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52nd CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems
52nd CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems
Manufacturing Analytics for problem-solving processes in production
Manufacturing28th
Analytics for
CIRP Design problem-solving
Conference, processes
May 2018, Nantes, France in production
Maximilian Meister *, Julia Beßle , Amir Cviko , Tobias Böing and Joachim Metternich
a a b b a

A new methodology
Maximilian
Institute
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*, Julia
Management, analyze
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Amir functional
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Tobias and
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Otto-Berndt-Str. architecture
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Metternich
Darmstadt,
a

Staufen. Quality Engineers GmbH, Blumenstraße 5 , 73257 Köngen, Germany

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existing
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products
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* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 (0) 6151Staufen.
16 20079;
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GmbH,
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2, 64287
m.meister@ptw.tu-darmstadt.de
5 , 73257 Köngen, Germany
Darmstadt, Germany

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 (0) 6151 16 20079; fax: +49 (0) 6151 16 20087. E-mail address: m.meister@ptw.tu-darmstadt.de
Paul Stief *, Jean-Yves Dantan, Alain Etienne, Ali Siadat
Abstract École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, Arts et Métiers ParisTech, LCFC EA 4495, 4 Rue Augustin Fresnel, Metz 57078, France
Abstract
Due to constantly growing complexity in production complex problems occur more often and problem-solving is of increasing importance. The
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 3 87 37 54 30; E-mail address: paul.stief@ensam.eu
question arises whether the established methods and tools for problem-solving meet the new requirements. Opportunities emerge through an
Due to constantly growing complexity in production complex problems occur more often and problem-solving is of increasing importance. The
increased data availability and data analysis can help to support solving complex problems. In order to evaluate resulting possibilities this article
question arises whether the established methods and tools for problem-solving meet the new requirements. Opportunities emerge through an
examines the importance of Manufacturing Analytics in today’s problem-solving processes. Based on an empirical study using interviews to
increased data availability and data analysis can help to support solving complex problems. In order to evaluate resulting possibilities this article
gather experience out of industrial projects it is dealing with fundamentals of modern Manufacturing Analytics and its influence on effective and
Abstract
examines the importance of Manufacturing Analytics in today’s problem-solving processes. Based on an empirical study using interviews to
efficient problem-solving considering statistics, machine learning, data mining and engineering processes.
gather experience out of industrial projects it is dealing with fundamentals of modern Manufacturing Analytics and its influence on effective and
Inefficient
today’sproblem-solving
business environment, the trend
considering towards
statistics, more learning,
machine product variety and customization
data mining and engineering is unbroken.
processes. Due to this development, the need of
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nature of components. This fact impedes an efficient comparison and choice of appropriate
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 52nd CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems.product family combinations for the production
Keywords:
system. A newsystematic problem is
methodology solving process;
proposed Manufacturing
to analyze Analytics;
existing digitalization;
products in view ofIndustrie 4.0
their functional and physical architecture. The aim is to cluster
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assembly systems. Based on Datum Flow Chain, the physical structure of the products is analyzed. Functional subassemblies are identified, and
a functional analysis is performed. Moreover, a hybrid functional and physical quickly reaches its
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1. Introduction
similarity between product families by providing design support to both,quickly Manufacturing
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systematic 2018. processes (SPSP). Areas of interest
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an increasedchallenging
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effect Assembly;However,
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an increased number of failure modes and complex cause-and- are potentials for supporting SPSP to solve quality problems as
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organizational state of
requirements andresearch
the designis
In this context complex problem-solving
deviations and resolve root causes if a problem occurs. is one of the most described (section 2). Subsequently, an empirical
of future SPSP [2]. First, the current state of research is study based
1.important skills ofcomplex
Introduction
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is one of theFuture
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2212-8271 © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
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10.1016/j.procir.2019.03.001
2 Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1–6
2 Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 00 (2019) 000–000
term “Manufacturing Analytics” is rarely used in research,
included phrases were "Industrie 4.0", "big data", "big data
analytics" and "smart manufacturing" in combination with
"manufacturing" and "production".
