White Paper
Going Paperless: Advantages of Using Paperless Technology for Data Recording
Executive Summary Many manufacturing plants require data recording to both improve their process and comply with regulations. While paper recorders met their needs in the past, new technology is available that delivers not only lower costs but also tools to improve decision-making and optimize their manufacturing process. These improvement opportunities include: • • • •
Avoiding the risks and costs of non-conformances Creating improvement opportunities Discovering wall-to-wall financial savings Enhancing data analysis efficiency and speed
Going Paperless: Advantages of Using Paperless Technology for Data Recording
1
Contents
Background ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Avoid the Risks and Costs of Non-Conformances ................................................................................ 2 Create Improvement Opportunities ....................................................................................................... 3 Discover Wall-to-Wall Financial Savings: Analysis .............................................................................. 4 Estimated Consumables Savings ...................................................................................................... 4 Archiving and Record-Keeping Savings ............................................................................................ 5 Lost Productivity Costs from Recorder Non-Conformances .............................................................. 5 Enhance Data Analysis Efficiency and Speed ...................................................................................... 5 Other Advantages of Going Paperless .................................................................................................. 7 Summary............................................................................................................................................... 7
Going Paperless: Advantages of Using Paperless Technology for Data Recording
2
Background For plants that require automated recording, paperless recorders provide many advantages over traditional paper recorders. Many advantages are created just because the data is stored in an electronic format to allow for faster and more comprehensive data analysis. This eliminates questions surrounding data resolution and the need for interpolating trace values from a chart and the associated errors of transferring ‘analog’ data to a spreadsheet to analyze. With electronic data recording, the actual measurement is stored as a digital value eliminating interpolation errors. In addition to these improvements in data reliability, the user also benefits from reduced maintenance costs resulting from eliminating many of the mechanical parts, such as chart drives and the pen mechanism, associated with conventional paper recorders. Finally, end-users save costs by eliminating consumables such as charts, pens and ink wheels normally used by paper recorders. The typical analog paper recorders used in industrial applications have up to four pen drives or used a multipoint ink wheel and mechanism to create the traces. They use a chart drive mechanism that can jam; and bearings, pulleys and drive cords, which control the movement of the pens across the chart that can break or wear out, resulting in a loss of recorded data. With the digital technology employed in today’s paperless recorders, these moving parts have been eliminated. The use of solid-state storage, like compact flash cards, SD cards or USB keys, eliminates the mechanical parts used in the older recorders and provides a significant reliability improvement. In addition, since the recorders are designed with digital circuitry, the inherent drift associated with analog devices has been eliminated, enhancing accuracy and further reducing the costs of maintaining and calibrating the devices. Elimination of mechanical assemblies and consumables makes it easy to see that paperless recorders provide significant savings over the recorder’s operating life. In summary, paperless recorders offer the following advantages over the traditional approach: •
Avoid the risks and costs of non-conformances
•
Create improvement opportunities
•
Discover wall-to-wall financial savings
•
Enhance data analysis efficiency and speed
Avoid the Risks and Costs of Non-Conformances When estimating the savings associated with going to electronic data recording, one needs to go far beyond just the associated pen and paper savings. There is a significant cost associated with a process non-conformance due to chart recorder errors such as paper jams, loss of the trace, the paper running out or some other cause for an illegible or missing record. In one study, the causes were categorized into four main categories – man, method, material and machine, as illustrated in the Recorder Error Fishbone Diagram shown below:
Going Paperless: Advantages of Using Paperless Technology for Data Recording
3
Chart Recorder Error Fishbone Diagram
In this same study, the non-conformances related to chart recorder issues were found to be approximately 3.5% of the total nonconformances over a three-month time frame. These non-conformances resulted in additional material handling, lost production time, scrap and rework along with time expenditures by the manufacturing and quality departments in deciding how to disposition the questionable material.
Create Improvement Opportunities If we evaluate the process requirements and the recorder non-conformances, we can see that paperless recorders provide opportunities for eliminating many of those non-conformances and can also create significant cost savings. Based on the “InputProcess-Output Model” diagrammed below, we see that the primary process requirements are to provide a complete chart trace for the specified time period in order to release the production lot. Paperless recorders can easily fulfill this process requirement while providing additional benefits unavailable with traditional paper recorders. Examination of the root causes of the non-conformances helps provide a better understanding of how paperless recorders can address the issues seen with paper recorders while fulfilling the process documentation requirements. As noted in the Chart Recorder Fishbone
Going Paperless: Advantages of Using Paperless Technology for Data Recording
4
Diagram, the use of paperless recorders eliminates some of the documented root causes for non-conformances associated with paper recorders. This includes such non-conformances as the recorder being out of ink, paper jams, the chart pen not working, illegible charts and the recorder running out of paper. Other paper recorder non-conformance factors that are mitigated by the use of paperless recorders include: maintenance issues (since most mechanical parts or assemblies have been eliminated in the paperless recorder), set-up issues (since set-ups can be configured from a PC and stored on a storage media for downloading rather than programming at the recorder), out of tolerance issues (since paperless recorders use digital technology, which is less susceptible to drift). So you can easily see that paperless recorders provide many benefits and cost savings.
