Application of information technologies in production activities. Modern information technologies and their types

Computers have firmly entered into production activities, and at present there is no need to prove the feasibility of using computer technology in process control systems, design, scientific research, administrative management, in the educational process, banking, healthcare, service industries, etc. The rapid development of information technologies over the past decades is due to the high need of society for them, primarily the needs of production. Many tasks that once required monotonous and lengthy work can now be solved using a computer in a matter of minutes, which has greatly simplified life, helped save working time and successfully helps reduce various types of production costs. The use of modern information technologies becomes possible even where, it would seem, they could never complement or even completely replace the work of a specialist.

The introduction of automation systems in production helps to significantly reduce the number of hired workers, giving preference to several specialists in the field of information technology, who will be able to solve most production problems. In most cases, this approach allows for significant cost savings, despite the high level of salaries of such specialists. By all indicators, automated production wins, so it is important for a modern specialist not only to know about the existence of automation systems, but also to be able to work with them perfectly.

The purpose of this work is to familiarize yourself with existing information technologies used in production. Consideration of the basic information systems of production automation has been relevant for many years, approximately since the middle of the 20th century, and the relevance of this problem will remain high for a long period, since changes in this area are closely related to constant innovations in information technology and science. In recent years, significant changes have occurred in the field of creation and development of information systems: initially, information systems were used only in large-volume production, for example, in engineering or defense plants. The gradual popularization and availability of computers made it possible to use information systems on a smaller scale, while providing an incentive for the development of the logical part of the systems themselves, which will be shown below using the example of the evolution of the MRP information system into the MRPII system; one also cannot fail to notice the emergence of ERP, which made a significant contribution .

During the work, the principles of information systems for production automation, as well as some software tools for their implementation, will be considered. Thus, it will be possible to highlight several of the most successful and most frequently used systems today.

Production control automation systems

Successful production always depends on equally successful management. It is on the shoulders of managers that high responsibility lies for organizing production processes that will generate profit for the company as a whole. Nowadays, there are about twenty basic modern theories of production automation, which are based on modern information technologies. Each approach has its pros and cons in certain conditions, so it is useful to consider each of them. It is also impossible not to notice that some automation systems appeared in the process of modernizing previously existing systems, but this did not lead to a complete abandonment of the original developments. For example, an ERP system (enterprise resource planning system) is a logical continuation of material requirements planning systems (MRP systems) and manufacturing resource planning systems (MRPII systems). The choice of a specific information system for production automation depends on many factors, among which are: volume, type, purpose, need for automation. Using the example of the above-mentioned ERP systems, we can say that it is unlikely that it will be useful for small-scale production to spend time on implementing such a large-scale information system, which, with a small level of enterprise development, will only take up the time of specialists, leading to deterioration in performance. The correct choice of a suitable information system for production is a difficult and very important decision, especially at the time of the formation of a company, when orientation to a certain automation model can determine the formation of the entire production. Complex systems that provide maximum control in numerous areas may not only turn out to be unclaimed, but also serve as one of the significant cost items, which is highly undesirable in most cases. One of the initial systems that combines successful management methods and low implementation costs is the materials requirements planning system.

MRP (MaterialRequirementsPlanning) system – material requirements planning

This system was developed in the USA in the 1950s, but only 25 years later, when there was a rapid leap in the development of computing technology, it gained fame and subsequent widespread distribution. By the late 1980s, MRP was being used by most firms in the US and UK. Today, the use of a materials requirements planning system is not relevant due to the age of the system, but it is the basis for a large number of existing automation systems.

In the middle of the 20th century, many manufacturers faced quite serious problems of untimely supply of resources, which led to a decrease in production performance and the accumulation of large amounts of materials in warehouses. The main task of MRP is to ensure that every element of production, every component, is available at the right time in the right quantity. This is ensured by the formation of a sequence of production operations that allows the timely production of products to be correlated with the established production plan. This approach is also designed to ensure a minimum amount of inventory in the warehouse. In a simplified form, the initial information for the MRP system is represented by production schedules, bills of materials, product composition, and inventory status. Based on the input data, the MRP system performs the following basic operations:

· according to the production schedule data, the number of final products is determined for each planning time period;

· spare parts that are not included in the production schedule are added to the composition of the final products;

· for the production schedule and spare parts, the total need for material resources is determined in accordance with the bill of materials and the composition of the product, distributed by planning time periods;

· the total demand for materials is adjusted taking into account the state of inventories for each planning period;

· Orders for replenishment of inventories are generated taking into account the required lead time.

The result of the MRP system is a schedule for the supply of material resources for production (the need for each accounting unit of materials and components for each period of time). To implement the supply schedule, the system creates an order schedule based on time periods. It is used to place orders to suppliers of materials and components or to plan self-production with the ability to make adjustments during the production process. MRP class systems in terms of price/quality ratio are suitable for small enterprises where management functions are limited to accounting (accounting, warehouse, operational), inventory management in warehouses and personnel management.

The age of this system imposes certain disadvantages that were inappropriate to solve within its framework. The most important disadvantage of MRP systems is the large amount of input data processing compared to the amount of information in general and the results. If you want to switch to frequent but small orders, within the framework of MRP systems it is unlikely that you will be able to find the optimal plan for the costs of order processing and transportation, since the system was originally developed for large enterprises with orders in the thousands (large engineering plants in the USA).

Microsoft Business Solutions-Navision, developed since the early 1980s, was once a popular software for MRP systems. Today, the program complex has grown into Microsoft Dynamics NAV, where the MRP module is a separate plug-in module.

Production control automation systems

MRP (MaterialRequirementsPlanning) system – material requirements planning

· according to the production schedule data, the number of final products is determined for each planning time period;

· spare parts that are not included in the production schedule are added to the composition of the final products;

· the total demand for materials is adjusted taking into account the state of inventories for each planning period;

· Orders for replenishment of inventories are generated taking into account the required lead time.