According to Halvorsen (2006) MA is the “statistical and
rule-based analysis of manufacturing data". It enables users to
better understand and improve their processes, to react quickly
to process events and predict potential problems before they
affect product quality [3]. MA includes identifying, extracting
and processing raw data to draw conclusions and derive
insights to support problem-solving and decision making [4–
8]. For this purpose, different sorts of data from various sources
are taken into account. Numerical data is a typical data type in
production. Nevertheless, other formats like text, audio or
video and the corresponding analytics techniques can be used
as well [9]. Sources of data include equipment data, which is
related to real-time performance or operating conditions and is
often collected by IoT technologies [10], or production data
from regular machine sensors, such as rotational speed or angle
of a machine tool. The tools to conduct MA can be taken from
e.g. data mining or machine learning and include Excel or
Rapid Miner, for example. However, the three most commonly
used analytics software in 2015-2017 are the programming
languages Python, R and SQL instead of ready-to-use software
[11].
Several authors suggest to categorize analytical capabilities
into the four stages descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and
prescriptive. Descriptive analytics aim to describe and
summarize what happens in production, e.g. capturing
production conditions and parameters. Diagnostic analytics
examine the root causes i.e. when production performance is
reduced or equipment failure occurs. Predictive analytics
encompass predictions about possible future production or
equipment degradation, amongst others, by utilizing statistical
methods on historical data. The last stage, prescriptive
analytics, recommend courses of action by identification of
measures that improve production outcomes or correct
problems and stating the likely outcome of each decision
[6,12].
These stages can be referred to as basic MA (descriptive
analytics) and advanced MA (diagnostic, predictive and
prescriptive analytics) (see Fig.1). Accordingly, advanced
analytics (semi-)autonomously examines data or content
utilizing sophisticated techniques and tools to discover deeper
insights, makes predictions and gives recommendations.
Techniques include i.e. data mining, machine learning or
multivariate statistics [13].
Value of
analytics
prescriptive
predictive
diagnostic
descriptive
Basic MA Advanced MA
Complexity
of analytics
Fig. 1. Basic and advanced MA with regard to analytical capabilities.
2.2. MA for SPSP
In literature, many use cases are proposed that illustrate
potential applications of MA addressing different phases of the
product and manufacturing lifecycle. With regard to SPSP,
several use cases show selective support of process steps
including e.g. manufacturing process monitoring (problem
detection) and identification of root causes [2,14,10].
MA use cases found in literature can be assigned to core
activities of SPSP in terms of their absolute and relative
frequency (see Fig. 2) [2,14]. Thus, the potential benefit
contribution of MA can be estimated. However, authors in
literature do not focus on a holistic integration of MA in SPSP.
Therefore, it remains unclear to what extent MA is applied
within SPSP in production.
Absolute (relative) frequency*
Activities in SPSP of MA use cases
14 (35%)
A1 - problem detection
A2 - problem definition 16 (40%)
- (-)
A3 - formation of a team
A4 - analysis of causes 17 (43%)
4 (10%)
A5 - planning of measures
A6 - immediate actions - (-)
- (-)
A7 - long-term measures
A8 - evaluation of measures 13 (33%)
- (-)
A9 - establishing a new standard
2 (5%)
A10 - review and lessons learned
* some use cases can be assigned to multiple activities
Fig. 2. Activities of SPSP and absolute (relative) frequency of MA use cases.
Consequently, the following research questions are to be
investigated in further detail:
1. To what extent is MA in SPSP already applied in
production? (RQ1)
2. How can MA support SPSP in production? (RQ2)
3. Methodical approach
In order to get a deeper consideration of the research
questions stated above, a purposeful sampling is suitable.
Samples are specifically selected based on theoretical and
empirical prior knowledge. Of special interest are samples that
are particularly relevant regarding the research problem [15].
The following three criteria were considered to select five
suitable projects for examination: (1) Use case in a production
environment, (2) subject is a quality problem and tasks are part
of a SPSP as well as (3) projects are ongoing or recently
completed.
