When looking at Configurable ERP software one of the more interesting aspects of this kind of software is what's known as a "dashboard". A dashboard in software is very similar to the dashboard or instrument panel in your car. All the controls are there, centrally located so the driver can get to them easily. There are also visual indicators to give the driver crucial information about what's going on with the vehicle including its speed, outer indicators, how the engine is running, whether any doors are open or seatbelts aren't being worn by passengers, etc.

A dashboard in software can be very similar to the dashboard in a car. In software a dashboard can be designed to organize information concerning the software on one page. Links to various portions of the software can be placed on the dashboard. In older database software such a screen was called a "switchboard", allowing the user to switch between various portions of the program from this central location.

Today's dashboards are much more complex than this. A dashboard for a blog, for example, might include comments needing to be moderated, draft entries that haven't been published yet, a list of other blogs which link to that blog, what people are using in search engines to find the blog, and what the most popular posts are. More interesting to some blog authors though is a chart showing page view trends over a given time period. This will tell the author when a lot of readers are showing up so him or her can write accordingly.

A dashboard in manufacturing software can be very similar. Charting tools can be used to graphically illustrate scrap and downtime trends over time, with better software allowing these time periods to be set for this chart. Charts can also show production numbers for various products, part numbers ordered per region, best-selling products vs. least selling, etc., looking at these numbers daily, weekly, monthly or annually. And of course, these charts can be pie charts, paretos, bar charts or even three-dimensional.

When a dashboard is laid out or designed correctly it can also be used as a printed report. If the dashboard includes a good amount of infortaion and there are methods to present an electronic version of it, no paper needs to be printed whatsoever. This helps in putting together a true Paperless Manufacturing software system.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness, or OEE, is one of those subjects manufacturers have only recently began depending on in an effort to ensure equipment is running at its peak. Many years ago manufacturers would simply fix machines as they broke down, basically putting out fires as they happened. Once it became apparent machines broke down for a reason preventative maintenance scheduling was developed in an attempt to prevent regular breakdowns from occuring. This has now evolved into what's known today as OEE.

OEE involves a number of calculations that assist in looking at defect tracking, production performance and machine availability or “uptime”.These calculations result in some rather interesting data, including a machine's availiability, performance rate and quality rate. These can then be charted so they're more easily understood, and can also be used in further calculations as well to determine the OEE of a line or facility.

Preventative maintenance and regular equipment inspections, when used alongside OEE, can assist in ensuring better equipment care and longer uptimes between breakdowns. With the development of handheld computing devices, ruggedized wireless laptops and the like, all routing information and data to and from these devices with a database on a central server, it can be seen that this whole arrangement can be made paperless with the right software. And if the software itself is custom configured for the equipment in your facility, you'll most likely end up with even better OEE results, with higher levels of excellent production.

The care and maintenance of equipment and machinery has become more and more important as manufacturing methods evolve. OEE is another step that should and will make it easier to manage the machinery under your care. Moving to paperless methods for OEE will give you data that's more easily understood, and simply makes sense.

Production scheduling, the scheduling of personnel and equipment resources, scheduling shipping and distribution ... a lot of times these particular functions are very low tech even in high tech facilities. From handwritten paper schedules on clipboards and bulletin boards, to dry erase markers on whiteboards, to spreadsheets printed on A4-sized paper, scheduling remains low on the list of priorities for many manufacturing facilities. Even those facilities wanting to go paperless seem to ignore this particular transition to leading-edge technologies.

A good Production Scheduling software system will allow a lot of functionalities to go totally paperless within a factility. The main focus of such a system should probably be the automation of the scheduling for the production lines themselves. Regardless of how complex your production operation might be, custom-tailored Production Scheduling software can be configured to accomodate whatever your needs are. You may have multiple lines or workstations, each accomplishing a different task, with production routings being changed on daily or even more frequently depending on what's being manufactured. A good Production Scheduling software system will be able to handle whatever your needs are.