System MRPII (ManufacturingResourcePlanning) - planning of production resources

The MRP system was replaced by a manufacturing resource planning system called MRPII to emphasize the interconnectedness of the systems. The new system paid attention to a much larger number of factors, which made it possible to significantly expand the scope of application and increase performance. The transition from one system to another was caused not only by visible shortcomings in the original MRP system, but also by the constantly increasing computer power. Over time, calculations of more complex and multi-level operations became possible on relatively cheap computers, which created an increasing interest in constant improvements to information systems. Unlike MRP, in the MRP II system planning is carried out not only in material, but also in monetary terms, which allows you to cover a much larger number of various indicators. MRPII today is a method for effectively planning all resources of a manufacturing company. Some industries have still not abandoned the use of the MRPII scheme, considering it the optimal information system. Ideally, operational planning is carried out in natural units of measurement, financial planning is carried out in monetary units of measurement, and contains modeling capabilities to answer the questions “what will happen if ...?” The model consists of many processes, each of which is related to the others: business planning, production planning (sales and operations planning), master production schedule development, materials requirements planning, capacity requirements planning and support systems for capacity and materials performance control . The output of such systems is integrated with financial reports such as the business plan, purchasing agreement report, shipping budget and inventory forecast in value terms.” As you can see, the difference between the two models is noticeable, since MRPII operates on a much larger number of indicators. The differences between MRP and MRPII can be represented in the form of a visual diagram:

Figure 1 shows a diagram of the MRPII model, in which the elements of the MRP system are highlighted using an oval. As you can see, the transition from the first automation model to the second significantly expands the boundaries of the processed data, which makes it possible to organize production in an optimal way. The MRPII model is sensitive to changes in demand in the short term, which distinguishes it from its predecessor. The MRP II system software standard includes 16 sequential functions:

· sales and production planning;

· demand management;

· drawing up a production plan;

· planning of requirements for raw materials and materials;

· product specifications;

· warehouse subsystem;

· shipment of finished products;

· production management at the shop level;

· production capacity planning;

· entry/exit control;

· logistics;

· sales network inventory planning;

· planning and management of tools;

· financial planning;

· modeling;

· evaluation of performance results.

The advantages of the model include a reduction in inventories, improved customer service, leading to increased sales, an increase in worker productivity, a uniform reduction in purchasing costs, a reduction in overtime work, and a reduction in transportation costs at an increased rate.

APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling) system - advanced planning

The main feature of the APS system is the ability to quickly draw up plans taking into account available resources and production limitations (equipment changeovers, availability of equipment, connections between machines, etc.) and quickly reschedule according to pre-compiled optimization scenarios. The APS system can be divided into two parts, which are closely related to other automation information systems.

The first part of the APS method is similar to the MRP II algorithm. The significant difference is that in the APS system, the coordination of materials and capacities does not occur iteratively, but synchronously, which sharply reduces the time of re-planning. Systems like APS allow you to solve problems such as “pushing” an urgent order into production schedules, distributing tasks taking into account priorities and restrictions, and rescheduling using a full-fledged graphical interface. This is especially true for custom production, as well as in cases of fierce competition in terms of order fulfillment and the need to strictly adhere to these deadlines. The second part of the APS method is production dispatch, with the ability to take into account various kinds of restrictions, with optimization elements. The APS functionality found in manufacturing ERP systems is still relatively new. However, it is believed that over time, APS algorithms will become commonplace in many manufacturing plants.

The main components of the system are: sales and demand forecasting, basic production plan and general planning of capacity utilization, production planning and detailed planning of capacity utilization. The first module is responsible for forecasting based on the history of the system. The user can make his own adjustments in the form of market changes. Unlike MRP II, at this stage it is possible to achieve a significant increase in planning speed, since planning is possible while taking into account capacity and resource constraints. In practice, the time gain is often significant. The production scheduling and load planning component is useful for make-to-order, to-stock, and continuous production schemes. Comparing data from the production plan and data obtained in real time makes it possible to identify production bottlenecks. The component also allows you to compare several production plans to identify the optimal load of production facilities. The third component allows you to take into account the dynamics and real state of affairs in order to create calendar schedules in accordance with the availability of resources (equipment, labor, storage, energy sources, basic materials). Optimization in APS systems is based on heuristics and/or complex mathematical models that are created for a specific industry (for example, metallurgy, rolling - optimization of changes in sheet thickness) and a specific enterprise. In this case, fine-tuning of optimization algorithms can be carried out directly by the users themselves.

APS systems are a kind of add-on to existing ERP systems, replacing similar mechanisms in them. The need for high accuracy of input data can be viewed in two ways, since, on the one hand, this is undoubtedly a positive side for production planning, on the other hand, it is negative, because errors in calculations can lead to losses. The use of APS systems requires great precision and professionalism, which significantly complicates their implementation.

One of the most widespread universal planning systems in the world that fully meets the criteria of APS systems is the product of SAP AG Advanced Planning & Optimization or APO (currently part of the SAP SCM software product).

JIT system (JustInTime) – just in time

One of the most widespread information models in the world is the just-in-time (JIT) model. Its main idea is as follows: if the production schedule is given, then it is possible to organize the movement of material flows in such a way that all materials, components and semi-finished products will arrive in the required quantity, to the right place (on the assembly line - conveyor) and exactly on time for production or assembly of finished products. This ensures that components from a previous operation (processing or delivery from a supplier) enter production when and only when they are needed. Unlike MRP, which is designed for enterprises with large-scale production, JIT is more applicable to medium-scale production, where there is a constant and continuous process of production of small batches, which requires constant supply of materials in small quantities. The advantage of this approach is the absence of the need for safety stocks and immobilizing funds, but it is worth making a reservation that this is true for medium and small enterprises. This system is a successful alternative to MRP with certain conditions. The simplicity of supply planning procedures is not compatible with large-scale production, where planning and control of production processes is at a higher level, since ultimately this will negatively affect performance.

