Forms
What are 4E Forms?
4E needs to collect data from organization’s underlying systems. Data which is necessary to measure and track KPI (MP-CP) performance usually resides in distributed systems in various forms and formats, within the organization. This has to be collated and aggregated to derive metrics that can feed the KPI performance measures. Machine line data, manufacturing sub-systems data, collected either through automated channels or Internet enabled devices or bots or sometimes manually keyed in, are usually saved in organization’s ERP system. It is often found that data collected into ERP, is close to machine’s ability to supply it, more than man’s ability to understand it.
For example: Sump pump operational temperature and coolant usage is measured and documented every 2 to 4 hours. Over days and weeks and months, this data accumulates in the ERP. In order to decipher it for man’s understanding, it has to be usually applied with simple arithmetic or sometimes complex statistical calculations. The output of such calculations serve as indicators for decision making. Studying this sump pump data helps analyze its performance degradation due to normal usage, wear and tear. Over heating may cause breakdown, if not rectified in time. Excessive coolant usage could indicate its inability in controlling the over heating. This could cause higher energy consumption, in turn inducing an op-ex leak.
Thus said, data could be available in various forms and formats. 4E data collection is done via a mechanism called Forms. Simply to say, forms are flexible customizable data collection funnels. A form very similar to a physical paper log book, contains fields. Forms capture data against these fields and save it against the collected (system) date and time stamp. Forms also give an option (automatically) to key in the date and time stamp to which the data sample belongs.
How do I design and structure 4E forms?
The best way to design and structure 4E Forms is according to availability of source of data. Forms need not (must not) be designed by the data formats which KPIs need to measure and track their performance.
Data has following characteristics
When was it generated - date and time of source of data / data sample
When was it recorded - date and time of collection of data, recording to 4E
Type of data - number or text or boolean (true/false, 1/0) or date or time or date-time
Value of data
Data collection frequency - how often is this data available and is to be recorded
Data owner - who has access to this data and is responsible to collect and feed it into 4E
Data is available from various sources
Source of data must govern the 4E Form you must create
Source of data is often tracked by personnel in charge who will have access to this data
Personnel in charge of this data will often key in the data to 4E System (it is possible they capture this data in physical log books first and then move them to 4E)
e.g. A floor level engineer who operates a lathe machine, knows the parameters of “Pieces manufactured per day / per hour”- “Scrap metal generated per day / per hour” - “Accuracy of CNC machines over three attempts”- if you wish to capture this data, you would want to design a 4E Form with the same fields
Data may be collated across different people from different departments
It is very likely that, if you wish to collate data for a single source, it may come from different owners who can provide this data
Personnel may be part of same or different department but are responsible to provide this data
You could adopt two approaches as per business need of this data
You could design different forms, and assign each form to one person who owns the data
Good: Person B can-not edit and overwrite data entered in the same form by Person A
Bad: The data samples may not align with date and time stamps, unless data owners make a conscious effort to agree feed data with specific date and time value
You could design a single form, and assign multiple persons who own the data to feed it
Good: The data samples would align perfectly because each Form data sample, has a single date and time stamp
Bad: Person B can edit and overwrite data entered in the same form by Person A
4E Support team can be consulted when you want to design 4E Forms to collect data
Data Flow via 4E Forms
4E Data Flow via Forms and Metrics
Where does the data originate | Machines - Automated | Machines - manually operated | Business processes |
Who captures this data | Machines which are fully automated and need the least manual intervention, are often Internet enabled that capture their operational health and performance numbers, through industrial automation techniques. | Machines which are partially automatic and need manual intervention for operation, have to be tracked for their health and performance manually. A skilled engineer who operates this machine on daily basis, is well aware of machine’s performance numbers. | Data generated from business processes which do not always have machines in the backend, have professionals who define, manage, and execute these processes. Most common examples could be QC Story Projects, or Sales Goals, or Marketing Penetration Metrics etc. |
Where is the data captured | ERP System or RDBMS | Excel files, data files or physical hand written log books | Excel files |
Data Frequency | Such data could be generated as granularly as hourly basis - and sometimes even out of cycle, in case of exceptions or incidents. | Such data is most likely captured on shift basis or daily basis. | Such data could be available weekly, monthly or quarterly. |
4E Forms | 4E Forms are auto-generated to capture this data as-is, field by field, made to truly represent underlying ERP data format or machine performance statistics. 4E supports integration with SAP, the most common ERP system found in leading manufacturing companies. Technical architecture of 4E is extensible to allow integration with other systems on-demand (know more) | 4E Forms are created to replicate structure of Excel files or log books. | 4E Forms are created to replicate structure of Excel files or log books. |
4E Forms - Fill | Data which originates from ERP systems or databases, are auto-filled into 4E database using secure data channels and optimized Data Synchronization routines. | 4E Users are required to fill 4E Forms referring to their Excel files or log books. 4E Forms allow direct Excel files import with ease. If data resides with multiple users, it is possible within 4E to give Fill permissions to multiple users. If data resides with multiple users, who cannot be permitted to read/edit each other’s data, it is possible to create multiple forms in 4E and restrict read/edit access to respective data owners. | 4E Users are required to fill 4E Forms referring to their Excel files or log books. 4E Forms allow direct Excel files import with ease. If data resides with multiple users, it is possible within 4E to give Fill permissions to multiple users. If data resides with multiple users, who cannot be permitted to read/edit each other’s data, it is possible to create multiple forms in 4E and restrict read/edit access to respective data owners. |
4E Metrics | 4E Metrics allow simple arithmetic computation on data fields of the Forms. It is also possible to define custom formulas to derive a number indicative of a business metric. | 4E Metrics allow simple arithmetic computation on data fields of the Forms. It is also possible to define custom formulas to derive a number indicative of a business metric. | 4E Metrics allow simple arithmetic computation on data fields of the Forms. It is also possible to define custom formulas to derive a number indicative of a business metric. |
Link KPIs with Forms or Metrics | Data for 4E KPIs is available from its specified data source. KPIs can be linked with Forms (their fields) or Metrics. Because of end to end automation, (machine to 4E-man) 4E offers real-time data representation and analysis to alert on data abnormalities. | Data for 4E KPIs is available from its specified data source. KPIs can be linked with Forms (their fields) or Metrics. | Data for 4E KPIs is available from its specified data source. KPIs can be linked with Forms (their fields) or Metrics. |
LAST_UPDATED | 26 Aug 2021, Ameya |
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LAST_REVIEWED | 09 Nov 2021, Swapna |