between test benches and VKS, companies can ensure that their products fully pass the testing requirements before the next phase of assembly can continue.

6. Daily Rounds/Mobile Audit

As modern manufacturing becomes increasingly complex, manufacturers need standardized methods that augment themselves and the systems around them to suit the precise needs of the production environment. At the same time, manufacturers need a method to inform workers of the precise changes that need to be executed.

So how do we accomplish this using worker-machine connectivity?

Using VKS DataConnect, operators can probe systems and machines to receive the exact information they need when they need it while also communicating with other databases to ascertain the best course of action. This capability enables manufacturers to have quick access to pertinent knowledge that fits the situation at hand.

For example, imagine you are performing daily rounds at a chemical processing plant and you need to perform 2 key duties.

Verify the key inspection points of a process manufacturing audit Enact corrective actions based on the results of the inspection

By using VKS as a daily audit tool while connecting VKS to both the chemical vat’s sensors and an external chemical data table, workers can receive accurate directives as soon as the information is captured.

The Possibilities are Endless

While we’ve shown 6 separate examples of how VKS DataConnect can be used to facilitate worker-machine connectivity, the possibilities for streamlined connections on the shop floor are virtually endless.

By facilitating strong connections between the people, systems, machines, tools, and databases on your shop floor, manufacturing staples such as teamwork and informed decision-making become faster and more effective.

If you’d like to know more about how worker-machine connectivity can unite your operations and facilitate accurate communications, book a demo today.