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'Lot trace' in the auto industry became a hot topic back in 2000 when government regulation in the form of the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act passed into law. The law demands part-level visibility in the supply chain and was brought about as a response to the Ford-Firestone sport utility tire controversy.
In the case of the Ford-Firestone incidents, failures all involved tread separation - the tread peeling off followed often by tire disintegration. If that happened when the vehicle was running above a certain speed, there was a high likelihood of the vehicle leaving the road and rolling over. Many rollovers caused serious injury and even death; it was estimated that over 250 deaths and more than 3,000 serious injuries resulted from these failures.
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While the initial cost to auto manufactures to implement part traceability was a daunting financial and time-consuming task, one could argue the gains in supply chain efficiencies and the ability to isolate a problem and quickly respond to warranty claims and recalls have had a substantial long term savings impact. Outside of the realm of the auto industry, other manufactures could benefit from implementing lot trace applications. Return on investment includes product quality assurance and supply chain visibility and accountability.
In fact, there is a new food safety law known as the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the most sweeping reform of food safety regulation in many decades, which will be impacting food manufacturers in the same way the auto manufacturers were impacted back in 2000. History repeated itself here. Similar to the Ford-Firestone incidents, the 2009 recall of peanut products from Peanut Corporation of America was the catalyst for the new food industry regulations. Besides the human cost with nine deaths and hundreds that became sick after eating the contaminated peanut products, there are reports the financial losses have topped $1 billion.
A lot traceability system enables a manufacturer to automate the tracking of the composition of their product through the entire production process. From the purchased lots from suppliers to finished product shipped to the customer. Essentially, a Lot Trace System (LTS) creates an accurate genealogy of the products composition.
Patti Engineering collaborates with clients on system architecture and data structure requirements for their manufacturing execution system (MES) applications operating in the space between the front office information technology (IT) and plant floor operations. The Lot Trace System application is just one part of the overall manufacturing execution system which we customize to provide our clients with the manufacturing and production intelligence needed to translate manufacturing data into actionable intelligence for decision makers.
Russ Agrusa, President & CEO of ICONICS, was interviewed at the ARC 2012 World Industry Forum by Craig Resnick of ARC Advisory Group. In the interview, Russ discusses ICONICS' vision on innovations, importance of R&D, energy & sustainability solutions, new analytics products and cyber-security.
Patti Engineering has extensive control systems integration experience implementing the ICONICS suite of products. ICONICS has continued to develop and refine their product offerings to meet today's energy, sustainability and regulatory requirements.
Cyber-security is a hot topic today with attacks on SCADA and HMI systems. ICONICS has also addressed these concerns meeting the highest standards required by the US government where they have been involved in numerous projects for the most secure locations including the Pentagon.
Go Duane! Patti Engineering Senior Engineer, Duane Edgar presented a session on PLC Simulator SIEMENS SIMATIC S7-PLCSIM at the Technology Tip-Off today in Detroit. Duane provided valuable tips on using the tool to improve Siemens software development efficiency.
Duane loves this tool. The best feature when using a PLC Simulator is the ability to change the state of inputs easily. This applies to both discrete and analog inputs, the S7-PLCSIM can reduce 20-30% of your start-up and debug time.
Have a question about this tool? Just ask through this blog and Duane will respond to your question!
Check out our engineers playing Robot Basketball. That's a new take on a little March Madness! Our team of engineers are at the Technology Tip-Off at Ford Field in Detroit today.
So here is how it works. The robot keeps moving towards you until you make a basket, then it turns and moves toward your opponent until he makes a basket. If the robot makes it all the way to you, your opponent gets a point! The robot keeps score for you. Our engineers came up with this idea during our first ever Fedex day. Got to love those engineers, they do like to have fun!
This event show cases the latest in automation technology innovation and is hosted by Electro-Matic Products. Patti Engineering, as a certifed Siemens Solution Partner, we have a booth welcoming attendees to stop by to discuss their control systems integration questions and concerns.
Patti Engineering’s first Fedex day leads the way to our new “Engineer Chatter” blog! As the Director of Marketing here at Patti Engineering this is the Fedex project I have spear headed. I am always looking for ways to engage our community of partners, client, prospective clients and engineering team in a meaningful way.
I know you are busy and I know you are interested in relevant content, you want to come to our website to find answers to questions, you may want to learn if we are potentially the right fit to help you with control systems integration of your automation projects. Or maybe you are a current client and you have a quick question to ask one of our engineers.
We enjoy sharing our knowledge and expertise. We are a Siemens Solution Partner, an Authorized Mitsubishi Integrator, in addition to being in the integrator programs for Phoenix Contact, Iconics and Indusoft. We have a highly skilled team of engineers with a wide variety of experience in many industries: powertrain manufacturers, automotive parts plants, robotic paint systems, textile mills, retail distribution centers, power plants, oil rigs, chemical plants, and damn spillways. We are a diverse group with a diverse set of skills.
This is our new platform for you to have direct access to our engineers. Our engineering team receives an email when a post is made to this blog. An engineer will respond to your post as quickly as possible, and always within one business day. Thanks for participating in our Engineer Chatter!