Integrated worker guidance with weasl at SCHOTT: People in production

When it comes to the highest product quality, the error-free work of the workers is the top priority. For this reason, SCHOTT AG relies on our connected worker platform weasl, which is also seamlessly integrated into the existing MIP solution architecture.

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Pioneering - responsibly - together.

These attributes characterize SCHOTT as a manufacturer of high-tech materials for special glass. Founder Otto Schott is considered its inventor and paved the way for an entire industry. For more than 130 years, SCHOTT's #glasslovers have been driven by a pioneering spirit and a passion for opening up new markets and applications. Present in 34 countries, the company is a competent partner for high-tech industries. With the best teams, supported by the best digital tools, the Group wants to continue to grow.

About Schott

From cooktops to innovative high-tech materials: SCHOTT AG has proven expertise in the manufacture of specialty glass and glass-ceramics. In order to achieve a consistently high product quality with these demanding processes and materials, the worker must carry out the complex machining processes without errors. The digital worker assistance system weasl supports him in his work. The use case shown illustrates the benefits for the customer and the interaction of all integrated systems such as ERP, MES and worker assistance.

SCHOTT's digitalization strategy promotes a long-term, sustainable and therefore flexible solution architecture. In order to meet these requirements, the company decided early on to use the Manufacturing Integration Platform (MIP) as a basis. Existing applications are simply connected to it and new applications are added in a time-saving manner - regardless of whether they are mApps from MPDV or third-party providers such as weasl. On the one hand, this enables SCHOTT to always offer employees in production an integrated solution that optimally meets their needs. On the other hand, the overarching digitization goals can be pursued.

"When selecting the connected worker platform, the clear requirement was to find a standard solution that could be flexibly adapted and quickly and easily integrated," explains Heike Vocke, Managing Partner of iSAX GmbH & Co. Other objectives included completely paperless production and process optimization to ensure product quality: "We were able to meet all requirements with our weasl. The software is used at SCHOTT as a manufacturing app in conjunction with the HYDRA Manufacturing Execution System (MES) based on the MIP integration platform. Since its introduction, weasl has been helping to increase quality, productivity and efficiency in production and reduce costs.

Reasons for a connected worker platform

weasl provides optimal guidance for workers and enables them to carry out certain activities reliably and error-free. This is particularly relevant when the variety or complexity of products increases. Thanks to a connected worker platform, process and product quality increases - especially with regard to the repeatability of quality. This is because the actual objective is to avoid rework and rejects.

It is also about documenting the information generated during the work process in paperless form and passing it on to other systems. For example, real-time data from manual activities can be linked to detailed production planning. This means that rescheduling can be initiated quickly if a machine breaks down or material is missing. A useful side effect: the worker's workload is reduced.

Help with CNC machining

End-to-end data integration provides the necessary overview: "SAP provides the production orders via the MIP integration platform. The detailed work plans and specific work instructions are created in the weasl process editor, so that the employees are later optimally guided step by step," says Vocke. All data is transferred to the store floor terminals of the machines to execute the production order.

In the pilot project at SCHOTT, machine operators in particular are initially supported in CNC machining: "The aim was to do away with Excel-based paper instructions and enable direct feedback from the workers," explains Vocke, adding: "They now receive all the information for setting up the machine at a glance - including instructions on what to pay particular attention to." As CNC machining can take a very long time, regular tests and measurements must be carried out during the work process. The operator enters the measured values directly on the machine terminal. All data is available centrally and it is possible to trace exactly how a part was processed on a machine. The processing order and all execution data are reported back from weasl to HYDRA or SAP via the MIP.

System architecture at SCHOTT

The information on production orders, workstations and resources required for worker guidance is made available via the MIP integration platform. The associated step-by-step work instructions are provided by weasl.

All mApps can be integrated on a standardized user interface via the MIPS UI user interface developed by SCHOTT. This means that the worker always has all the information he needs for his tasks available and up-to-date for each work step. Both weasl and the MES applications from HYDRA are integrated into the MIPS UI. According to Vocke, it was particularly exciting to see how quickly manufacturing apps such as weasl could be integrated into the overall architecture. The integration of the worker assistance system via the MIP connector with HYDRA was challenging, "but the teams did a great job together," says Vocke happily.

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