Case Study

Introduction of MAP:

  • MAP (Monitoring Analysis Prediction) software has been successfully implemented in the manufacturing operation of Matrix Fine Science Private Limited, one of the leading Nutraceuticals manufacturer in Maharashtra, India.
  • Matrix Fine Sciences Pvt Ltd is specialize in extraction of Natural Tocopherol’s (Vitamin E) from 100% Non-GMO Soy, Sunflower and Rapeseed sources. With one of the largest installed capacities, MFS is one of the few companies who provide the complete range of Vitamin E & its derivatives under one roof.
  • The success story describes implementation phases of the MAP software for the plant operation.

Process Operation:

  • Batch wise operation with total 7 stages involved in the process.
  • Suppose “Batch#125” is going to start next. Then, first Process-HOD will take a batch approval of QA-HOD (on a printed document). After QA-HOD approval, production department will start the “Batch#125” which will start with taking raw materials in the reactors (Stage-1 process) & after going through 22 different steps which involves heating, stirring, cooling & different unit operations such as heat exchange & distillation columns etc, batch is shifted to Stage-2 & 2b (13 + 81 steps). Similarly, after processing through Stage-2, reactant moves to Stage-3 (22 steps) & so on till Stage-7 (12 steps) to produce the desired product & bi-products.
  • During this process, production department sends different samples (more than 100 samples in a day) to QC department which involves Raw material, In-process & Finished products samples.
  • Other than this, client also asked us to consider raw material shipment process which involves tankers carrying raw materials, unloading into the tank farm area, recording tank levels, raw material transfer to production department, raw material sampling to QC department etc.

Purpose of MAP:

  • To bring all the stakeholders related to the process on same platform e.g. Production, Mechanical, Store, Security, QA, QC, EHS, Utility & Management.
  • To develop detail plant monitoring & analysis tool which will help in controlling the plant operation effectively.
  • To update the management with each & every details of the plant records & ongoing activities.
  • Avoid manipulation of manually reporting entries.
  • Digitize all the manually entered records.
  • Capture deviations in process operations & suggest right course of action.
  • Automatic report generation which will show daily, monthly, annual production, consumption values and major highlights.
  • Analysis of recorded data for decision-making, to increase productivity & work efficiency.

Software as a Solution:

  • Departments & users considered for software development: Production (9 users), Maintenance (4 users), Utility (5 users), QA (2 users), QC (4 users), Security (2 users), EHS (3 users), Store (3 users) & Management (4 users).
  • Understanding the manufacturing process & data collection (sample of BMR records & shift report format, QC format for lab sampling, etc).
  • Login page created. All the users received user names & password.
  • Coding for BMR process:
  1. Online batch approval process created in BMR menu. Process-HOD will online create a new batch & send request for approval to QA-HOD.
  2. BMR stages & steps created which will record temperature, quantity & other parameters along with date & time. e.g. Stage 1 step 12 is ongoing, it will show step description, provision for recording parameters (it can be a manual entry or automatically pick-up DCS value).
  3. Considering importance of each & every steps involved in the process, coding for process functioning done such that next step gets activated only after completion of ongoing step.
  4. Not all the steps goes one after the one, there are few operation steps which goes parallel. Coding done such that production user can perform these activities parallely. 
  5. In-Process samples request to QC department created in which process user can fill the form in the   software & submit during the respective step same as the offline process.
  6. Automatic notifications generated during submitting lab sample request, new batch request & all the kinds of approval process which are visible to all the users.
  7. Status section created for users to get update on actions e.g. If QA-HOD receives new batch approval from Production department then status shows Pending from QA-HOD.
  8. Remarks & observation section created at the end of process.
  9. Shift report format created for production users to fill their daily activities directly in the software, making this offline activity paperless.
  • Coding for Raw material shipment:
  1. Security user will enter the details of raw material shipment & add a new entry
  2. Next Sourcing (Marketing) user will assign it a unique code
  3. Store user will record the gross weight & send the raw material sample request to QC dept
  4. After QC analysis Process-HOD will mention storage tank number based on analysis result.
  5. Store user will record the empty weight of the shipment after transferring raw material to the storage tank.
  6. At last, security user will record the out time of the shipment.
  7. All this process made online & users can check the ongoing activities via status column. e.g. security user has created a new shipment entry, then status against that entry will start showing “Pending for Sourcing”. Which means Sourcing user will login & fill the details.
  • Addons :
  1. “Shift reports” created for all the departments (QC, EHS, Utility, Maintenance etc.)
  2. “Work Permit” created to record job notification for respective department e.g. Production department sending work permit to Maintenance department with description of job to perform with all the details like type of permit (general, height, vessel entry etc), isolation reference numbers etc.
  3. “Safety Alert” to record unsafe practices & unsafe conditions to avoid accidents.
  4. Both Work Permit & Safety Alerts are provided with open & close status. If the status shows open, that means activity is still ongoing. Once the activity is completed by respective department, they mention remark & after submitting this, status turns to closed. 
  5. “Messenger” for internal departmental communication purpose in which users can inform, convey messages to each other.
  6. “Training” to communicate all the users for the upcoming Training sessions.
  7. “Knowledge Management” to define, structure, retain and share the knowledge and experience of employees within an organization.
  8. Customized “Dashboard” for all the users to get a glimpse of all the important activities & information.