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Case study

Spica WFM technology tailored to modern production facility

Spica WFM technology tailored to modern production facility Spica WFM technology tailored to modern production facility
Industries: Manufacturing

There is no room for error in a robot factory. This requires traceability of all processes, materials and work, with modern technology overseeing the work of employees and robots.

What you will learn from the Yaskawa case study:

  • how Spica ID cards help make payroll more efficient, manage visitors more effectively and even set up the ergonomics of workstations for each employee;
  • how to optimize workforce workload and realize savings by setting up different work schedules and shifts;
  • how to improve work processes and increase productivity by integrating different IT environments.


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Company: Yaskawa EUROPE ROBOTICS d.o.o.

  • Industry: Robotics
  • Year of establishment: 2017
  • Production launch: January 2019
  • Number of employees: 110
  • Website: www.yaskawa.com

Modern factory requires modern solutions

At the company entrance, there are Spica terminals for access control and clocking. Yaskawa wanted to build on the already excellent solution and digitize the business processes even further. A number of new integrations and optimizations have been conceived – notably regarding the identification and management of visitors and employees, a faster and more accurate payroll process, and the reduction of labor costs through improved traceability of work processes and materials. For this purpose, cabinets with work equipment such as gloves, drills, spray guns, etc. have also been equipped with ID card readers.

 "Although work equipment is worn out or consumed in the course of work, we have achieved a reduction in consumption by about 30% by introducing traceability in this field." Yaskawa

When a worker comes to a workstation, the height of the work table is automatically adjusted

Employees and visitors have their first contact with modern technological solutions in the car park, where they identify themselves in front of the gate. Employees can use their Spica ID cards in all factory areas to which they have access, as well as for other connected systems, such as printing, food pick-up and protective equipment.

Visitors introduce themselves at the reception via an intercom system, which also enables video calls to a specific person, e.g. the one they have come to see. The person concerned grants them access to the car park by using an application on a computer or mobile device.

This integration with IP and video telephony system enables management of company visits. The clocking system ensures that all working hours data is recorded on an ongoing basis in the central business information system and exported to the external accounting service for payroll purposes at specified intervals.

Payroll is extremely accurate, also due to the fact that employee ID cards are used in a wide range of company systems and solutions. The factory access control system has been extended from monitoring and managing access to individual facilities to individual workstations using an application developed in-house. Each workstation “knows” which employees can work at it and what their ergonomic settings are to enable them to work as comfortably and efficiently as possible.

Yaskawa's locations in Ribnica and Kočevje use around 50 access control terminals and close to 100 ID card readers. The company is proud of its own system upgrade that guarantees that no employee works at a workstation for which he has not been previously trained. This is verified upon clocking in at a workplace or station, guaranteeing full traceability of work processes.

"When a worker comes to a workstation, the height of the work table is automatically adjusted."

Access to individual areas is also strictly regulated, with highly restricted areas requiring two-factor authentication (ID card and password).

Work schedules are linked to access control

The link between work schedules and access control allows each individual to enter the selected area within a specific time interval. The work schedules are also seasonally flexible, taking into account various local specificities, for example, winter service work, and they can quickly be adapted to changes requested by the authorized administrators such as adding a working day during the weekend.

When the new factory was built, the introduction of the advanced access control system was already carefully planned and implemented according to plan, including the time schedule. The staff has been able to use all systems from day one. However, the developers at the factory soon extended the use of personal ID cards to new areas.

Technology is tailored to the individual, resulting in happy and efficient employees

At the new factory, Yaskawa has also provided for user authentication in the field of printing. An employee who wants to print documents sends them to the print server and can, once identified, print them on any printer in the company. In this way, documents are not waiting at the printer and posing a security risk.

And when a user is identified, their print and scan settings are immediately loaded on each multitasking device and the user interface is customized. What is the result? An extremely pleasant print and scan experience and lower paper consumption.

Employees also like personalized photo ID cards, which they can use at company drinks machines and even order food from an external caterer during working hours.

“Not only have we set up a food ordering terminal in the company during the pandemic, employees are now served exactly what they have ordered in the canteen – even for a whole workweek in advance – and the system accounts for it and charges them automatically.”  Yaskawa

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A high-quality provider brings added value

The Time & Space solution was implemented at the Slovenian branch of Yaskawa corporation by Spica, Ljubljana, a company that has been cooperating with Yaskawa Slovenia for almost two decades. Given the excellent past experience with Spica, the company hasn’t even considered another partner for access control and clocking.

“As a customer holding a maintenance contract, we are also entitled to regular preventive maintenance checks. During one of the checks, Spica's experts identified a potential security flaw in our infrastructure that we would probably never have spotted and fixed it on their own initiative. That's the kind of proactive partner every company could wish for.” Yaskawa

Information to further motivate employees

In line with the trend of continuous improvement of the quality of work and employee satisfaction, Yaskawa Slovenia plans to export the data to a modern HR system, which, after analysis, will be used to create personalized plans for development and promotion, as well as motivation and rewarding of employees.

“A robot factory is a data-rich environment. We are also planning to create a digital 3D version of the factory, a kind of digital duplicate, which will use live data and allow us to make advanced simulations of changes and optimizations in order to make even better business decisions.” Yaskawa

Results

  • ID cards and the resulting improved traceability have led to a reduction in the use of work equipment by about 30%.
  • Employees can grant access to business partners via a video link.
  • Work schedules and access control are linked to limit access to a specific area at a specific time.
  • Personalized photo ID cards allow employees to order meals, print and gain authorized access to different areas. Best of all, the system automatically records and accounts for everything.