The just-in-time concept is closely related to the components of the logistics cycle. Ideally, material resources or finished products should be delivered to a certain point in the logistics chain (channel) exactly at the moment when they are needed, which eliminates excess inventory, both in production and distribution. Many modern information systems based on this approach are focused on short components of logistics cycles, and this requires an adequate response of the information system units to changes in demand and, accordingly, the production program.

This model is characterized by the following main features:

· minimal (zero) inventories of material resources, work in progress, finished products;

· short production cycles;

· small volumes of production of finished products and replenishment of stocks (supplies);

· relationships for the purchase of material resources with a small number of reliable suppliers and carriers;

· effective information support;

· high quality of finished products and materials supply services.

The “just in time” concept helps to strengthen control and maintain the level of product quality across all components of the production structure. The implemented information systems based on this approach, associated with the synchronization of all processes and stages of supply of material resources, production and assembly, delivery of finished products to consumers, require high accuracy of information and forecasting. This explains, in particular, the short components of production cycles. For effective implementation of JIT technologies, they must work with reliable telecommunication systems and information and computer support.

The development of small manufacturing companies and the relative simplicity of the JIT information system could not go unnoticed. The more enterprises implement an information system at home, the more amendments to it may appear. Modern JIT technologies have become more integrated and are combined from various variants of production concepts and distribution systems, such as systems that minimize inventories in logistics channels, logistics systems for rapid switching, inventory leveling, group technologies, preventive flexible automated production, modern logistics systems for universal statistical control and management of product quality cycles, etc. Therefore, it is currently customary to classify such technologies as a new version of the just-in-time concept - the JIT II concept. Most information systems that have become widespread are constantly being improved and newer and more optimal systems are created on their basis, so JIT is no exception.

The main goal of the JIT II information system is the maximum integration of all logistics functions of the company to minimize the level of inventory in the integrated information system, ensuring high reliability and level of quality of products and services to maximize customer satisfaction. Systems based on the JIT II ideology use flexible production technologies for the production of small volumes of finished products in a group assortment based on early prediction of consumer demand.

A striking example of the implementation of a JIT information system is the KANBAN micro-system, which became one of the first attempts to practically implement the just-in-time concept.

This system combines the features of a just-in-time system, such as low inventory levels, and individual production units. The systems are most applicable to products produced in large volumes on a regular basis. They are much less applicable for expensive or large products whose storage or delivery costs are high; systems are less applicable to infrequently and irregularly used products or to manufacturing plants that are not divided into small production units.

The KANBAN micro-system significantly reduces inventories of material resources at the input and work in progress at the output, making it possible to identify bottlenecks in the production process. Once the problem is resolved, the buffer stock is reduced again until the next bottleneck is discovered. Thus, the KANBAN system allows you to establish balance in the supply chain by minimizing inventory at each stage.

The practical use of the KANBAN system, and then its modified versions, can significantly improve the quality of products: the logistics cycle is shortened, the turnover of working capital of companies is significantly increased, production costs are reduced, and safety stocks are practically eliminated and the volume of work in progress is significantly reduced. An analysis of the world experience in using the KANBAN micrologistics system by many well-known engineering firms shows that it makes it possible to reduce production inventories by 50%, inventory by 8%, with a significant acceleration of working capital turnover and an increase in the quality of finished products.

The KANBAN micro-system was developed and implemented for the first time in the world by Toyota. In 1959, this company began experimenting with this information system and in 1962 began the process of converting all production to this principle. The production organization of the Toyota company is based on an annual plan for the production and sale of cars, on the basis of which monthly and operational plans for average daily production at each site are drawn up, based on forecasting consumer demand (lead period - 1 and 3 months). Daily production schedules are prepared only for the main assembly line. For workshops and areas serving the main conveyor, production schedules are not drawn up (they only establish approximate monthly production volumes).

ERP systems

According to the APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society) Dictionary, the term “ERP system” (Enterprise Resource Planning) can be used in two meanings. Firstly, it is an information system for identifying and planning all enterprise resources that are necessary for sales, production, purchasing and accounting in the process of fulfilling customer orders. Secondly (in a more general context), it is a methodology for effectively planning and managing all enterprise resources that are necessary for sales, production, purchasing and accounting for the execution of customer orders in the areas of production, distribution and service provision.

The abbreviation ERP is used to denote complex enterprise management systems (Enterprise-Resource Planning - enterprise resource planning). The key term of ERP is Enterprise, and only then – resource planning. The true purpose of ERP is to integrate all departments and functions of a company into a single computer system that can serve all the specific needs of individual departments.

The most difficult thing is to build a unified system that will serve all the requests of the financial department employees, and, at the same time, please the HR department, the warehouse, and other departments. Each of these departments usually has its own computer system, optimized for its specific work needs. ERP combines them all into one integrated program that works with a single database, so that all departments can more easily share information and communicate with each other. This integrated approach promises to be very rewarding if companies can get the system installed correctly.

Take order processing for example. Typically, when a customer places an order, he begins a long journey from one filing folder to another. In this case, the order information simultaneously gets into one computer system, then into another. This unhurried journey leads to delays in order fulfillment and loss, and also causes errors when repeatedly entering information into different systems. Meanwhile, at the right moment, no one in the company can truly say what the real status of the order is, because the representative office employee cannot look into the warehouse computers and say whether the goods have already been shipped or not. In the best case, the customer will be asked to call the warehouse or the manager will try to clarify the information on his own; in the worst case, the client will lose time in an unknown wait.

