Corning selects Real World Technology's OnTrack production management system

As a way to manage the manufacturing process and remove the information bottleneck that existed between business information systems and the factory floor, Corning Inc. selected Real World Technology's (Mount Prospect, IL) OnTrack production management and traceability software for use at its Costar medical device facility in Kennebunk, ME.

Real World Technology's OnTrack is an off-the-shelf software package that, in addition to automating management of the plant floor, captures detailed traceability information to provide manufacturers with product quality, warranty, and liability solutions.

Corning will use OnTrack to expand its e-manufacturing capabilities, reduce costs, and improve quality. By electronically monitoring complex manufacturing processes in real time and tracking the output from a wide variety of machines and control devices, OnTrack will provide Corning with critical, time-sensitive data to enhance decision-making.

"Implementing OnTrack at Corning will give us real-time floor visibility from the desktop, which is accessible through OnTrack's reporting tools. Plus, OnTrack provides a complete and detailed record of all operations, process changes, and output," says John Dolewa, IT analyst at Corning. "In addition, the system will store information we need to know about machine capacity and also trace machine condition adjustments that could affect product quality."

Dolewa added that Corning also selected OnTrack due to its inclusion of integrated OLE for Process Control (OPC) into the system, which allows total visibility to all machinery, plug-and-play simplicity for faster implementation, and ultimately, significant time and cost savings.

Corning plans to expand the OnTrack implementation to additional plants in its medical devices division.

"Corning's commitment to making technology investments that improve e-manufacturing processes is essential to its success," adds Marty McGrath, Real World Technology senior executive. "OnTrack not only helps to manage the manufacturing process, but also removes the giant information bottleneck that exists between business information systems and the factory floor. The end result for Corning is a more flexible manufacturing process that reacts immediately to solve problems and maximize opportunity."

Edited by Jim Lardear
Managing Editor, PlantAutomation.com