Case Studies
Caterpillar Inc. - Andon System
Learn how we solved their problem...
Issues
Andon System Requirement – Decatur IL
Required Immediate Communication for Production Floor Issues
Caterpillar Inc. has implemented the Caterpillar Production System as a way to continue to improve their production processes. One of the areas that required a solution was determining an effective way to communicate problems and issues from the 29 different assembly lines on the production floor. This included communicating the specific work zone that needed assistance within each of the production assembly lines.
The communication solution needed to be immediate, simple and effective so as to not disrupt the entire assembly process. Furthermore, requests for support needed to go directly to the production support personnel who could resolve the issue.
The Caterpillar plant in Decatur, IL was targeted to implement the VersaCall Andon System. This plant hosts a 6,000,000 square foot production floor and produces equipment for the mining and construction industry, including the largest mining truck that Caterpillar manufactures.
VersaCall Andon Solution
The system solution came in the form of VersaCall’s 4-Button Wireless Call Station which included stack lights at each workstation on the production line and the ability to send communications to any location on the entire site. Also part of the solution was display software for viewing the status of the entire production line as well as the status of each of the individual work zones within the production line.
The VersaCall Andon System solution needed to take into consideration the physical size of the production facility as well as the machines being assembled. Visibility to traditional Andon lights was going to be an issue due to the massive square footage of the Decatur plant and the immense size of the machines being manufactured there. VersaCall solved this issue by placing their Andon stack lights on 10’ poles in order to remain visible across the assembly plant.
Benefits and Results
