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Looking to automate a products lifecycle from manufacture through sales and service, Datasweep Inc. announced today the next version of its flagship product.
Datasweep qualifies Advantage 5.0 as a Web-based integrated plant system, as the suite enables control of a number of processes in a products lifecycle, from manufacturing and quality assurance to supplier management, product return and repair.
Also, manufacturers are better able to meet regulatory demands and mitigate the risks with recalled products, according to Datasweep officials in San Jose, Calif.
Advantage 5.0 brings new Supplier Manager and Production Inventory Manager modules, as well as an enhanced analytics module and Manufacturing Dashboard.
The Dashboard provides real-time notification and alerts on performance indicators across lines and plants. The key is that a company can view synchronized information from plants that might be scattered around the globe.
The Advantage database architecture provides a historical repository of manufacturing and repair data, where it can be queried and sliced in a number of ways. Version 5.0 allows for a global “roll-up” of information from the plant and regional levels into one central repository, called the data mart.
The Supplier Manager module monitors the delivery record and quality of a particular supplier. Features include multivendor part cross-reference and sampling plans for inspections and auditing that can be tied to a supplier or specific part number.
The Production Inventory Manager module allows customers to track inventory on the production floor, which means companies can monitor inventory movement and check consumption from their central inventory systems.
Advantage 5.0 also connects corrective action reports and supplier corrective action reports to non-conformance requests. By tying these functionalities, the suite provides a closed-loop quality system compliant with most regulatory and quality systems in medical, telecom and other regulated industries, according to officials.
Likewise, Version 5.0 connects to a companys enterprise resource planning system to help track products.
“Once [parts] go the floor, the ERP system doesnt know whats going on. Our modules will keep track of products and all the parts that need to be on the floor,” said Vladimir Preysman, Datasweeps CEO.
While PLM (product lifecycle management) is a hotly contested space, Preysman said 5.0 is differentiated by virtue of where its product functionality begins.
“When SAP talks about PLM, theyre talking about product concept and stopping there. We dont deal with [product] design at all. We dont define the bill of material or what the product looks like. From concept to computer-Aided design–thats where we start.”
Advantage 5.0 will be available on March 31.