Anyone in the company can then access the data from his or her browser. And the information is ready for use immediately when assembly is complete. Elimination of the three-day lag time at the end has shaved 20 percent off the time required to get the product out the door, says Steve Lucchesi, director of information systems at Intuitive Surgical. The system tracks individual products as they move through assembly, providing customers and manufacturers with, among other things, detailed information on what components are in each unit. Lucchesi says Advantage is easy to install and maintain, which is a bonus because he doesn't have the resources to employ a dedicated administrator for the system.
Advantage employs user-created forms and a simple scripting language.
Because it can be set up to reject parts data that is incorrect, he notes, it reduces errors on data input. The Web is ideal for managing this kind of manufacturing, they say, because the model requires more people to see more information than ever. You can't just build widgets and tell customers to buy them anymore. Advantage works with Microsoft and Oracle databases. Among the early adopters of the software are Flextronics International, an electronics manufacturer, and KLA-Tencor, which makes semiconductor manufacturing equipment.