Success Story
Manufacturing Capacity Optimized for Increased Throughput and Delivery Performance
NXP Semiconductors, N.V. needed to build and enhance a suite of factory applications to increase efficiency throughout its manufacturing process.
Object Computing assisted NXP in building and enhancing two key applications using the Grails® framework, which supported the development speed and scale necessary to enable NXP to meet aggressive factory performance milestones and objectives.
In the manufacturing industry, management depends upon the accuracy and reliable functionality of factory information systems to minimize productivity loss caused by outages and slow performance.
Client
NXP Semiconductors, N.V., a Dutch global semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands with more than 60 years’ combined experience and expertise, 44,000 employees in more than 35 countries, and posted revenue of $9.5 billion in 2016
Objective
To increase efficiency, throughput, and delivery performance throughout the manufacturing process by upgrading a suite of critical factory applications
Challenge
NXP faced two key challenges:
- First, the company's factory information systems must be available and online at all times to support 24/7 manufacturing operations. NXP could not forfeit valuable operational time transitioning to a completely new system, and the upgrades had to be completed in a way that did not interfere with production.
- Second, due to the highly distributed nature of the manufacturing systems, the technology NXP selected to build the upgraded system had have the flexibility and power to support high transaction rates and low response times.
Solution
NXP’s manufacturing-application platform was already built with Java and the OCI-developed Grails framework, so when the company needed a partner to help upgrade its factory applications to optimize capacity utilization, OCI was an obvious choice.
Because Grails is based on the Java platform and integrates with mainstream technologies, like Groovy, Spring, Hibernate, and Gradle, NXP felt confident that its requirements would be met with minimal risk.
The Grails Framework
- Accelerates web application development
- Supports exponential scaling
- Maximizes “convention over configuration”
- Deploys well within existing, complex environments
- Provides necessary flexibility to develop plug-ins and to quickly resolve issues
Our Contribution
We supported NXP in creating and enhancing two Grails applications: CoPILOT and WIP Transport.
CoPilot
CoPILOT is used to manage production master data, including equipment efficiency, process flow, and process time data. Alongside other internal applications, CoPILOT enables NXP to optimize equipment performance to improve delivery and increase factory capacity.
WIP Transport
WIP Transport is used to request supply delivery from a central storage location. WIP Transport’s dashboard displays requests and material movement between multiple locations throughout a factory.
Our software engineers:
- Delivered both apps on time, preventing any delays in productivity
- Seamlessly merged the apps’ functionality with existing systems by using the latest Grails release, along with front-end technologies, including React and AngularJS.
- Updated NXP’s pre-existing Grails template with the latest key-enabler releases
- Built a comprehensive suite of regression test cases to sustain NXP’s applications for the long-term
With interoperable and extensible system components built with the Grails framework, NXP delivers high-quality, secure connections and infrastructure worldwide, advancing solutions that make lives easier, better, and safer.
The Object Computing Advantage
- Grails co-founders lead the Object Computing Grails team, along with subject matter experts from around the globe.
- Engaging the core Grails development team enables faster project upgrades, improving overall speed-to-market.
- Training programs are delivered by Grails team members, who are uniquely positioned to share first-hand experience with the framework and to provide customized, targeted training.
- Engaging the Object Computing team affords access to our network of open source technologists, enabling support for seamless integrations with all your projects.
