In a bid to increase productivity and reduce operational inefficiencies, Australian label manufacturer Insignia has implemented the “Quantum” Print Efficiency Management System developed by Kingston Data Systems (KDS), a Melbourne-based technology company. This strategic move has resulted in a 20% boost in Insignia’s overall productivity, showcasing the potential of leveraging innovative software solutions in the manufacturing sector.

The Quest for Real-Time Data

Insignia has long been a cornerstone in the supply chain labeling industry, partnering with global brands such as Domino, Honeywell, and Zebra, to bring their customers high-quality labeling solutions and products ranging from blank labels to premium customer facing labels. With manufacturing facilities in Melbourne and Brisbane and an array of flexographic presses and print finishing equipment, Insignia is well-versed in meeting diverse customer demands.

Yet, despite its production capabilities, Insignia encountered a critical challenge: a need for real-time data to maximize productivity and minimize waste. Evan Powell, head of operations at Insignia, identified this problem as the core issue undermining efficiency.

“We started to implement improvement plans to better manage our processes,” says Powell. “This included reviewing operator timesheets more regularly throughout the day and ensuring that supervisors were working across the shop floor to increase awareness of job status.”

However, these changes yielded only modest improvements for Insignia and failed to address the fundamental issue of real-time visibility.

“It became obvious to us that we needed real-time data from the shop floor,” continues Powell. “All our paperwork and production reports were being done manually. They were not just time consuming, but we couldn’t see the status of individual presses or jobs easily and this severely impacted our back costing process. However, it was clear that we had gaps and opportunities to improve the performance of our production facility, so we turned to look at software solutions to help with this.”

Determined to overcome these obstacles, Insignia evaluated several software solutions, ranging from new MIS systems with integrated shop floor management modules to standalone systems and after a comprehensive review, the KDS Quantum system emerged as the clear choice.

“We needed a solution that was, first of all, simple for our operators to use” remarks Powell. “Additionally, we wanted something that would offer them valuable insights into the actual manufacturing performance compared to the planning estimates on each individual job, and so to achieve that, the product would also need to interface with our existing MIS system.

“The standout feature for our business in choosing the KDS system was that it was centered and focused around label and print production, and this offered the best fit and increased insight for our business. We also saw that there were opportunities to further integrate Quantum with our MIS software. KDS explained that they had created fully integrated data exchange with MIS systems at their existing customers, and we saw this as an opportunity which could further enhance and streamline our operations.”

Implementation and Impact: A 20% Productivity Surge

The rollout of the KDS Quantum system was executed with minimal disruption. Within approximately two hours per machine, each unit at Insignia’s Melbourne and Brisbane plants was equipped with the Quantum “Efficiency Management Unit” hardware.

This unit tracks critical manufacturing metrics, including machine speed, material consumption, and other machine activity, all while providing real-time visibility of job progress to managers around the plants. Additionally, job estimates and operating parameters, were being downloaded from Insignia’s MIS system, into the EMUs, allowing actuals to estimate job performance to be tracked every minute of the day.

Powell emphasizes the critical role of staff engagement in the successful implementation of the new system. “It was important for us that everyone was onboard as we rolled out the system. We focused the conversation with operators and production managers around the increased visibility that we would be getting from Quantum so all involved staff could assist with increasing uptime and supporting the operators complete the job efficiently. We also made sure we were working with the operators correctly recording production issues and downtime. This way we had far better insights into what was causing these problems and how the floor, as a whole, could support and help the machine operators.

Within six weeks of operation, Powell saw a 20% increase in productivity across the two manufacturing sites.

“The immediate changes we saw were around increased press speed, with operators more focused on the press running speed and job time and material targets,” he says. “As a business, we run a lineal meters per hour KPI for the team and we saw an immediate jump in this through increased up time and press speeds. Ensuring production managers then followed up with staff and had meaningful conversations around good days, bad days, down time and support meant that there was sufficient focus and tension within the team to continue performing at this improved level of efficiency.

“Quantum was the tool that initially provided our managers with direct and real-time insights into what was happening on the shop floor,” he adds. “This information was invaluable in our quest to improve productivity. The system by itself offers key insights and data about the manufacturing processes but coupled with a management team that are focused on driving conversations around that data, this is where the real value is realized.”