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Performance Management System (APMS) Overview

APMS Overview
 

Activplant Corporation's mission has always been to provide the software tools and utilities needed to streamline and improve the manufacturing process.

Over the last eight years, Activplant has developed the Activplant Performance Management System (APMS) enabling the world’s leading manufacturing companies to drive dramatic performance improvements. APMS provides the software tools plus the analytics and reports that manufacturers need to boost production efficiency, product quality and total output. It is the first pre-configured solution that integrates real-time data from the plant floor and packages it, providing actionable information to facilitate operational excellence and accountability. APMS can be deployed at one plant or installed at multiple locations, allowing management of the entire enterprise.

APMS was developed based on the best practices of world-class manufacturers such as Toyota, Ford, Gillette, Weyerhaeuser and others. Designed on the Microsoft .NET platform for easy implementation, Activplant also integrates seamlessly with existing business systems and applications such as statistical process control, quality measurement, ERP, reporting packages, web browsers, wireless pagers and many others.

Context Brings Essential Clarity
What is missing in manufacturing intelligence is the critical element of context. Activplant recognized that it is possible to build upon the visibility that comes from reliable MI. Contextual information would supply crucial definition and transform raw data into indispensable, irrefutable information. For example, MI can identify a fault that is causing downtime. Contextual information goes beyond identification and relates additional details about the fault’s impact on other resources, which facilitates corrective actions and the ability to reduce or eliminate the chance of repeating the fault during future runs.

Further, context frees manufacturing personnel – from operators that need to take immediate action to adjust functions on the line, to managers that require the ability to anticipate the future needs of the enterprise – from data collection tasks. APMS gives users the power of actionable information that can be used to drive performance management for measurable results.

The Activplant Performance Management System is the result of our understanding of the manufacturing industry's critical need for both transparency and context – what we call contextualized transparency. This advanced approach brings a new clarity to all levels of manufacturing planning and execution.

The Activplant APMS solution is ideal for manufacturers that must:
  • Drive accountability for Continuous Improvement programs such as lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, TPM and others
  • Reduce losses and inefficiencies
  • Improve product and process traceability to reduce warranty costs
  • Accelerate program launches
  • Empower personnel with a powerful toolset that they can administer and support without specialized knowledge

The Activplant Performance Management System


APMS was purpose-built solely for the improvement of performance management. APMS unites Activplant’s total focus on manufacturing with our expertise in providing effective software solutions that reduce complexity, simplify processes and positively impact your bottom line. The APMS is comprised of two parts, ActivEssentials™ technology components and our proven ActivApplications™, a system that works together to achieve performance breakaway.

ActivEssentials
ActivEssentials are the key technology enablers of the Activplant Performance Management System (APMS) and empower ActivApplications™. These powerful and flexible components work together to deliver far more value than traditional manufacturing intelligence systems.

ActivApplications
ActivApplications are purposely built software applications designed to solve real industry needs in critical areas. Empowered by ActivEssentials™ technology components that provide the required contextualized transparency for clarity, ActivApplications focus on particular manufacturing objectives. These solutions can be deployed individually or as a more robust suite of applications depending on the manufacturing environment and management goals.

Today's APMS represents a significant evolution. Activplant has taken this proven system to the next level in response to the pressing needs of global manufacturers – our sole focus is on driving performance management forward to impact bottom-line results.

Manufacturing Intelligence Increases Visibility
The roots of APMS lie in manufacturing intelligence (MI), a traditional view of plant floor data. MI's chief contribution is that it makes constraints – such as downtime – visible. Opening up the plant floor with this information is an important beginning; however, it doesn’t necessarily lead to improved performance.

A criticism of MI is that it doesn't prioritize or filter the massive amounts of data that can be collected. Plant managers can be overwhelmed with information, and they don't have the tools to sort through it and understand which data is most relevant to their particular manufacturing goals.