Manufacturing software lets Solyndra Inc. quickly and easily
model, track and control any production process-and instantly react to changing
business needs. Photo courtesy Eyelit Inc..
Solyndra, a manufacturer of photovoltaic systems since 2005, has been using Eyelit Inc. manufacturing software at its first factory (Fab 1) in Fremont, CA, to track, monitor and provide full visibility throughout the assembly process.
The software provides detailed tube-level traceability and is integrated with Solyndra’s material control system to ensure the correct delivery of product to factory tools with the use of automated guided vehicles, conveyors and robots.
This past summer, Solyndra selected Eyelit’s Manufacturing Software Suite to support photovoltaic production at Solyndra’s new automated factory, called Fab 2, which is also located in Fremont. The Fab 2 facility is a state-of-the-art 300,000-square-foot highly automated manufacturing complex, which Solyndra expects to be in partial operation by the fourth quarter of this year.
“After evaluating competitive solutions in the marketplace, we concluded that Eyelit continues to be the right choice for our manufacturing software needs going forward,” says Paula Camporaso, Solyndra’s vice president of information technology. “Eyelit is very open to working closely with us to continually improve our processes.”
The Manufacturing Software Suite consists of integrated manufacturing execution (MES), factory automation and asset management software, which allows manufacturing-related operations to constantly communicate with each other in real time. This capability lets manufacturers quickly and easily model, track and control any production process-and instantly react to changing business needs.
In addition, manufacturers can automatically detect, analyze, and resolve problems in the factory for “always optimized” operations. The asset management function lets manufacturers electronically manage equipment, facilities maintenance and technician tasks with alerts, scheduling, status reporting and fully documented task lists.
For instance, when inventory reaches a specified low level, the MES automatically notifies the manufacturer’s enterprise resource planning system to generate a requisition for more materials. Or, as high volumes of product are manufactured, connections between corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) and MES systems enable problems to be flagged and quality-control managers to be alerted the instant a problem is detected.
In May 2010, President Barack Obama toured Solyndra’s Fab 1 facility and praised the company for its growth as a solar panel manufacturer. Obama addressed a crowd of about 450 people, which included California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Solyndra employees and customers, as well as construction workers and executives working on the Fab 2 project. President Obama’s visit occurred just 8 months after U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu toured the same facility.
For more information on manufacturing software, call 877-463-9354 or visit www.eyelit.com.