Scientific semi-structured expert interviews were used for
data collection. In total, 24 interviews were conducted with
experienced consultants in problem-solving in production
using MA. At first, information on the general framework of
 Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1–6
Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 00 (2019) 000–000
the project was collected. This includes quality techniques and
methods as well as MA methods and tools that were already
applied to detect and eliminate quality problems. Then,
information about the goals and reasons for applying MA and
about the impact on quality techniques were inquired. Finally,
MA and quality methods that the consultants implemented to
solve the present quality problems were recorded including
requirements and conditions for the application as well as
impacts on the SPSP.
For the evaluation of the interviews a qualitative data
analysis is chosen. The Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM)
is suitable for generating new theories (explanatory in
character). Therefore, the coding procedure is taken from
GTM. The underlying coding method is the constant
comparison coding with the techniques of open coding
(segments data into units of meaning), axial coding (links
categories to main categories) and selective coding (develops
core categories from identified main categories). By means of
the category system, results can be formulated that answer the
research questions [15].
4. Findings
In order to structure findings from collected interview data,
they are presented in accordance with Strauss’s coding
paradigm [16] (see Fig. 3).
Context and
conditions
Causes Phenomenon Consequences
Action
strategies
Fig. 3. Strauss´s coding paradigm.
The phenomenon directly relates to the research questions
stated above. Causes contribute to the occurrence of the
phenomenon. Those are valid in a particular context and
condition. Action strategies influence the phenomenon and try
to avoid the consequences.
4.1. RQ1: Extent of the industrial application of MA in SPSP
The first phenomenon addresses RQ1 and is as follows:
Advanced MA is still rare throughout manufacturing
companies [in the automotive industry] whereas basic MA is
already applied to a large extent. However, companies start
recognizing the need to improve their current data analyses
to make better use of their data for SPSP.
4.1.1. Context and condition:
All selected projects were applications in large companies
that operate in the automotive industry (supplier and OEM).
The respective quality problems were different, but all
complex.
3
3
Four out of five investigated companies already applied
basic MA in terms of common quality techniques such as defect
mapping or SPC and tracked the changes of certain parameters.
Advanced MA has solely been applied to some extent:
"They had run charts and specification limits for their
graphs, could do basic trending, but no correlation between the
variables."
4.1.2. Causes:
Causes that explain the lack of advanced MA in industry are
often intertwined and foster each other. They can be understood
as requirements for implementing and applying MA.
Frequently mentioned was the lack of relevant data. Either
a lot of data is recorded, but it is unknown which parameters
are included and where they are located, or not all relevant data
is recorded:
"Stored all information, we received a copy of the database
and asked what different parameters mean. They didn’t know.
[...] It took them a couple of weeks to figure out the names,
meanings and locations of all the variables."
"Sometimes even the relevant data is not being recorded.
Sometimes they record what is easily capable and not what is
truly necessary."
Moreover, companies rarely employ a holistic approach,
but instead have isolated solutions. This provokes that
interdependencies remain unknown and the targeted quality
enhancement cannot be achieved.
Further issues are the lack of linked data and problems
with database structure, which often go along with each
other. Linked data means that process parameters are linked
with the respective product identification (ID) and a time
stamp, which leads to part and product traceability as well as
process transparency. Thus, erroneous events can be
determined easily. Problems with database structure include
that the database is not extendable so that newly recorded data
cannot be added or that it is not optimized for data querying.
Additionally, the existing IT infrastructure often entails a
cumbersome process until results can be obtained:
"Basically, they had an extraction tool, which could export
to Excel and from Excel they would clean up values with
macros or just manually clean up strange values. Then they
would take this data and use Minitab to analyze. [...] this
method [...] is a bit cumbersome."
Associated therewith is the lack of a proper tool or
software to analyze the recorded data. A suitable tool must be
able to analyze big data, preferably in real-time, easy to adopt,
user-friendly and intuitive to use. Usually, Excel is utilized for
analyses. Although it is easy to use and widely known, it is not
suitable for advanced MA but only basic MA in many cases.
Sources from literature confirm a lack of tools to employ MA
[12], which is also reflected in the interviews:
"In Excel, once you reach a certain number of lines, it gets
very slow and sometimes you have to split the data in different
Excel files which is horrible for analysis."