ERP replaces old disparate computer systems for finance, personnel management, production control, logistics, and warehouse with one unified system consisting of software modules that repeat the functionality of old systems. Programs serving finance, production or warehouse are now linked together, and from one department you can look into the information of another. Most vendors' ERP systems are quite flexible and easily customizable, and can be installed in modules without purchasing the entire package at once. For example, many companies purchase only financial or HR modules at first, leaving automation of other functions for the future.

An ERP system automates the procedures that make up business processes. For example, fulfilling a customer order: accepting the order, placing it, shipping from the warehouse, delivery, issuing an invoice, receiving payment. The ERP system “picks up” the customer’s order and serves as a kind of road map by which various steps along the order fulfillment path are automated. When the dealership representative enters a customer order into the ERP system, he has access to all the information needed to trigger the fulfillment order. For example, he immediately gets access to the client’s credit rating and the history of his orders from the financial module, learns about the availability of goods from the warehouse module and about the schedule of shipment of goods from the logistics module.

Employees working in different departments see the same information and can update it in their section. When one department completes an order, the order is automatically forwarded to another department within the system itself. To find out where the order was at any time, you only need to log in and track the order. Because the entire process is now transparent, customer orders are processed faster and with fewer errors than before. The same thing happens with other important processes, for example, creating financial reports, payroll, etc.

This is the ideal role of an ERP system. The reality is somewhat harsher. Let's return to the same paper folders. This process may not be effective, but it is simple and familiar. The accounting department does its job, the warehouse does its job, and if something is wrong behind the walls of the department, it’s someone else’s problem. With the advent of ERP, working conditions change somewhat: now the seller is not just looking for a client by typing his data, since the ERP system turns an ordinary seller into a manager of a certain level. The salesperson moves from the customer's credit history to the warehouse situation. Will the client pay on time? Will we be able to ship on time? Sellers have never made such decisions before, and customers depend on these decisions, and other departments of the company depend on them. And it's not just the salespeople who have to wake up - the people in the warehouse, who previously kept the entire list of goods in their heads or on scraps of paper, now have to enter it into the computer. If they don't do this regularly and quickly, the salesperson will tell the customer the item is out of stock, the customer will go to another supplier, and the company will lose money.

Responsibility, accountability and unified communications have never been tested so tightly before. Many people don't like change, even if it's about improvement, and ERP requires a change in the way they work. This is why it is so difficult to measure the impact of ERP. It's not so much the software that's valuable, but the changes companies must make in the way they do business. If you simply install new software without changing the principles of operation, management may not see any effect at all. On the contrary, new software will slow things down - replacing an old program that everyone knows with a new one that no one knows. ERP is the result of forty years of evolution in management and information technology.

In the 60s, the use of computer technology began to automate various areas of enterprise activity. At the same time, a class of materials requirements planning systems (MRP - Material Requirements Planning) appeared. The functioning of such systems was based on the concept of specification and production program (production schedule). The specification showed the finished product in the context of its components. The production program contained information about the time period, type and quantity of finished products planned for production by the enterprise. With the help of this data, the specification explosion procedure was carried out, on the basis of which the enterprise received information about the needs for materials to produce the required number of finished products in accordance with the schedule. The requirements information was then converted into a series of purchase and production orders. Also, this process took into account information about the balance of raw materials and materials in warehouses.

The benefits of using MRP, described at the beginning of the work, are high, but despite this, the system had one significant drawback, namely, the production capacity of the enterprise was not taken into account in its work. This led to the expansion of the functionality of MRP systems with a capacity requirements planning module (CRP - Capacity Requirements Planning). The relationship between CRP and schedule allowed for the availability of the necessary capacity to produce a certain number of finished products. In the 80s, a new class of systems appeared - enterprise resource planning systems (Manufacturing Resource Planning). Due to the similarity of abbreviations, such systems began to be called MRPII. The differences between MRPII and MRP were also considered by us at the beginning of our work. But it is MRPII that is the penultimate stage of the emergence of ERP. As a result of the improvement of MRPII systems and their further functional expansion, a class of ERP systems appeared. The term ERP was introduced by the independent research company Gartner Group in the early 90s. ERP systems are designed not only for manufacturing enterprises, they also effectively allow you to automate the activities of service companies.

The need to automate management processes was first recognized in the late 60s and early 70s, when it became clear that the management of a large corporation is subject to the same laws as any bureaucratic structure. One of Parkinson's laws states: “The size of an organization has nothing to do with the amount of work it does.” In other words, as the number of management personnel increases, the efficiency of its work drops to zero.

In this regard, an idea was born: to organize the work of managers using an automated system in much the same way as a conveyor belt organizes the work of workers. As a result, the concept of regular management was born, relying not on talented individuals, but on formally described procedures that make the work of each manager effective.

Conclusion

In the course of this work, the main information systems were described that were once popular, but had a significant impact, or are successfully used in production in our time. The significance and benefits of these techniques have been repeatedly proven by manufacturing companies around the world. Some principles of information systems for production automation were formed in the middle of the last century, but in our time they have not lost their relevance in certain conditions, being the basis for newer systems. Presenting the principles of operation of information systems is an important and integral part of the work for managers at various levels in any enterprise. A clear presentation of the schemes allows not only to make correct and balanced management decisions within the framework of a certain model, but also to competently use software designed for processing information with subsequent provision of reports

It is impossible not to notice that there are other variations of information systems for production, which in certain cases are used in practice, and quite successfully. However, their popularity is not so high. The success of using a particular information system largely depends on production and market conditions, therefore in this work only the main systems that have proven themselves in many cases in different countries of the world were considered.

