Vorne has launched a new lean manufacturing resource web site devoted to helping manufacturers apply Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) to improve productivity, effectiveness and ultimately the bottom line. The site is organized around a series of easy-to-follow lessons that deliver key OEE concepts including Fast Track OEE, OEE Factors, the Six Big Losses, World Class OEE, Calculating OEE and Visual OEE™.

Free downloadable tools available at www.oee.com/tools include:

• Calculating OEE Worksheet (PDF)
• Calculating OEE Spreadsheet (Excel)
• Addressing the Six Big Losses (PDF)
• Fast Guide to OEE™ (PDF)

Visitors are also encouraged to request the OEE Pocket Guide – a highly-effective pocket-sized OEE training tool.

Visit oee.com now!

Recognized as an authority in the practical application of OEE, Vorne was chosen to contribute to the November Automation World article OEE: The Effectiveness Indicator for Automation. This article highlights how Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) provides a single intuitive metric for measuring manufacturing effectiveness. The article also discusses the value of automating OEE calculations, which is one of many benefits provided by Vorne XL products.

Read the article – OEE: The Effectiveness Indicator for Automation

Acknowledged as a leader in lean metrics, Vorne was invited by the Paperboard Packaging Council to moderate the “Metrics for Lean Operations” discussion at their Fall Meeting and Leadership Conference held October 19th-21st in Napa, California.

PPC members joined industry experts, such as Vorne, in sharing useful tips, ideas and solutions for using lean metrics to improve the effectiveness of their continuous improvement programs. Forum attendees overwhelmingly agreed that challenging employees with attainable goals and providing real-time, actionable information is one of the keys to success. Having the flexibility to choose the metrics that will best motivate their people was equally important to PPC members. The findings of this event will be published by the PPC in a “101 Solutions” white paper.

Vorne is pleased to announce today that it has released a new and expanded version of its XL600 legend library. Early on Vorne saw the ability of the classic Andon to deliver focused real-time production metrics to the plant floor in an easy-to-read format. A shortcoming of this style of production scoreboard, however is that it was typically custom-built for a specific purpose making it expensive and inflexible.

The XL600 Production Monitor delivers your production data in terms you choose. However, unlike “custom-built” production scoreboards and Andon displays, the XL600 can be configured (or reconfigured) in minutes to show any of its 100+ process variables. The expanded library adds many new standard terms ideal for production monitoring applications and lean manufacturing initiatives. Custom terms are also available. Or, simply flip the plate over and add your own legend!

Contact us today at 1-888-347-7529 to put the XL600 to work in your plant. It’s simple to install, easy to understand and fast to show results!

During a brand new pilot installation at a Fortune 500 food manufacturer, the XL600 Production Monitor proved its value by generating an amazing $29,000 in productivity improvements (a two day ROI) on the very first line it was tested.

“Yesterday was the first day we looked at the numbers since installing the XL600. The direct result of the display was amazing. We went from running at $9,000 below target per month to a net gain of nearly $30,000 a month! The line operators used to get production numbers the day after the fact and could do nothing about it. Now they immediately know where they are at and where they need to be. We’ll be installing the XL600s just as fast as we can get them!”

Looking for a fast and effective way to improve productivity at your plant - and a great way to motivate your employees? Email us or call 1-888-347-7529!

New Equipment Digest has featured the XL800 Production Monitor as a “Hot Product” in their August 2005 print edition. Describing how the XL800 can be up and running in literally minutes, the article also highlights the “6-in-1” XL800 feature set that combines a large-area visual display, production monitor, expandable I/O, communication hub, program executioner and data warehouse in one highly integrated package.

The XL800 starts at just $3,290, and is available for a FREE TRIAL in your plant. Contact us today to get XL working for you!

Flexible Packaging Magazine has named the XL800 Production Monitor as an Editor’s Choice in its July 2005 print and on-line editions. The Flexible Packaging article discusses the importance of challenging employees with achievable goals while giving them actionable information and tools that they can use to effect change. It describes how the XL800 addresses this need, by functioning as an easy-to-implement “bolt-on” solution for performance management and productivity improvement, while providing more than 100 key real-time performance metrics to both front-line employees and managers.

