On the shop floor, decision makers are often faced with the dilemma: Why does the equipment suddenly
stop? What is the real-time progress of critical processes? Where are the bottlenecks? The information gap
is like a fog, hindering efficiency improvement and accurate decision-making. Visualization of the factory is
the right tool to dispel this fog. It is not a far-fetched future technology, but a core practice to improve
manufacturing productivity.
What is a visual factory?
Simply put, Visual Factory is a management concept and system that uses intuitive visual elements (e.g., electronic
signage, information displays, indicators, charts, digital twins, etc.) to present key information on the production site
(e.g., equipment status, production progress, quality data, material flow, performance indicators, and abnormality
alarms) in real time and in a clear manner to the relevant personnel.
Its core objectives are:
Transparency: Eliminate information silos and make production status clear at a glance.
Real-time: Provide instant data to support rapid response and decision-making.
Visualize: Lower the barriers to understanding information so that people at all levels can get up to speed quickly.
Drive Action: Expose problems and guide employees to proactively identify and resolve anomalies.
How do I get started with Visual Factory?
Successful implementations don't happen overnight, and it's critical to follow a clear path:
Define goals and pain points: Don't visualize for the sake of visualization. Go deeper into the shop floor and identify
the most pressing bottlenecks (e.g., long equipment downtime, work-in-process backlogs, frequent quality issues,
inefficient communication). Set specific, measurable goals (e.g., reduce downtime by X%, improve OEE by X%).
Assess current status and data base: Sort through existing data sources (e.g. PLC, SCADA, MES, ERP, manual records).
Assess the accuracy, real-time and accessibility of the data. Identify which key performance indicators (KPIs) are critical
to goal achievement.
Design the visualization scheme: Design the display content, layout and format around the goals and core KPIs. Think:
Who needs to see it? (Operators, Team Leaders, Managers, Maintenance)
What information do they need? (real-time throughput, equipment status, quality defects, schedule attainment, safety alerts)
Where is the most effective place to display it? (Shop floor signage, control room screens, mobile terminals)
How to display the most intuitive? (Color coding, progress bar, trend chart, safety light system)
Pilot and validate on a small scale: Select a key area or value stream to pilot. Deploy simple visualization tools (e.g.
whiteboard + tiles, basic electronic signage). Collect feedback, validate results, and adjust and optimize the solution.
Technology Selection and Integration: Based on pilot experience and expansion requirements, select the appropriate
hardware and software platform (e.g. IoT data collection, visualization software, display terminals). Ensure integration
with existing systems (MES/ERP) to realize automatic data flow.
Standardization and Promotion: Develop standards for design, update and maintenance of visualization kanban. Gradually
promote the successful experience throughout the plant to cover more processes and areas.
Continuous Improvement and Cultural Integration: Incorporate visualization into daily management (e.g., pre-shift meetings,
performance reviews). Encourage employees to propose improvements based on visual information. Continuously optimize
the content and presentation to make it an engine for continuous improvement.
Visual Factory Implementation Case: Driving a Productivity Jump
Case: Improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) in an Auto Parts Factory
Transparency of Downtime Causes: See at a glance why equipment is down, and quickly pinpoint the main problem (e.g., a
specific tooling issue, a shortage of a certain type of material).
Rapid response: Team leaders and maintenance personnel can immediately go to the problem spot based on Kanban information.
Accountability: Operators are required to record the cause of downtime in a timely and accurate manner, promoting
accountability for the process.
Improvement Focus: Based on the data of high-frequency downtime causes, targeted improvement activities (e.g., optimizing
the mold change process SMED, strengthening the management of specific spare parts) were carried out.
Result: 25% improvement in OEE within 6 months, 40% reduction in equipment downtime, significant improvement in schedule
achievement.
Equipment status: running (green), down (red), faulty (flashing red), mold change (yellow).
Real-time categorization of downtime causes: Operators quickly record downtime causes (e.g., mold change, pending material,
fault code) through a simple interface.
Trend graph of current shift/day OEE and main components (time start rate, performance start rate, pass rate).
Comparison with planned output.
Pain points: Frequent unexplained equipment downtime, OEE is lower than the industry average for a long time, seriously
affecting capacity delivery.
Visualization solution: Install large electronic signage next to key equipment for real-time display:
Effectiveness:
Visualizing the Factory: Facilitating Seamless Communication
and Collaboration
Information visualization is the bridge that breaks down departmental barriers:
On the shop floor: Electronic signage allows operators, team leaders, technicians, and maintenance personnel to
share the same real-time information. Equipment status, production progress, quality anomalies, and material requirements
can be seen at a glance, eliminating the need to repeatedly ask or wait for reports. Shift handover is more efficient and
problems are more accurately communicated.
Management Level: Management Kanban (e.g., Safety Light System Summary, Production Performance Dashboard) allows
managers to quickly grasp the overall situation, identify abnormal trends, coordinate resources, and make decisions in a
timely manner. Cross-departmental meetings are based on the same real-time data, focusing on the essence of the problem.
Breaking the Silence: Visualization makes problems invisible, encourages employees to take the initiative to report
anomalies and participate in the discussion of solutions, and creates an open and collaborative problem-solving culture.
Visual Factory: The Invisible Driver of Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction starts with internal operational excellence:
Order Progress Transparency: Visualize the production progress of key customer orders (completion status of each process,
estimated completion time). Business or customer service personnel can proactively and accurately update customers,
manage expectations, and enhance trust.
Rapid Response to Changes: When customer demand or orders change, visualizing production plans and resource status
helps managers quickly assess the impact, adjust scheduling, and deliver feasible solutions to customers in the first instance.
Ensure Delivery Reliability: By monitoring production bottlenecks, quality issues, and equipment status in real time, the
visualization system helps factories more accurately predict and secure delivery dates, reduce the risk of delays, and improve
on-time delivery (OTD) rates.
Visualization of quality traceability: When customers give feedback on quality issues, the visualization of production batch
records, process parameters and quality inspection data can accelerate the positioning and root cause analysis of the
problem, and quickly respond to customer requests, demonstrating a professional and responsible attitude.
Conclusion
The visual factory is far more than a simple display of information; it is the core nerve center that drives manufacturing
companies toward efficiency, agility, and collaboration. By transforming invisible data streams into intuitive visual language,
it illuminates every corner of the production site and empowers teams with unprecedented insight and action. From
pinpointing equipment bottlenecks to compressing downtime, from breaking down communication barriers to cohesive
teamwork, and from making order progress transparent to winning customers' trust, the practical examples of visualized
factories clearly prove their great value in improving productivity, optimizing operations, and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Embracing visualization is not just deploying a few screens, but initiating a profound operational change. It transforms
data into action and information into wisdom, ultimately leading your factory to break through the efficiency ceiling and
win the first opportunity for sustainable development in the competitive market. Let every corner of the workshop “talk”,
let every step of the decision-making is clearly visible - this is exactly the visualization factory for the modern manufacturing
industry to depict the intelligent picture. Are you ready to start this journey?