Large manufacturing enterprises choose ERP systems, which are considered one of the most optimal solutions today. Their popularity is gradually increasing in Russia, while in the West, ERP systems have been used for quite a long time. The choice of this system is due to the fact that with the right approach it allows you to most fully and accurately reflect all processes within the company in electronic form. Some experts call the ERP system a virtual projection of the company as a whole.

The question of a detailed consideration of software for information systems is more extensive, since it depends not only on the selected model, but also on other factors not related to a specific production. A detailed introduction to working with software packages is beyond the scope of this work, since for many models there are several software packages that differ from each other, both in the technical part and in the user environment.

The importance of using modern information technologies in production is very high, and today this does not require proof. Automation of many processes in production has made it possible to achieve a manifold increase in performance: from direct production of products and preparation of documents, to assistance in managing an entire company by creating objective reports. The relevance of information systems based on the JIT principle for small industries and successful examples of the implementation of ERP systems indicate the continuous development and evolution of information systems. This direction remains promising, since the possibilities for optimizing existing schemes are almost limitless.

The main thing, of course, is the set of functions of ERP systems, the main of which are the following:

· maintaining design and technological specifications that determine the composition of manufactured products, as well as the material resources and operations necessary for its manufacture;

· Formation of sales and production plans;

· planning the requirements for materials and components, timing and volumes of supplies to fulfill the production plan;

· inventory and procurement management: maintaining contracts, implementing centralized procurement, ensuring accounting and optimization of warehouse and workshop inventories;

· planning of production capacities from large-scale planning to the use of individual machines and equipment;

· operational financial management, including drawing up a financial plan and monitoring its implementation, financial and management accounting;

· project management, including planning the stages and resources necessary for their implementation.

Since the basis of the ERP system is the MRP II system located inside it, it is natural that the functions of both are largely similar. The main differences between ERP systems and MRPII systems can be considered:

· more types of production and types of activities of enterprises and organizations;

· resource planning for various areas of activity;

· the ability to manage a group of autonomously operating enterprises and corporate structures;

· greater attention to financial planning and management subsystems;

· availability of management functions for transnational corporations, including support for multiple time zones, languages, currencies, accounting systems;

· greater attention to the creation of an enterprise information infrastructure, flexibility, reliability, compatibility with various software platforms;

· integration with applications and other systems used by the enterprise, such as computer-aided design systems, process control automation, electronic document management, e-commerce;

· presence in the system or integration with decision support software;

· availability of developed tools for setting up and configuring hardware and software.

In the last decade, Internet technologies have successfully developed, allowing enterprises to exchange data and documents with customers and counterparties through an information network. New functions for working with the Internet that have appeared in integrated management systems are already going beyond the traditional framework of ERP, which is closed within the production cycle of an enterprise. The combination of a traditional enterprise ERP system with Internet solutions for e-business led to the creation of a new organizational and management environment and a new quality of the system. The result of this was the concept of a new generation of systems - ERP II - Enterprise Resource and Relationship Processing - management of resources and external relations of an enterprise, having, as it were, two control loops: traditional internal, managing the internal business processes of the enterprise, and external - managing interactions with counterparties and product buyers . At the same time, the traditional internal control loop is usually called back-office - an internal system, and the functions of interaction with counterparties and customers - front-office - an external system. Thus, an ERP II system is an ERP system methodology with the possibility of closer interaction between an enterprise and clients and counterparties through information channels provided by Internet technologies.

Software for implementing ERP systems is quite widely available today. Some of the most famous implementations are 1C: Enterprise 8.0, SAPR3, Microsoft Dynamics, Galaktika, but there are also a huge number of programs written in different languages and providing different functionality within the framework of ERP information systems.

Glossary of basic terms used

Information system- an information system is a complex that includes computing and communication equipment, software, linguistic tools and information resources, as well as system personnel and provides support for a dynamic information model of some part of the real world to meet the information needs of users.

Logistics- part of economic science and field of activity, the subject of which is to organize a rational process of promoting goods and services from producers to consumers, functioning of the sphere of circulation of products, goods, services, managing inventory, creating a distribution infrastructure.

Distribution- is a set of interrelated functions that are implemented in the process of distributing material flow between various buyers.
Bibliography

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G. A. Titorenko “Information systems and management technologies” - M: Unity-Dana, 2010.

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Tools and methods of applied computer science are used in management, marketing, as well as in the areas of material production. New technologies based on computer technology require radical changes in the organizational structures of management, its regulations, human resources, documentation systems, recording and transfer of information. Of particular importance is the introduction of information technologies, which significantly expand the possibilities for companies to use information resources. The development of information technology is associated with the organization of a data and knowledge processing system, their consistent development to the level of integrated automated control systems, covering vertically and horizontally all levels and links of material production and sales.

Technology is a complex of scientific and engineering knowledge implemented in labor techniques, sets of material, technical, energy, and labor factors of production, methods of combining them to create a product or service that meets certain requirements.

Technology is the management of natural processes aimed at creating artificial objects: it is effective insofar as it manages to create the necessary conditions for the necessary processes to flow in the right direction and direction. Here<естественные процессы>are controlled not only to transform the composition, structure and form of a substance, but also to record, process and obtain new information.

Technology is inextricably linked with the mechanization of the production or non-production, primarily management, process. Management technologies are based on the use of computers and telecommunications technology.

Information technology is a complex of interrelated scientific, technological, and engineering disciplines that study methods for effectively organizing the work of people involved in processing and storing information; computer technology and methods of organizing and interacting with people and production equipment, their practical applications, as well as social, economic and cultural problems associated with all this. Information technologies themselves require complex training, large initial costs and high-tech technology. Their introduction should begin with the creation of mathematical software and the formation of information flows in specialist training systems.

