Oct 2, 2024
Products
Skill Management AI Solution: Centralizing Skill Maps for Strategic Training and Personnel Placement!
- New Product
- OMNIedge
- Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
Recent years have seen cutting-edge technology like automation, the IoT integration, and AI introduced for factory production equipment. At the same time, these advancements have thrown into sharp relief a number of problems related to personnel involved in the operation, maintenance, and repair of such machines. For instance, as some machines age and others become more complex, their care demands a higher level of skill. As veteran employees retire, we see that their technical knowledge isn’t being passed on quickly enough. This time, we’ll look at THK’s Skill Management AI Solution, a skill management system that focuses on personnel-related challenges faced by those on the ground in the manufacturing industry.
OEE Optimization System OMNIedge
As a machine component manufacturer, THK has been using its digital capabilities to offer an IoT solution for reducing various types of loss on the production floor since 2020. That solution is the OEE optimization system OMNIedge.
Phase 1 of OMNIedge launched as a service for linear motion products like LM Guide units and ball screws. It was followed by the release of phase 2, which expanded support to include rotary components like pumps, fans, and gear boxes while also adding a predictive failure detection solution for components. And for phase 3, we developed a tool monitoring AI solution for machine users to reduce the losses they incur from tool changes and machining defects.
But improving OEE requires more than just reducing production floor losses associated with equipment. Human-related losses must also be curbed.
This is why, for phase 4 of OMNIedge, we developed the Skill Management AI Solution, a cloud service that centralizes the management of skill maps used in manufacturing that have traditionally been maintained in software like Excel.
Skill Management Challenges
A skill map is a table that shows each skill required for a given job function, which employees possess those skills, and to what degree they do. The ISO 9001 international quality management standard requires that skill maps be used for employee skill management. While skill maps are useful for understanding which skills an organization is lacking and for creating training plans, the fact that paper- and Excel-based skill maps have become the norm has led to problems on the production floor like the ones listed below.
- Managing skills on paper or using Excel creates a lot of work and is losing its meaning.
- It becomes impossible to identify which skills are crucial and which are lacking, which hinders cross-training and the passing on of technical knowledge.
- Personnel placement and responses to absences are overly reliant on what managers can remember.
- It becomes impossible to keep track of when certifications need to be renewed.
Benefits of Implementing the Skill Management AI Solution
The Skill Management AI Solution is a cloud-based system that makes it possible to centrally manage and leverage information about skills, qualifications, certifications, work histories, and training histories throughout an organization. By making the skills in a department or workplace more visible, it enhances labor development practices, personnel placement, and overall technical skill.
For example, the analysis function can pinpoint which skills are at a high risk of being lost so that training plans can be developed for successors to a given role and the progress of their training can be tracked. This ensures that technical skills are passed on and cross-training can be performed. The service also helps to optimize personnel placement by making it possible to search an entire organization for staff best suited to handling something like the setup of a new production line or a sudden breakdown of production equipment. Additionally, automatic alerts about certifications that are about to expire ensure that no renewals slip through the cracks. Taking things a step further, this service can be used in combination with the OMNIedge predictive failure detection AI solution to assign the best person to do the maintenance for the predicted failure.
Implementing this solution cuts the management workload in half for creating and updating skill maps, start-of-year planning, and end-of-year checks. It also reduces the risk of quality issues by ensuring that training is completed and certifications renewed on time.
Support Before and After Implementation
THK provides support before and after implementation, so you can install the system with peace of mind.
Whether it’s maintaining certain skills in your organization, passing on technical knowledge, or implementing cross-training programs, please contact THK if you’re struggling with any aspect of skill management.
Details about the OMNIedge Skill Management AI Solution (THK website)
* This content is based on information that was released in Japanese on October 2, 2024.