4 Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1–6
4 Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 00 (2019) 000–000
Fig. 4. RQ 1: Extent of industrial application of MA in SPSP.
Technical and methodological knowledge is essential to
analyze the data. This includes knowledge about the software
or one’s database and process knowledge, but also a
methodology on how to approach the problem and which steps
need to be taken (e.g. interpret statistical evaluations):
"[...] they needed help with [...] taking advantage of their
database. Recorded everything, but couldn’t use it."
Skepticism together with lack of motivation and
insufficient resources (technical, human and time) are further
causes. Engineers and managers rather adhere to known
techniques and approaches. When employees do not
understand and do not see the necessity to improve and apply
advanced MA, the motivation for implementation is low:
"[The acceptance is low at first, because everyone says
’What do you want to do with these 300 parameters? That’s
Sisyphean labor, this will take us far too much time.’]"
An appropriate tool/software, an adequate amount of
employees working on solving problems with MA as well as
time allocated to conduct this work is needed. Often, there is a
lot of daily work that requires to be taken care of. Hence, time
for problem-solving falls short. Moreover, the implementation
and application requires a budget.
"[Certain people were allocated a bit. At least officially it
was declared, but in reality, it was on top. ... ultimately, they
had to do more than usual.]"
4.1.3. Consequences
The lack of advanced MA results in the lack of identifying
the problem’s root cause, because the occurring effect is not
fully comprehended. The result is that problems are not
solved sustainably:
"[... when the company doesn’t understand where the
phenomenon originates from and what kind of impact it has ...
in many cases symptoms are fought instead of identifying the
root cause. Then, the problem reoccurs in exacerbated form.]"
This results in a waste of resources and time, because fire-
fighting takes place and there is no clear indication whether the
planned measure is the solution. The lower the data support is,
the more expert knowledge and trial-and-error are applied to
make decisions. Consequently, quality is not enhanced in the
desired way. This is when companies might realize that new
approaches are needed:
"[During the improvement they noticed that the
conventional methods are no longer enough. To reach the
benchmark it was ok, but to develop even further it wasn’t.]"
4.1.4. Action strategies
In the projects advanced MA was introduced to solve the
present quality problems. In general, a suitable software was
set up for analysis. Thereby, it was evaluated which data is
required, which data is already recorded and what structure the
customer’s database has. Data was prepared for analysis and
finally analyzed. Aiming to support the company once the
software was implemented, employees were finally trained.
The effort to implement MA varies with the present data
recording and the present data structure the company already
has. If all relevant data is recorded and if the database has a
suitable structure, analyses can start immediately. Otherwise, a
new database has to be set up or more data has to be gathered.
In total, by implementing advanced MA, the root cause
could be narrowed down or identified, which saves time and
resources. Moreover, scrap rates were reduced resulting in
better quality of products as well as processes. Employees
recognized that the application of advanced MA supports the
identification of root causes and accelerates problem-
solving:
"I think people realized by analyzing the data properly that
they already had stored in a database and understanding the
variables and plotting information, that you could actually
move much faster in finding the root cause."
 Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1–6
Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 00 (2019) 000–000
4.2. RQ2: Support of SPSP through MA
The second phenomenon addresses RQ2 and is as follows:
Advanced MA must be utilized to solve complex quality
problems in production sustainably and efficiently. It is
therefore a necessary approach to support the SPSP.
4.2.1. Context and Condition
The projects examined and the corresponding context are
the same as for the first phenomenon (see section 4.1.1).
Although companies have been able to improve quality to
some extent with existing quality techniques, they were not
able to solve complex problems with their current approaches.
4.2.2. Causes
A frequently named reason, why advanced MA is required,
is that current techniques cannot solve the new complex
problems that arise nowadays. Either the problems reoccur -
sometimes even in exacerbated form - or only small impacts
can be made, but the root causes remain unknown. The reason
for this is that the number of production parameters is
growing. Thus, there are more parameter correlations to
consider as well, which cannot all be detected and monitored
with conventional techniques:
"[Sometimes it isn’t enough anymore to work within narrow
specification limits to have a stable process, but instead there
are parameter correlations and those can only be described as
patterns.]"