2. What modern technical means are used to automate information and management activities

In recent decades, in the most developed countries, in particular in the USA and Japan, special attention has been paid to creative (creative) information technologies of the so-called third (highest) level. They cover the full information cycle - the production of information (new knowledge), its transfer, processing, use for transforming an object, achieving new higher goals.

Information technologies of the third level mean the highest stage of computerization, they allow you to use computers in the creative process, combine the power of the human mind and the power of electronic technology, which must be used in subsequent material production.

Full integrated automation of management at enterprises involves covering the following information and management processes: communication, collection, storage and access to necessary information, information analysis, text preparation, support for individual activities, programming and solving special problems. The main directions of automation of information and management activities of companies are as follows: automation of the information exchange process, including corporate automatic telephone exchange, “e-mail”. Modern technical means of automation of information, management and production activities include:

Computer tools for automation of production processes.

Electronic typewriters.

Copy machines.

Communication means.

Local computer networks.

Automated machines and other equipment.

Use of various information databases.

BELARUSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Yuri Petrovich

Windchill consists of a large number of information banks. It is possible to select a set of systems that will satisfy the user's content production needs. Windchill comes in both network and local versions. A Windchill suite can consist of any combination of network and local information banks. Information in Windchill systems is regularly updated - new documents are added and old ones are changed.

Windchill contains a number of information sections:

Windchill PDMLink - providing control over all production processes and related information about the product throughout its entire life cycle.

http://vac. / – website of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Republic of Belarus. All regulations relating to the preparation and defense of dissertations are collected here.

http://nirs. / – the server contains data about scientific conferences, competitions, research conducted by BSU researchers. Collections of conferences in electronic form and announcements of planned scientific events are useful.

http://gosstandsrt / – Official website of the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus. The website provides information about the activities of the committee’s bodies, as well as state standards, technical regulations, etc.

Appendix B

http://www. shevel-yury. *****/

Appendix D

Master's student at the Faculty of Economics of BSU

Specialty "Finance, money circulation and credit"

Related specialties

08.00.01 – Economic theory

1. The structure of economic relations, patterns of their development.

2. Property in the system of economic relations.

3. Social reproduction, its material and cost structures.

08.00.13 – mathematical and instrumental methods of economics

1. Theory and methodology of economic-mathematical modeling, research of its capabilities and ranges of application: theoretical and methodological foundations for displaying socio-economic processes and systems in the form of mathematical, information and computer models.

2. Development and research of macromodels of economic dynamics in conditions of equilibrium and disequilibrium, competitive economy, monopoly, oligopoly, combinations of various forms of ownership.

Main specialty

Related specialties

The Higher Attestation Commission has been abolished

Appendix D

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“The law of the market is harsh, but it is the law” - this is how you can paraphrase the famous Latin expression. Producing high-quality products in a short time and at minimal cost is a task that all industrial enterprises have to solve. However, the production capacity of almost any domestic machine-building enterprise corresponds to the 80s of the last century and does not allow the production of competitive products. There is an acute shortage of qualified specialists in the workshops. No less pressing is the problem of the long duration of product development processes and technological preparation of their production, which leads to an unjustified increase in costs and production times and, as a consequence, to a loss of competitiveness in the market. As a rule, long-term preparation for the production of products is due to serious costs in the transfer of design and technological information about the product being developed and in its search.

Costs in transmitting information are caused by the fact that the enterprise often does not attach due importance to the need for implementation unified system design and technological preparation of production. As a result, everything comes down to “patchwork” automation of design and technological tasks, when each department chooses a system for itself, guided by the only principle - “it’s more convenient for us.” This leads to the lack of a uniform data format. The data created must be constantly transferred from one system to another, which is fraught with errors and complicates the process of making changes.

The costs of storing and retrieving information are caused by similar reasons: design and technological data are stored in file systems; information about who, when and what specific changes were made is not saved; The version history of the object is lost. All this is complicated by the multi-stage procedure for transferring data to other departments involved in the development process.

A complete and high-quality solution to these problems allows the transition to the use of an integrated product development system - from product design, its development and production to after-sales service. This is the Product Development System offered by the American company RTS (Parametric Technology Company).

Next, we will talk about the Product Development System, which is being implemented at Elektromashina OJSC by the company’s specialists with the support of the engineering and consulting company SOLVER and provides end-to-end product design and data management about them throughout the entire life cycle of the company’s products.

It is based on the end-to-end production preparation cycle

Modern methodology for preparing the production of a new product involves an end-to-end cycle: product design - tooling design - development of control programs - production based on the use of a unified three-dimensional mathematical model of the product. What is the advantage of this approach?

Firstly, all work is based on the original model created by the designer. The presence of a single geometry makes it possible to eliminate errors when creating equipment and control programs, and specialized analysis modules built into the system ensure that the functionality of the designed product meets the specified requirements even at the stages of product development, which undoubtedly affects the quality of the product.

Reference

JSC "Electromashina" (Chelyabinsk)

OJSC Elektromashina is the main manufacturer of electrical equipment, systems and control complexes for special-purpose equipment and railway transport. The company offers a full range of services: supply of spare parts, repair and maintenance of electrical equipment.

The Pro/ENGINEER software package was chosen as the basic system for design and production preparation at OAO Elektromashina, and the Windchill system was chosen as the engineering data management tool, which together form the Product Development System. The system was implemented by the company’s specialists with the support of SOLVER over a period of 18 months. Today, the company independently and skillfully uses the system, creating high-quality products in a short time and at lower costs.

Engineering and consulting company SOLVER (Moscow, Voronezh)

The engineering and consulting company SOLVER assists Russian machine-building enterprises in building “smart” production, which means highly efficient and highly profitable production. Over 14 years of operation, the company has completed more than 385 industrial projects, introduced hundreds of automated workstations for designers and technologists, and hundreds of pieces of technological equipment.

