Implementing an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is a lot of work and happens to be where we’ve been spending most of our time and resources over the past few months. The OEE reporting spreadsheet we planned to release some time ago is complete and we’ve been using it on some of our core production processes.
Some have emailed, asking when the spreadsheet will be published. We plan to make this spreadsheet available once we are satisfied that it serves the purpose we originally intended. The tools we provide here are offered free of charge and the urgency of releasing them is offset by revenue driven opportunities that in turn support our site and make these “free” resources possible.
Since we are implementing a new ERP system, we also have the opportunity to create and generate customized OEE reports from data already being collected as part of the normal production reporting process. As the lead for implementation, I am in the unique position of tailoring the data collection and reporting requirements in kind. This of course is one of the few tasks of many currently under way.
As you may expect, the ERP system runs from a highly structured and more sophisticated database than that of a simple spreadsheet. As mentioned in many past posts, a commitment to OEE will eventually require a database for more efficient and effective data processing. Having the opportunity to incorporate OEE from current organic data is less disruptive and represents a significant step forward to real time OEE reporting.
Crystal Reports
We could generate database queries from Excel to further evolve the development of our spreadsheet, however, Crystal Reports integrates nicely with our database front end and the reports are available to everyone on the network. In other words, the necessity for a spreadsheet is superseded by the need for customized reporting using Crystal Reports. We can also use Crystal Reports with Excel and many other data sources.
Crystal Reports is a de facto standard in industry and a license is relatively inexpensive considering the powerful capabilities it brings to your data. A mere mention here in this post does little to expose the merits of using Crystal Reports and we recommend that a little research of your own is warranted.
Your feedback matters
If you have any comments, questions, or topics you would like us to address, please feel free to leave your comment in the space below or email us at feedback@leanexecution.ca or feedback@versalytics.com. We look forward to hearing from you and thank you for visiting.
Until Next Time – STAY lean
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