Series: Four mind-blowing dashboards you can build in Factry Historian
Jolan De Cock
on , updated
Discover four essential types of Grafana dashboards used by our clients, and how they use them to reach operational excellence and improve OEE performance.
Visual data dashboards are an essential element in the toolkit of production companies, because they provide real-time visibility into key process variables, such as production rates, quality metrics, asset efficiency, and water usage. With this actionable information at their fingertips, companies can quickly identify and address process issues that may impact operations.
Factry Historian + Grafana dashboards: a heavenly match
Through the versatility of the Grafana dashboarding tool, the possibilities for customisation are limitless. However, there are a few dashboard types which almost no client can resist building. Here’s a look at 4 essential Grafana dashboards in Factry Historian used by our clients in the process industry, increasing OEE performance, operational efficiency, and profit margins.
Factry Historian is a comprehensive solution for collecting, storing and analysing industrial data. By integrating and aggregating data from equipment, systems and processes, actionable manufacturing insights come to life. Customisable dashboards provide frictionless access to real-time and historical production data, for every role in the company.
This paperless approach allows for a continuous process improvement cycle, leading to increased efficiency, minimised unplanned downtime, and higher profitability.
Any production manager knows: accurate data on process metrics is crucial for making informed decisions, and improving overall productivity. Production monitoring dashboards in Grafana, which can be easily tailored to any company’s needs, provide these real-time insights in a visual way. As a result, they replace process hindsight with a proactive, and more profitable approach.
How it drives better decision-making:
Identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies or quality issues when they occur, not after the facts
Get real-time insights into the status of production, even on your phone
Provide insights at the level of equipment, line or across the whole production hall
How it improves production operations:
Save costs by optimising line performance and eliminating downtime
Optimise resource allocation based on real-time production data
Respond swiftly to small issues, before they impact process continuity
Implement a continuous improvement process and measure the results
Water usage is a substantial cost for manufacturing companies. With rising utility costs, having accurate data on consumption for each part of the production process is a necessity. Building a water monitoring dashboard in Grafana empowers you to track water usage in real-time and combine KPIs in custom interfaces for operators and managers.
How it drives better decision-making:
Identify primary resource usage
Obtain insights into the efficiency of conversion equipment (e.g. gas to steam)
Integrate data and link water usage to production runs, batches, etc.
Compare current water consumption with previous production runs
Display the actual cost per amount of product in manager dashboards
Compare real-time water consumption data with historical values
How it improves production operations:
Find the biggest consumers within your plant or production lines
Identify water-related production issues and improvement potential
Set priorities within a sustainability roadmap and follow-up on progress
Drastically lower your plant’s water use, improving the bottom line
Batch-based process manufacturers, such as companies in the food and chemical industry, rely on the consistent and repeatable production of high-quality products. A batch analysis dashboard, suited to make a thorough analysis of batch parameters, provides real-time visibility into the key process variables that may impact product quality, efficiency and ultimately client satisfaction.
How it drives better decision-making:
Compare batches produced with different recipes, input materials or equipment
Quickly identify and address issues that may impact product quality
Analyse historical process data to identify hidden trends and patterns
Zoom in and out on individual process values and equipment parameters
How it improves production operations:
Improve the consistency and repeatability of the production process
Find the Golden Batch by comparing real-time with optimal conditions
Implement a continuous improvement programme and track the results
Make more informed decisions around suppliers and raw materials
Asset monitoring dashboards allow clients to identify and address (remote) equipment issues promptly and plan preventive maintenance. Visual Grafana dashboards empower managers to benchmark the performance of multiple assets and continuously improve. As a result, they can eliminate unplanned downtime and reduce operational costs.
How it drives better decision-making:
Follow up on asset performance in real time
Get instantly alerted in case of deviating parameters
Compare the performance of production assets, in one glimpse
Access Grafana dashboards from anywhere, on any device
How it improves operations:
Save costs by eliminating waste and unplanned downtime
Identify best practices and areas for operational improvement
Increase the utility of production assets, leading to higher profits
Enjoy a limitlessly scalable system – without breaking the bank