Executive Overview

The Real-Time Plant Monitor is an application designed specifically to provide plant operators a quick view of production information across multiple plants and multiple projects. Viewable from anywhere within the organization, the Real-Time Plant Monitor makes this information common knowledge for anyone on your team who needs the information. Upper management, foreman, and project managers know more about plant production without having to ask.

Common Sense Views

The Real-Time Plant Monitor interface provides a simplified means of viewing production information. Each plant is shown with a different color theme, making it easier to correlate the tickets from the 10 Most Recent Tickets grid with the originating plant.

The Interface

Designed as a web page, the interface can be viewed by a user just like a web page. Designed as an ASP.Net solution, the Real-Time Plant Monitor is an optimized interface with great response time for the user. The interface includes a refresh button for those who need the display updated more frequently than once a minute. A snapshot of the default page is shown in Figure 1. Figures 2 and 3 provide additional views.

The Process

The Real-Time Plant Monitor is a read-only view of data from your load out system, so there isn’t much process from the user’s perspective. Data is drawn from the load out system and displayed in a convenient format. Once installed and integrated into your network, your network users can view the Real Time Plant Monitor just as they view any web page: open the web browser, such as Internet Explorer, enter the page address and hit Enter. The top of all Real Time Plant Monitor pages contain links to the other views. Simply point and click.

What Kind of Data is Displayed?

The Ticket is the core of the Real-Time Plant Monitor Application, and incorporates the following additional views of information. Plant Listings (Figure 1) – The customer ID, customer name, number of loads, tons per customer, and Class of material loaded is displayed. The total number of loads and total tonnage for each plant is displayed, and from this, the Average Tons per Truck is calculated. The 10 Most recent Tickets grid (Figure 1) displays details for the last ten loads let from the plant. This information is useful to personnel in the field, informing them of what is on the way to the job site, assuming they have the proper connectivity to your network.

Tonnage Summary by Project Chart (Figure 2) – This chart provides a graphical view of the tonnage loaded out by Project (Job). Each row in the chart shows you the Project Name, Project Number, Total Tons per Project and Totals Loads per Project, as well as a bar giving a visual indicator as to which project accounts for the most production.

Daily Tickets for ... (Figure 3) – This view allows the user to view the tickets generated for the current calendar date. The user may also select another date from those provided at the top of the chart.

Integration Considerations

The Real-Time Plant Monitor needs a data source. Your load out system may include everything needed. However, if it does not, we can help you with discovering the information required to support the interface.

A computer on your network needs to perform as a web server in order to serve the Real-Time Plant monitor interface to your network users. The application uses few resources, thus avoiding overloading your server.

Multi-User Environment

The Real-Time Plant Monitor allows multiple users to view plant production simultaneously. You can have any number of users take advantage of the application. The display automatically refreshes itself once every 60 seconds for those users who leave the display open for a long period of time.

Portability

The Real-Time Plant Monitor can be moved, given that all associated pieces of the application and underlying database are moved in accordance with our prescribed procedures. We will be glad to assist you through any move.

Backup and Security of Data

The Real-Time Plant Monitor database is stored in and managed via Microsoft SQL Server 2000. MS SQL Server provides management features that include automated maintenance routines and backup of live databases. This means that your database can be backed up even while employees are working in the program. We can configure a backup routine for you, or we can provide a white paper on how to accomplish your backups.

Conclusions

InfoPathways’ Real-Time Plant Monitor provides the following benefits:

• Ease of Browsing the Web – The Real-Time Plant Monitor runs in the web browser and requires no software be added to the user’s computer.
• General Access – All members of your organization may have access to the Real-Time Plant Monitor. If needed, security can be added to limit the users who have access.
• Increased Productivity – When anyone in your organization can view the Real-Time Plant Monitor, there is a reduced need to disrupt the plant operators. This information is self served.
• Increased Awareness of What’s Happening at Your Plants – Everyone who needs to know can know. Tonnage per customer, tonnage per project, average tonnage per load, most recent loads that have left the plant, and more.

For More Information

Please contact us to learn more about this powerful solution. Email us at info@InfoPathways.com or call (410) 751-9929.