How can digitalization help your organization ensure production quality? Several of our customers have found that using the Control Recipe function to streamline the quality compliance process makes it more efficient and more accurate.
Søren Skamris Jeppesen, LEAN Production & Projects Specialist for Swedish Match, a multinational company producing smokeless tobacco and nicotine free products, shared his experience on how Blackbird has helped enable them to digitalize and improve their quality control process.
Initially, all their data was written down on paper and stored in binders. This method meant that operators were required to remember to perform their quality control duties, which – due to the potential for human error – was significantly compromising the quality of their production.
To help solve this, Swedish Match decided to implement digitalization, and as a result, saw immediate improvements to their quality control process by using Blackbird’s Control Recipe feature.
Blackbird’s proprietary software prompts operators to perform necessary control duties, with pop-ups, scheduled tasks, and operator specific duties that can be tracked in real time. Swedish Match decided to further automate this process by connecting Mettler Toledo weight scales so that with just one click operators could send weight measurements directly to the Blackbird system for analysis and aggregation. This implementation also removed the potential of operators inputting wrong values, guaranteeing accuracy, and significantly reducing control times.
All the data Blackbird collects is stored in the cloud, and accessible from any connected device, making it easier for quality control departments to find necessary information when issues occur. Blackbird’s system also drastically simplifies the process of performing quality control duties within specified timeframes defined by various departments, further boosting efficiency. And by allowing you to retain and export historical data, our system makes it easy compare legacy insights for further analysis, and continuous process improvements.
So, how can your organization use this feature to replicate Swedish Match’s successes?
There are numerous possibilities for customization:
- Set “when” the controls should be performed (e.g. every hour on the hour, at the end of each batch, etc.);
- Set upper and lower limits for your measurements to trigger mandatory alerts when any value of any control exceeds its specified limitations,
- Collect and aggregate all your batch specific quality control data for review.
Simply start using the Control Recipe feature on the Blackbird batch page, create digital forms according to your requirements, and automate and digitize your process control in minutes!
Get inspired by watching our tutorial video.
How to perform process control - Control recipe (perform)