Contact us today at 1-888-347-7529 and request a FREE 90-day XL trial for your plant!

Practical Lean Accounting, by Brian Maskell and Bruce Baggaley, presents an interesting perspective on lean manufacturing – the financial and accounting perspective. This is an important topic, since the ultimate goal of lean manufacturing is to improve the bottom line. Practical Lean Accounting presents a methodology for transforming accounting and financial functions to support and advance lean manufacturing initiatives.

In the Cell Performance Measurements chapter, a first generation Vorne “smart” display is shown in action – providing real-time visual feedback to the plant floor. The chapter discusses First Time Through (FTT) quality, takt time, downtime tracking, OEE, visual information presentation, Andon boards and the importance of timely reporting – all of which are supported by Vorne’s new family of XL products. XL is a powerful lean manufacturing tool for real-time visual information presentation, productivity monitoring, and performance management.

Practical Lean Accounting is published by Productivity Press, who’s primary focus is on books relating to lean manufacturing methodologies and the Toyota Production System.

I/Gear Corporation, a specialist in Manufacturing Intelligence solutions, provides native XL connectivity in their Web Framework product. A powerful combination, XL products deliver real-time performance metrics to the plant floor and to your IT network, while Web Framework provides a web-based manufacturing portal to the entire enterprise. View real-time and historical data such as downtime, scrap, cycle time, OEE, shift and job performance, scheduling, traceability, alerts and much more – anytime, anywhere.

Collecting real-time data from XL units at Vorne’s Chicago facility and I/Gear’s Louisville headquarters, the live demo shows how I/Gear’s Web Framework gathers manufacturing data at the asset level and rolls it up to the enterprise. With unlimited users and assets, the Web Framework is a highly cost-effective method of leveraging XL plant-floor intelligence and delivering complete data visibility across the enterprise. Key features include:

• Executive Dashboard – view all of your data anytime, anywhere
• XL Connectivity – native support for the entire XL family
• Asset Tree – performance data rolled up from asset to enterprise
• Modular Interface – Building blocks (e.g. charts, grids, forms)
• Database Independent – connects to all major database platforms
• Fast Deployment – complete solution deployed in days not weeks

Call 1-888-347-7529 and open your window to improved plant floor intelligence!

The Paperboard Packaging Council selected Vorne to facilitate a two-day technical conference held May 12th-13th in Scottsdale, Arizona. As experts on the topic of OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), Vorne was invited to both facilitate the conference and present OEE as a “best practices” method for packaging manufacturers to increase throughput and improve profitability.

The forum focused on ways to identify bottlenecks and other manufacturing issues that cause downtime, speed and quality losses. PPC members discovered that OEE is an excellent way to attack the “Six Big Losses” through actionable, real-time OEE performance data. After all, if you don’t measure it, it’s difficult to fix!

Many attendees commented that they now have a better understanding of the value of OEE, and as a result will implement it in their plants. Are you interested in OEE? We invite you to contact us for a complete set of OEE training materials – absolutely FREE!

About the PPC: The Paperboard Packaging Council is the leading U.S. trade association for suppliers and converters of paperboard packaging. Technical & Production Forums are held twice annually to present the latest advances in technology to member companies. To learn more about the PPC go to www.ppcnet.org or contact the PPC at (703) 836-3300.

April 1970… Vorne begins its quest to produce the finest and most innovative products for improving manufacturing productivity. Back then our products were “solid-state” counters with neon bulbs and nixie tubes for displays. Today our products are incredibly powerful and highly integrated performance management tools like the flagship XL800 production monitor. It’s hard to imagine that when Vorne Industries was incorporated 35 years ago, integrated circuits and LEDs were brand new technologies – and the most common displays were nixie tubes!

During our 35 year history we have stayed true to our vision of creating innovative products that help manufacturing companies be more productive. We have seen a lot of companies come and go from the marketplace, and we are proud to have thrived where others have not. Innovative products such as our XL series, innovative services such as our 30 day trial units, support that delights customers, great quality backed by a three year warranty – these are but a few of the many reasons to which we attribute our success.