Today, the company is promoting the concept of building “smart” production, helping domestic engineering enterprises that produce or wish to produce competitive products to do so more efficiently based on the advanced technological equipment, tools and software offered by the company.

Secondly, a single initial geometry makes it possible to parallelize the work of developers - designers and technologists. Thus, technologists can begin work at the product design stage, without waiting for the final approval of a set of design documentation. Despite the fact that the work of an engineer is an iterative and, in a sense, endless process (there is no limit to perfection!), end-to-end design technologies allow, if necessary, to quickly and efficiently carry out the changes planned by the developers.

Thirdly, the processes of product design and production preparation in modern conditions are unthinkable without the use of a unified corporate design and technological data management system, which ensures high-quality management of production preparation processes.

Design preparation for production

When using simple computer-aided design systems, the designer is often not interested in the technological features of manufacturing parts and assemblies, which often leads to defects and subsequent expensive modifications during the production process. To avoid such situations, it is necessary to coordinate the work of designers and technologists, as well as take into account technological limitations at the initial stages of product development.

The system of end-to-end parallel design and production preparation Pro/ENGINEER allows you to take into account the technological features of a particular production both at the design stage and during the development of manufacturing technology. Login design geometry inheritance tool provides the technologist with the opportunity to carry out work on designing equipment and developing a control program based on the design model, introducing the necessary technological restrictions into it. Imagine a common situation: a tooling designer designs a mold for a part, the model of which, in addition to foundry ones, also contains many elements obtained during subsequent machining. In other words, in order to design a mold, it is necessary to exclude these elements. At the same time, the associative connection between the design and technological models is preserved. This, in turn, allows the control program to change automatically when the designer makes changes (if they do not relate to machining). The inheritance tool ensures that the associative connection “works” in one direction - from the designer to the technologist. The changes made by the technologist in no way affect the original geometry.

Naturally, in order to organize effective parallel work of different departments participating in the development, it is necessary to draw up “rules of the game”: develop a document (usually an enterprise standard) that should describe the rules for creating three-dimensional models, the requirements for attribute information describing them, the responsibilities of each department in the general structure of production preparation, etc. At JSC Elektromashina, the work on creating such a standard began as part of an implementation project jointly with the SOLVER company, and was completed by the CAD bureau of the enterprise created during the project, which was entrusted with all the work to support and develop the created Product Development and Production Preparation System.

Of great importance during teamwork is the correct organization of work with libraries of standard and standard components (Fig. 1 and 2) of the products being developed. To form a single source of data within the enterprise, a navigation structure of the data warehouse was created. Over the many years of implementation of Pro/ENGINEER at machine-building enterprises, SOLVER specialists have developed libraries of standardized components that are easily adapted to the specific requirements of any customer. Standard products, such as bearings, fasteners, etc., included in these libraries, are made in accordance with GOST requirements, and attribute information fully describes accuracy and strength classes, material, coating, etc.

Organizing effective data storage is determined by several key points:

high performance of Windchill and Pro/ENGINEER systems;
the presence of a single attribute description of the components;
effective navigation structure;
rules for creating new types and sizes of components;
component coding requirements;
life cycle of a standard product.

Practice shows that each enterprise has a certain restrictive list of standard components used. And it is quite logical that when using a unified electronic data archive, ordinary users should not have access to either creating new types and sizes of standard components, or editing existing components. At JSC Elektromashina, the solution to these problems is entrusted to the CAD bureau.

If the typical procedure for creating an archive component is to generate the required type size and save it in a separate file, then creating another type size is carried out by simply changing the attribute information and then regenerating the file. For each type of component, a life cycle is defined, a process of coordination and approval that describes the procedure for making a decision on the need to use it, entering it into a restrictive list and synchronizing new information with the enterprise’s existing enterprise management information system (ERP).

To work with Pro/ENGINEER running in Windchill, the user does not require any additional software. Pro/ENGINEER has a built-in web browser that allows you to open, save, and otherwise manipulate documents stored in Windchill. For example, inserting a library component into an assembly or simply opening it is easily accomplished by dragging the component from the Windchill window to the Pro/ENGINEER window. Moreover, if the component has been previously described, then it automatically determines its position in the structure (Fig. 3 and 4).

Technological preparation of production

All types of technological equipment at JSC Elektromashina are also developed using Pro/ENGINEER. These include fixtures, custom equipment, testing equipment, molds and dies (Figures 5 and 6). The development of all equipment is carried out on the basis of the geometry of the design model and is associated with it. During the implementation project, the company’s specialists already within the first month developed five molds using three-dimensional models, the form-building components of which were subsequently manufactured on CNC machines.

Rice. 6. Properties page of the object “Milling fixture”

The development of control programs for the manufacture of parts on CNC machines is carried out at the enterprise, also in Pro/ENGINEER (Fig. 7 and 8) under the control of Windchill. All control programs, as well as equipment, are developed on the basis of a design model, which is used as the basis for all processing operations. When a technologist-programmer creates processing objects, tool paths refer to the selected structural elements of the part, surfaces and edges of the model. Thus, an associative connection is established between the product model and the workpiece. Whenever a model is modified, all processing operations associated with it are updated . JSC Elektromashina has a modern fleet of CNC machine tools, including those supplied by SOLVER. Therefore, the introduction of modern technologies in the field of development of control programs allows the enterprise to use this equipment as efficiently as possible.

