The Proficy Workflow — the latest from GE Fanuc (www.gefanuc.com) —provides an industrial business process management (BPM) that digitizes and streamlines production processes, from work instructions and SOPs to corrective action and HACCP monitoring.

Manufacturers can improve, eliminate, and automate steps in production to “lean” their organizations, leading to a decrease in time, speeding response, lowering TCO, and ensuring sustainability. The software combines manual and automated work processes without custom codes, allowing production experts to solve problems without demands on IT personnel.

Proficy Workflow combines information and services on a “plant2enterprise” basis, adding value to existing ERP, MES, and HMI systems. Operators can integrate business and production processes across systems and departments for reliable, repeatable process execution. The software also can integrate people and their functions, allowing for customization to individuals’ work styles and decision making. This will manage and audit work processes to be more consistent and effective.

The program takes a production “flowchart” and digitizes it, connecting employees, materials, equipment, and systems involved with the work process. Unlike BPM in the enterprise — which operates in hours and days — industrial workflow operates in a time window of seconds and subseconds.

“By digitizing processes with industrial workflow, users can capture process, traceability, and quality data, drive lean initiatives based on factual information, and close the loop for production improvement,” according to Greg Millinger, worflow/SOA product manager for GE Fanuc.

Proficy Workflow can solve a host of production challenges, including basic tasks like asking an operator to check tank levels on the hour, or managing an entire production process. GE Fanuc says the workflow system and reporting process can touch almost all production personnel, including quality managers and technicians, as well as maintenance, operations supervisors, industrial engineers, and more.

The program also digitizes processes that include one, or many steps. It can take place in one station with one user, or spread across the plant and move from person to person, following a set of rules. The workflows follow the execution path logic developed by the power user through easy-to-use graphical authoring tools. Each step can be linked to documents, such as work instructions, or any information that pertains to how the user should complete the process.

Proficy Workflow is powered by an SOA architecture that gives companies the power to respond to changing business needs with composite applications that leverage existing production systems through the SOA data and services repository. Industrial SOA technology also provides the real-time platform to achieve a centralized production configuration and management environment — including a messaging backbone with a plant-wide data asset model and activity model.