IWT's Transformation: Customizing with Efficiency in IoT
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Life Sciences
- Pharmaceuticals
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Additive Manufacturing
- Manufacturing Process Simulation
Services
- System Integration
- Training
The Customer
About The Customer
IWT is a company that has been specializing in the design, manufacture, and installation of washing systems for the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries since 1992. The company is based in Varese, Italy, with a facility that includes 129,000 square feet of production areas, design studios, training, and showroom facilities. Originally, IWT's systems were used exclusively in facilities that housed lab animals. However, in recent years, the business has expanded into washing systems for the pharmaceutical industry, which now comprises a large portion of the company’s business. IWT manufactures 45 different models, 60% of which are customized to some degree.
The Challenge
IWT, a company specializing in the design, manufacture, and installation of washing systems for the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries, faced a significant challenge in managing its wide product portfolio. The company manufactures 45 different models, 60% of which are customized to some degree. This high level of customization, combined with limited production quantities, necessitated a controlled process for managing the release of engineering changes. The goal was to achieve efficiency, reduce process time, and better coordinate production throughout the organization. The need for strict compliance in heavily regulated industries further complicated the situation. IWT's existing PLM journey with Dassault Systèmes’ SOLIDWORKS for 3D CAD and Enovia for managing CAD data and Bills of Materials (BOMs) was proving inadequate. The system had limited part classification, no workflow, and no tool to ensure data consistency. The management of non-CAD documents was also a challenge, with information often difficult to find and access.
The Solution
IWT adopted the Aras Innovator platform to develop an engineering change order (ECO) workflow that covered the entire process. The engineering BOM organization was separated from manufacturing needs, and industrial engineers were assisted in manipulating the structure and verifying data consistency when releasing changes to production. The entire process was managed in a single workflow, allowing priority management for changes affecting delivery of critical projects. The ECO workflow project was managed with a focus on business needs rather than on software development. Functionalities were tested early on, allowing IWT to have the platform quickly accepted by the users. IWT was able to see immediate results in the reduction of reworking activities and in improved management of priorities. Using the same approach, IWT is now incrementally extending the use of the Aras Innovator platform to create an integrated infrastructure to manage products throughout the organization.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
Case Study missing?
Start adding your own!
Register with your work email and create a new case study profile for your business.
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Case Study: Pfizer
Pfizer’s high-performance computing software and systems for worldwide research and development support large-scale data analysis, research projects, clinical analytics, and modeling. Pfizer’s computing services are used across the spectrum of research and development efforts, from the deep biological understanding of disease to the design of safe, efficacious therapeutic agents.
Case Study
Fusion Middleware Integration on Cloud for Pharma Major
Customer wanted a real-time, seamless, cloud based integration between the existing on premise and cloud based application using SOA technology on Oracle Fusion Middleware Platform, a Contingent Worker Solution to collect, track, manage and report information for on-boarding, maintenance and off-boarding of contingent workers using a streamlined and Integrated business process, and streamlining of integration to the back-end systems and multiple SaaS applications.
Case Study
Process Control System Support
In many automated production facilities, changes are made to SIMATIC PCS 7 projects on a daily basis, with individual processes often optimised by multiple workers due to shift changes. Documentation is key here, as this keeps workers informed about why a change was made. Furthermore, SIMATIC PCS 7 installations are generally used in locations where documentation is required for audits and certification. The ability to track changes between two software projects is not only an invaluable aid during shift changes, but also when searching for errors or optimising a PCS 7 installation. Every change made to the system is labour-intensive and time-consuming. Moreover, there is also the risk that errors may occur. If a change is saved in the project, then the old version is lost unless a backup copy was created in advance. If no backup was created, it will no longer be possible to return to the previous state if and when programming errors occur. Each backup denotes a version used by the SIMATIC PCS 7 system to operate an installation. To correctly interpret a version, information is required on WHO changed WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY: - Who created the version/who is responsible for the version? - Who released the version? - What was changed in the version i.e. in which block or module of the SIMATIC PCS 7 installation were the changes made? - When was the version created? Is this the latest version or is there a more recent version? - Why were the changes made to the version? If they are part of a regular maintenance cycle, then is the aim to fix an error or to improve production processes? - Is this particular version also the version currently being used in production? The fact that SIMATIC PCS 7 projects use extremely large quantities of data complicates the situation even further, and it can take a long time to load and save information as a result. Without a sustainable strategy for operating a SIMATIC PCS 7 installation, searching for the right software version can become extremely time-consuming and the installation may run inefficiently as a result.
Case Study
Drug Maker Takes the Right Prescription
China Pharm decided to build a cloud-based platform to support the requirements of IT planning for the next five to ten years which includes a dynamic and scalable mail resource pool platform. The platform needed to have the following functions: all nodes support redundancy, ensuring service continuity and good user experience, simple and easy-to-use user interfaces for end users and administrators and good compatibility and supports smooth capacity expansion.
Case Study
ELI LILLY ADOPTS MICROMEDIA’S ALERT NOTIFICATION SYSTEM
Pharmaceutical production is subject to a strict set of enforced rules that must be adhered to and compliance to these standards is critically necessary. Due to the efforts of WIN 911’s strategic partner Micromedia, Lilly was able to adopt an alarm notification infrastructure that integrated smoothly with their existing workflows and emergency hardware and protocols. These raw energy sources enable the industrial process to function: electricity, WIN-911 Software | 4020 South Industrial Drive, Suite 120 | Austin, TX 78744 USA industrial steam, iced water, air mixtures of varying quality. Refrigeration towers, boilers and wastewater are monitored by ALERT. Eli Lilly identified 15000 potential variables, but limitations compelled them to chisel the variable list down to 300. This allowed all major alarms to be covered including pressure, discharge, quantity of waste water discharged,temperature, carbon dioxide content, oxygen & sulphur content, and the water’s pH.