Rice. 7. Storing control programs in Windchill

The next step in the implementation of modern technologies at the enterprise will be the development of the Vericut software package. This complex allows you to simulate the processes of processing parts on CNC machines in order to detect possible errors in the trajectory of the cutting tool, collisions of the working parts of the machine, and also increase the efficiency of using metal-cutting machines. Moreover, all work in Vericut is carried out using a control program in G-codes - that is, Vericut takes into account both the features of the control rack of the machine and the features of its kinematics. The use of Vericut reduces the percentage of defects and rework, optimizes cutting conditions, reduces processing time, extends the service life of cutting tools, improves the quality of machined surfaces, and also allows you to eliminate errors before the part is put into production, which can subsequently lead to breakage of equipment, tools or machine

Management of technological preparation processes

At JSC Elektromashina, technological processes are developed using KOMPAS Autoproject software, the files of which are presented in ZIP format. The formation of a visual representation of the technological process is carried out in the MS Office Excel application. Since only visual information is required for approval and approval, KOMPAS Autoproject data is automatically converted into PDF format, and in this format is transferred for storage to Windchill. The advantage of this format is that it makes it possible to use an electronic signature, provides the creation of text and graphic notes on the document field and the ability to view it at any workplace.

To manage technological instructions, a special library “Technological Processes” has been created (Fig. 9), where their storage, coordination and approval, restriction of access rights and search are organized. It is worth noting that any libraries are formed primarily in accordance with the regulations for access to working data. For example, a product designer is denied access to a library of technological processes or control programs, but he is given the opportunity to view individual necessary documents.

In creating an integrated information environment, the concept of life cycle is decisive. Almost every object, be it a drawing, model, document, etc., is assigned its own life cycle, according to which it changes, sequentially moving from one state to another. A life cycle in Windchill is a set of stages associated with workflows that describe the logic of working with an object. The ARIS Toolset software (Fig. 10) from the German company IDS Sheer, a world leader in the development of tools for analysis and reorganization of business processes, as well as a partner of the SOLVER company, was used as a modeling tool.

During the implementation of the project, an analysis of the existing business process of signing, agreeing and approving technological documentation was carried out. During the analysis of the enterprise standard and a survey of employees of technological departments, the main stages and roles of participants in the process were identified. Based on the data obtained, a model of the existing business process in the “as is” state was developed. This model was characterized by a large number of stages and sequences of the approval process, which required significant time. s x costs. Modern engineering data management systems can significantly (several times) reduce the time for document approval and increase the time for its quality processing. This became possible thanks to data transfer at almost instantaneous speed, as well as due to constant monitoring of tasks performed by performers and parallel coordination of information.

Based on this business process model, a variant of the model was created for the “as it should” state when implementing the Windchill management information system. The actions of the participants in the process of approving technological documentation were separated into separate blocks, which determined the main stages of the life cycle of the technological process. At the same time, in order to minimize the time required for developing documentation, work in coordination with various services of the enterprise was parallelized.

To ensure the process of approval of technological documentation, the life cycle of the “Technological Process” object was created (Fig. 11). Its life cycle template consists of five stages: “In operation”, “Under regulatory control”, “Under technical control”, “Under consideration” and “Archived”.

At the “In Work” stage (Fig. 12), the technological process is developed (together with employees of technological services), a designation is assigned to the technical process by an employee of the standardization department, and the technical process is checked by the leading technologist (Fig. 13 and 14) and the head of the OGT technology bureau. If corrections and modifications are necessary, the documentation will be returned to the contractor and rechecked.

Rice. 14. Task for checking the technological process by the leading technologist

At the stage “For standard control”, compliance with the requirements of regulatory documentation is monitored (Fig. 15 and 16). If corrections and modifications are necessary, the documentation will be returned to the contractor and re-checked.

At the “Technical control” stage, the technological process is checked by technological services (technologists for machining, welding, galvanic coating, casting and heat treatment) and its approval by the deputy head of the technical department (Fig. 17). Before testing, the developer has the opportunity to select matching technologists in accordance with the specifics of the technological process (Fig. 18 and 19).

At the “Under Consideration” stage, the technological process is agreed upon with the head of the workshop’s technological bureau, the head of the technical control bureau, an employee of the chief metrologist’s department and the deputy director for quality (Fig. 20 and 21). As part of the project, in order to more fully demonstrate Windchill's document automation technologies for this stage, two variants of the workflow template were developed, differing from each other in the order of task distribution and different approaches to modeling workflows.

Note that Windchill’s capabilities allow you to automate the approval processes of not only design or technological documentation, but also any other documents. For example, at the end of the project, the specialists of the enterprise’s CAD bureau already automated the process of approving contracts for Elektromashina OJSC on their own. This, firstly, made it possible to reduce the duration of processes, and secondly, provided the ability to track the status of the process - in which service the contract is being approved, how much time has already been spent on it, etc.

Implementation results

One of the main results of the completed project is that the company has formed a highly qualified team capable of solving a complex of problems related to the implementation of information technologies in the field of design and technological preparation of production. These tasks include providing technical support for the system, conducting user training, developing the necessary standard components and specialized applications that complement the capabilities of existing software, etc.

Specialists of the CAD bureau of Elektromashina OJSC, together with employees of the SOLVER company, have created uniform corporate standards in the field of using the Pro/ENGINEER computer-aided design system and the Windchill product life cycle management system, which allow us to systematize existing experience and effectively use it in further developments.

Today, Pro/ENGINEER is not yet used at all stages of product development and production preparation, but the company has already noted a noticeable increase in the quality of designed products due to the fact that a significant part of errors in design documentation is identified at the stage of technological preparation of production before the production of products “in metal."

The implementation of the Product Development System is an iterative process, and the system will continue to develop at Elektromashina OJSC, helping to intelligently organize production preparation and ensure the competitiveness of manufactured products.

Alexander Moskovchenko

Head of the CAD and production preparation department of the engineering and consulting company SOLVER.

Sergey Efimov

Head of the Product Lifecycle Management Systems department at SOLVER.