The monitor in production activity control systems

Effective control of manufacturing processes depends on accurate, timely recording of data from the shop floor. Data collected as result of this is translated into information which may be the basis for real-time control or later management decisions. Thus there is a need for a data capture and analysis mechanism which operates reliably, quickly and accurately. This mechanism is called the monitoring function. The monitoring function comprises of three distinct elements, namely: Data capture; data analysis and decision support. The data capture system collects all the relevant information from the shop floor and then this is ‘massaged’ by the data analysis mechanism to produce real-time and historical reports which aid the decision making process in the manufacturing system. This paper outlines the development of a software tool for the control of the manufacturing operation at the operational level (i.e. quasi real-time) and describes in detail the development and use of software modules to support the monitoring activities within a simulation environment.