Personnel scheduling can be incorporated into the same kind of system. This kind of scheduling can be considerably simpler than the Production Scheduling described above, and is much easier for the system to handle. Personnel can also be given their own network logins to see their own schedules and the schedules of those who work for them. And with both the Production Scheduling and personnel scheduling occuring within the same software, necessary relationships can be developed within that software to ensure manning is appropriate for the production that needs to take place.

Shipping and distribution also ties in directly with Production Scheduling. As these functions are at the tail end of production, overall goals can be established as delivery dates at a customer's location or the location of a distribution center. The schedule would then be developed by the software working backward from that information, finishing with when supplies and raw materials need to be ordered in order to make the delivery date. Personnel schedules would then be developed based on the workload for that particular job along with others that are scheduled within the system. And with their own network logins, personnel can readily see when they need to be where they need to be to get the job done.

All without a single piece of paper. Except for maybe address labels and bills of lading. But those are for use outside your facility, so you're still good there.

When considering what it means to implement a Paperless Manufacturing software solution at your production facility, another technology to consider is that of wireless ERP software. There's really no point in putting together a solution you consider to be paperless if people are walking around carrying clipboards with sheaves of paper on them, printed lists they need to check off only to need to hand over to the data entry department for inputing the data into the system at a later time. You can get rid of an entire step, possibly hours worth of work each week, by choosing wireless platforms and hardware to take care of this step.

The first step is to add wireless capabilities to your in-house network. Numerous antennas, switchers and routers are available for this purpose and it's likely your IT people can take care of installation. If not, there are contractors available who can take care of it for you.

Computers on the factory floor can be ruggedized and made more mobile by placing them on carts. If wireless modems are also installed, they can be made even more mobile, only requiring an electrical outlet for power. They can also be swapped out with ruggedized laptops to be made even more mobile. Since most laptops today have wireless networking installed, this becomes even easier.

Data collection on the factory floor can also be made to be wireless. Magnetic card readers can be plugged into stand-alone wireless computers on the line, the computer transmitting the data back to the system in real time. RFID and barcode readers can be purchased that are both wireless and ruggedized. These can also be purchased with familiar mobile operating systems included so they're not only easier to use but, with custom applications included, they can be made more flexible and more appropriate for what your facility manufactures and what the culture and workflows are.

Tie all this together with a custom-tailored Paperless Manufacturing software system and it becomes easy to see how flexible the entire arrangement can be. If you lose part of the system for a while for repairs, the rest of the system is still available. Upgrades can also be made to parts of the system without affecting the other portions. And if the whole of the system is developed and installed over time, the overall cost becomes easier to deal with.

One question which almost always seems to come up during the development of a barcode-based Inventory system is this: "I already bought a scanner. Will it work with the system you're going to develop for us or do I need to send it back?" Scanners can be as inexpensive as a less-than $100 handheld unit with a trigger using an LED laser, the whole unit plugged into the keyboard port or USB hub of the computer. They can also be rather expensive and loaded with features, a thousand-dollar unit running the Windows Mobile operating system and accessing a database via a wireless connection.

Regardless of how they're built and how they access a given database, the information these scanners gather is used the same way. Whether a scanner is reading single line barcode or 2D barcodes, it's up to the developer to make sure things work right. It normally doesn't take much to access the information from the scanner as long as the developer has the right information. It may take a bit of skill and cost a bit, but a good developer won't have much trouble at all.

There are of course major differences in how a given scanner can be used. It's rather obvious that a wired scanner certainly won't be as flexible for a given warehousing or inventory application as a wireless unit will be. At the same time, it's possible for a good developer to write custom software for the more complex wireless scanner running the Windows Mobile operating system. With this in mind, just about anything can be done with the mobile handheld scanner, with various custom applications all accessing the same database on a central server ... all without the scanner needing to be plugged in during use.

So go ahead and pick out a scanner. If you're already talking to a software company, make sure you discuss the scanner you like with your developers. Chances are though, anything you select won't be a problem.