Discover Wall-to-Wall Financial Savings: Analysis Going paperless provides significant savings opportunities. The analysis below provides a breakdown of the significant process costs. The analysis is based upon a normalized estimate of the time for a task, along with normalized time for data analysis and average wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2013. Actual times for the specific manufacturing rework times, data analysis time, number of production runs and time for archiving and record keeping can easily be substituted for a specific manufacturer’s production application to calculate your own costs. The below example only provides a guideline of the potential savings and can vary significantly based on the cost and complexity of the product, individual labor rates, the process requirements and the regulatory requirements that must be met.
Estimated Consumables Savings One of the major cost savings is the elimination of the paper, pens and the associated costs of storing the charts. Typical cost savings for the consumables alone can range on average, from $108.00 for a one-pen recorder to $156.00 for a three-pen recorder, on a yearly basis. This is based on calculating the chart usage for a year at a typical run rate of 1 inch per hour, changing pens semi-annually and using a typical consumable cost of $14.00 per chart, and $12.00 for a disposable pen cartridge. If the recorders are run at faster rates, the savings is even greater. Additional cost savings can be realized if the costs incurred in changing charts, cataloging and storing them for retrieval at a later date is factored into the analysis. Although some of these costs also exist for electronic data, the data can be archived faster, either to a server or to media such as a CD. The archiving media holds larger amounts of data, in a smaller space, thus providing a more convenient means for long term storage. Software analysis tools, for use on the personal computer, facilitate detailed data analysis. These data analysis tools allow the user to review or replay the data quickly, overlay data from previous batch runs or other recorders for comparison purposes, annotate the data file by adding secure messages to an observed event for further explanation, and to review alarm conditions and the data leading up to the event. Tools within the analysis package typically include find or locator functions, zooming, print functions, and the ability to turn traces on or off to make it easier to view and analyze the data most important to the user. All of this is done without affecting the original data stored by the recorder to the storage media. In addition to this, the data can generally be exported to a spreadsheet software package for additional graphing or analysis. Typical Recorder consumables cost: •
Ink cartridge = Typically $10-$14 Trace Length = Typically 1800 – 2000m
•
Chart paper = Typically $10.00 - $18.00 Length Typically = 16-25 meters
•
Typical chart speed = 25mm/hour or 1”/hour
Then: •
At an average cost of $12/pen and $10/chart 16m in length.
•
12 hour work days, 6 days per week, 50 weeks per year = 6 charts per year
•
Assume that pens are changed twice per year due to use and drying out.
Annual Estimated Cost of Consumables = approximately $108 for a one-pen recorder to $156 for a three-pen recorder. If the process runs 24 hours per day the estimated cost would double based on this example.
Going Paperless: Advantages of Using Paperless Technology for Data Recording
5
Archiving and Record-Keeping Savings Record archiving is an example of the hidden cost that can be difficult to quantify, since many activities such as cataloging, filing and record retrieval are required in archiving both paper records and electronic records. With electronic data recording, archiving and record keeping can be performed much more efficiently, and the potential fire hazard associated with the storage of hundreds of charts is eliminated. There are a number of alternatives for the storage of electronic data files; these include archiving to a CD-ROM, storage on a remote PC Server, storage on a local PC hard drive, storage on the original media used in the recorder (Compact Flash, USB or SD Cards) or printing the data and keeping a hard copy record. One measure of the potential savings is the storage space required for paper vs. electronic records. An illustration of the potential space saving that can be achieved for an imported data file is shown below. The amount of data, based on nine inputs stored at a 30 sec. sample rate, stored on a 128MB CF card is over ten years worth of data, which measures approximately 1-1/2” by 1-3/4”. For a paper recorder using the previous example of running at 1” per hour, it would require over 60 chart rolls, and would not provide anywhere near the same time and data resolution. The paper would also require a storage space of approximately 20” wide by 9” high and 5 “deep, obviously a much larger space than the electronic equivalent. This is just an example to illustrate the potential space savings between electronic data storage and tradition paper recorder; actual methods would depend on the practices and procedures used for data retention. Now imagine trying to find the record run from July 11th 1997: You could have 60 chart records or more that you would need to go through for just that one year in order to find the one of interest. With each chart being over 60 feet long, you would need to unroll the chart to find the day, hour, and minute of interest and once done with it, you would need to roll it back up and re-archive the chart. This whole process could easily consume an hour or more of time. The point here is that the retrieval of data from a traditional paper record is not a trivial task and electronic data storage allows for easier cataloging and retrieval of the data along with significant savings.