Hence, conventional quality techniques and methods are no
longer sufficient enough to deliver the desired results. Either
fire-fighting is conducted or root causes are identified, but it
takes longer to solve the problem, which wastes resources. It
can be stated, that no existing techniques for problem-solving
become obsolete (e.g. 8D, 5 Why, Pareto). Instead they are
supported and their time of application is accelerated. Either
they are elements of MA or their approach can still be applied
and supported. Trial-and-error as well as expert knowledge
problem-solving becomes obsolete as the sole source for
Fig. 5. RQ 2: Requirement of MA in SPSP for complex problem solving.
5
5
deriving changes to enhance quality. This is due to the fact that
speed and certainty in making the right decisions increase
through data-driven approaches.
4.2.3. Consequences
When current approaches do no longer deliver the desired
results, companies start to realize that they have to develop in
a new direction and apply new methods.
To be able to employ advanced MA, production data needs
to be gathered first including data from specific machines, but
rather from the entire value stream. Ideally, this is then stored
in a central database that can easily be queried for analysis.
Once advanced MA is applied, companies experience
sustainable problem-solving and enhanced quality due to
identification of root causes. Furthermore, problem solving is
accelerated and the decision-making process is more fact-
and data-based, which also reduces resources spent.
"[The time for problem-solving was reduced rapidly…I
would say from three weeks to one day. Hence, we had three
additional weeks to eliminate the problem.]"
Additionally, new insights about processes and products
are gained by discovering parameter correlations:
"[The company learned a lot about their product, which they
can use for multiplication for their other products. ... With this,
they really gained a lot of knowledge.]"
4.2.4. Action strategies
Action strategies are related to the first phenomenon (see
section 4.1.4.).
A data-driven and holistic optimization approach helps
to narrow down the potential root cause. It enables to resolve
problems sustainably, faster, more fact-based, resources are
reduced and new insights are gained. When a company gets all
of these advantages, they realize that they have to allocate more
resources to develop in this direction even further.
6 Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1–6
6 Maximilian Meister et al. / Procedia CIRP 00 (2019) 000–000
5. Conclusion and next steps
This article gives an overview of the fundamentals of
Manufacturing Analytics. Two research questions have been
derived from current state of research in the field of MA in
SPSP that were answered using a qualitative study. Interviews
were conducted and analyzed by means of GTM. Finally, the
extent of the industrial application of MA as well as its support
in SPSP were evaluated.
Results show that advanced MA is rarely applied in the
manufacturing industry although basic MA is common and use
cases exist. This is due to several causes that were explained in
detail. However, in particular advanced MA supports SPSP
because it is required for solving complex problems. Overall, it
can be stated that the problem detection, the analysis of the
problem and its causes (most frequently mentioned) and the
evaluation of taken measures are activities that are directly
supported by MA. This agrees with the results of literature
work (see section 2.2). The most frequently named
requirements and therefore success factors of MA in SPSP are
almost all regarding the technology infrastructure including
data collection and preparation specifically for problem-
solving, database structure specifically for problem-solving,
statistical analysis of data (software) as well as technical and
methodological knowledge. Those can be assigned to SPSP
success factors (for details on SPSP success factors see [2]).
Further research, in particular quantitative research with
larger sample size and standardized questions, is required to
confirm the results. Thereby, other industries as well as small
and medium sized enterprises (SME) have to be considered as
well as different types of problems. The aim is to understand
the application of advanced MA in SPSP. This includes the
diagnosis of the problem and its root cause to derive
countermeasures, but also the integration of preventive
measures e.g. by using machine learning. As there are various
data mining technologies, it needs to be examined to what
extent and under which circumstances these can be applied best
in SPSP.
Moreover, identified causes for a lack of advanced MA have
to be addressed. Therefore, a holistic approach is needed that
integrates MA in SPSP in production and gives a guidance that
systematically supports companies in the design of a suitable
company-specific SPSP.
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