As we pop a bottle of champagne today – we toast you… the reason we are here and our partners in success!

Today Vorne launches an all-new web site loaded with features and resources, with a special focus on helping manufacturing companies improve plant floor productivity. Enhancements include:

NEW! Learning Center with extensive materials on key lean manufacturing concepts.
NEW! Improvement Strategies area with “how-to” topics such as reducing down time, improving communication, increasing capacity, and more – assembled from real-world feedback from literally tens of thousands of conversations with plant floor personnel.
NEW! Industries section that details a broad spectrum of industries, the unique challenges they face, and popular solutions to real-world problems.
ENHANCED! Downloads area with an extensive library of data sheets, product manuals, white papers (including the Fast Guide to OEE) and FREE product software.

Bookmark this site now and check back often!

The Vorne XL product line was a huge hit at National Manufacturing Week 2005. But don’t take our word for it – here’s a direct quote from a representative of one of the major automation trade publications:

“I’ve walked this entire show floor from end to end several times and the greatest buzz and excitement is definitely at your booth! The enthusiasm for your products is amazing.”

Why such enthusiasm? A common theme expressed by visitors was their excitement in finding a “bolt-on” production monitoring solution that allows them to collect real-time production data, display it on the plant floor and push it over their network – all from one integrated product that is “non-intrusive” (doesn’t affect current processes).

Thank you to all who visited our exhibit for helping to make this show a tremendous success for Vorne.

See what show attendees are talking about

Today Vorne announced availability of the brand new OEE Pocket Guide – a pocket-sized Overall Equipment Effectiveness training and implementation tool specifically designed for the fast-paced factory floor. Chock full of useful information, the OEE Pocket Guide covers topics such as Defining OEE, World Class OEE, OEE Factors, Calculating OEE, The Six Big Losses, OEE Terms and Visual OEE.

We guarantee the OEE Pocket Guide will greatly enrich your understanding of OEE, Availability, Performance and Quality – or we will cheerfully refund your purchase price. Oops – that’s right – we said it was FREE. So what are you waiting for – call 1-888-DISPLAYS today and request your copy!

Vorne is pleased to announce that it has secured a large multi-plant XL order to enhance manufacturing productivity for an internationally recognized media products manufacturer. Vorne XL products were selected over all other competition due to their extreme flexibility and powerful “bolt-on” production monitoring feature set.

Multiple plant locations standardized on the XL800 Large Graphics Production Monitor, with the following features identified as “key critical” by the customer:

• Integrated “bolt-on” production monitoring of KPIs including OEE
• Ease of reconfiguring the display for alternate metrics
• Enterprise-wide data delivery via integrated 10/100 Ethernet

See the XL800 in action!

Vorne announced today powerful new input port features for the XL Next Generation including:

• Automatic time-stamping on every input
• Independent cumulative counter for each input
• Parallel port feature for loading numeric data
• Parallel port triggering of messages and programs

Our thanks to XL prerelease program participants for contributing their ideas to help propel XL to the next generation!

Vorne products are built rugged and tough. Our engineers focus on designing robust products that work reliably day after day, week after week, and year after year. Our customers agree!

After watching one of our competitors briefly match our three-year warranty period, and then back down to a shorter warranty, we thought it an excellent time to remind you that Vorne continues to provide our industry leading three-year warranty on virtually all products.

Go with the company that has a great track record for quality AND that backs it up with a three-year warranty…Vorne!

Vorne Product Warranty Statement

With an overwhelmingly positive response from participants in the XL prerelease program, Vorne is pleased to announce XL Next Generation. Featuring a powerful new core with roughly 20 times the processing power of its predecessor, XL Next Generation is slated to provide an exciting array of new features that enhance capabilities in all key areas:

• Visual Display
• Production Monitor
• I/O Ports
• Communication Hub
• Data Warehouse
• Program Executioner
• Internet Applications
 

In keeping with Vorne’s “delight the customer” philosophy, all XL prerelease program participants will be provided a free-of-charge upgrade to XL Next Generation upon production release.