Energy Storage Manufacturer Scales Up Production with a Composable MES

A leading innovator in long-duration, industrial-grade energy storage solutions has been increasing its production of its iron flow battery technology to support global decarbonization and a sustainable future.

To meet rising demand for their flagship product, the team proactively sought ways to improve operations and maintain growth momentum. He recognized the need to upgrade their Manufacturing Execution System (MES) infrastructure for seamless scalability. With fast-changing variables, their existing MES made it difficult to accurately track genealogy. To achieve their growth goals, they needed a manufacturing system that could grow with them and help them maintain high quality and efficiency at scale.

The manufacturer selected Tulip to augment – and ultimately replace –their existing MES, due to its open design, rapid app development capabilities, and versatility beyond standard MES functions. To them, a composable, modular platform was crucial for their digital transformation strategy, ensuring their systems could adapt to evolving business needs.

By leveraging a composable platform like Tulip, the manufacturer strategically tackled manufacturing challenges one at a time. Their evolution began with enhancing their quality management system, then seamlessly transitioning to precise genealogy data management and machine monitoring. This phased approach allowed for targeted innovations that precisely addressed their operational requirements, driving digital transformation and establishing a strong foundation for efficient problem-solving.

Before Tulip, identifying defective parts was a disruptive and time-consuming process, requiring operators to walk over and manually consult SMEs– interrupting production flow. Now, Tulip streamlines operations by allowing operators to identify and set aside potentially defective parts. SMEs can then efficiently process these flagged parts, confirming issues and routing them for further analysis or rework.

This new process has dramatically improved response times for issues like misalignments, improperly sealed parts, and surface defects. More importantly, Tulip provides SMEs with real-time, contextualized defect data, enabling them to identify trends and prioritize continuous improvement initiatives proactively. The Tulip app provides relevant context, including lot numbers, error codes, and timestamps, allowing engineers to conduct thorough and efficient root cause analysis.

To improve traceability and streamline assembly processes, the manufacturer replaced their cumbersome, paper-based system with an efficient QR code scanning system for genealogy tracking, resulting in significant time savings and reduced errors.

In one critical part of their process, operators must verify that a component is properly sealed with a pressure test and meticulously record the results. Previously, engineers spent significant time deciphering hundreds of handwritten pressure test results, increasing the risk of errors and slowing down analysis. Now, the pressure test results are automatically recorded directly in Tulip and linked to a serialized QR code, providing instant access to the complete product history. This ensures that only approved parts move smoothly through the automated line, while rejected parts are immediately flagged and tracked, significantly streamlining operations and minimizing errors.

Furthermore, the Tulip apps are synchronized with their frontline operations and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to prevent production slowdowns caused by inadequate stock levels. Before an operator begins a new work order, the app communicates with the ERP system to confirm that sufficient inventory is available, proactively addressing potential bottlenecks.

The manufacturer leverages Tulip for real-time machine monitoring, providing supervisors with daily production insights and immediate alerts to minimize downtime and optimize production flow.

When a critical event occurs on the production line, an automation is triggered, instantly sending a message to a dedicated shared Microsoft Teams channel. This shared forum allows team members to respond quickly and collaboratively diagnose and resolve the issue. This proactive approach ensures that teams can address concerns within an impressive 20 minutes, significantly minimizing downtime and maximizing overall production efficiency. Supervisors can now maintain a close watch on their operations with real-time visibility into potential issues.

By implementing these targeted Tulip solutions, the manufacturer has achieved significant and measurable improvements in their manufacturing operations:

• Significant Reduction in Defect Resolution Time: Including faster identification, analysis, and root cause determination.

• Increased Operator Productivity: Streamlined defect identification and genealogy tracking frees up operator time for value-added tasks.

• Reduced Machine Downtime: Proactive alerts and rapid response times (within 20 minutes) minimize production interruptions.

The manufacturer is actively exploring additional applications of Tulip's versatile platform to further enhance their manufacturing operations and drive continuous improvement. Their ongoing efforts include automating more quality control processes, expanding their machine monitoring capabilities to cover more equipment, and developing advanced analytics for predictive maintenance, aiming to further optimize efficiency and reduce costs.

By embracing a composable approach to their Manufacturing Execution System with Tulip, this energy storage leader has positioned itself not only to meet the growing global demand for long-duration energy storage solutions but also to maintain the agility and efficiency needed to thrive in today's rapidly evolving energy sector.