Lost Productivity Costs from Recorder Non-Conformances There are additional savings realized by the elimination of non-conformances in the production process associated with recorder noncompliances. The costs of these non-conformances are difficult to estimate ahead of time, because they are not planned. However, it is much easier to calculate the costs of a non-conformance after the fact. Costs from a non-conformance include; costs of documenting the non-conformance, disposition of the material, the rework or scrap costs and delays in customer shipments. A quick analysis is provided below: •
Production runs per year @ 1 per day/6 days per week = 300 per year
•
Estimated # of paper recorder non-conformances @ 3.5% non-conformance rate = 11
•
Cost to generate the documentation for the non-conformance (0.4hr* $17.01/hr) = $6.80
•
Cost of review of non conformance review by QA & Mfg. (0.5hr* $39.36/hr) = $19.68
Note: Scrap or rework costs for the product and non-conformance related costs are not estimated in this analysis, as these costs can vary significantly. Just the cost of documenting and disposition of the non-conformance based on the labor costs alone is estimated at $291 for one process non-conformance.
Enhance Data Analysis Efficiency and Speed Data analysis can be as simple as a quick review of the chart to verify that the chart record looks similar to what the operator expects for that particular process, to an in depth review and analysis of the data using statistical data analysis tools to ensure the process is within the statistical upper and lower control limits. When there is a greater need for detailed data analysis and report generation, the potential savings of going paperless increases significantly. With paper charts, if the analysis requires any more than overlaying a fixed template to determine that the traces fall within the prescribed process limits, the time required to read and transfer the data to a spreadsheet tool increases significantly. The operator must read the chart, interpolate the position of the traces in order to determine a process value and then transfer that value to a spreadsheet - just to be able to do any data analysis or reports.
Going Paperless: Advantages of Using Paperless Technology for Data Recording
6
Another consideration is the resolution of the data and how many points can realistically be transferred to a spreadsheet; the slower the chart speed being used, the worse the time resolution of the data. If the chart speed is increased to achieve better time resolution there will be a trade-off of increased usage of chart and pens for improved resolution. Electronic data provides discrete readings, each with its own time stamp, allowing you to decide how much data you want to include in the analysis, rather than being limited by the time resolution and chosen chart speed. This helps to improve the quality of the analysis due to better resolution of the data and time. As an example, setting up and importing the below data took seconds. Getting the equivalent data from a paper recorder could take a few hours, and it would not be as accurate.
Once the file has been imported it is easy to do additional data analysis such as determining the statistical mean, 3-sigma limits, or to compare the data. The data remains unchanged and secure as part of the import, thus maintaining the integrity of the data. Also with electronic data, you can select the resolution needed and the logging rate can be set to what best matches the need vs. the scan rate used to sample the signal. Achieving such resolution with a paper recorder would be difficult and would require a fast chart speed and use more chart paper.
Going Paperless: Advantages of Using Paperless Technology for Data Recording
7
Other Advantages of Going Paperless The savings in consumables, elimination of potential non-conformances and faster data analysis are not the only advantages of going paperless. The availability of color active matrix displays and the ability to customize the screens makes it easier to visualize and understand what is happening with a process. The below pictures provide a good example of the difference between using traditional paper recorders vs. using a paperless recorder; the bar graphs are easy to read and traces can be easily seen. Unlike paper recorders, the paperless recorder also has the ability to switch to other views for additional details, and user messages can be easily added to the data file.
Paperless recorders in general also include Ethernet communications and networking capability as a standard feature, making it easy to set up the recorders for real-time data acquisition or FTP data transfers. This allows the setting up of email alarms that can be generated from the recorders enabling them to send an email message of a potential problem to designated e-mail addresses. This could alert the process engineer, plant manager or maintenance personnel to check the status of the process before product is ruined, thereby averting the loss of valuable product. Security is another area where paperless recorders exceed the performance of paper recorders. Paperless recorders use enhanced security features such as data encryption, checksums and full password systems to ensure data integrity and security. The elimination of mechanical features prevents the really clever person, intent on defeating the system, from making undetected “adjustments” or from otherwise manipulating the recorder to make the record come out “as expected”.
Summary Using paperless recorders saves time and money. There are obvious tangible savings such as the cost of consumables and analysis time, but there are other hidden savings not normally included in the purchasing analysis. These include archiving savings, better decision-making capability that can provide yield improvements, and the cost savings associated with eliminating non-conformances in the manufacturing process. So, “going paperless” saves time, reduces non-compliances and improves process quality, making it a smart business choice.
Going Paperless: Advantages of Using Paperless Technology for Data Recording
For More Information To learn more about Honeywell’s OneWireless visit our website www.honeywellprocess.com or contact your Honeywell account manager. Honeywell Process Solutions Honeywell 1250 West Sam Houston Parkway South Houston, TX 77042 Honeywell Control Systems Ltd Honeywell House Skimped Hill Lane Bracknell RG12 1EB Shanghai City Centre, 100 Junyi Road Shanghai, China 20051 www.honeywellprocess.com
WP-13-21-ENG December 2013 © 2013 Honeywell International Inc.
8
