People involved in production technology, production management, or manufacturing sites may often hear the term "4M" or "4M of production." Recently, 4M has evolved further and is now called "5M + 1E" or "6M." Here, we will explain these terms and look at their relationship with edge computing.
What are the "4Ms of Production"?
The 4Ms of production are the production resources or production factors required by a production system. They are the acronyms of Man, Machine, Material, and Method. There
are also ways of thinking of substituting Money for Method, or adding Information/Work Instructions to the 4Ms, making it 4M1I. The specific contents of each element are as follows:
- People: Workers, inspectors, and designers in a broad sense, all of whom are necessary for production.
- Equipment: Machine tools, inspection equipment, manufacturing equipment, and transport equipment required for production.
- Materials: Raw materials and power such as electricity required for production.
- Method: The processing method, handling, and other means required for production.
- Money: Money required for production activities, such as material costs, labor costs, utility costs, transportation costs, and management costs.
- Information/Work Instructions: Market trends, research results, or work instructions
If the work skills of "people" are low, the quality of the product and the manufacturing speed will decrease. Also, if the "equipment" is poor, the quality of the product and the manufacturing speed will also decrease. And if the quality of the "materials" is poor and the amount is not sufficient, the manufacturing quality will decrease and the production volume will decrease, and if the "method" is bad, the accuracy of the product will decrease and efficiency will decrease.
Also, in order to meet the planned manufacturing quality, it is necessary to carefully select the materials, prepare the equipment, and assign the appropriate workers. To do this, a certain amount of cost must be prepared. However, if the cost is too high, it will not be profitable. This is "money". And in order to carry out production activities in a timely manner in line with market trends, people involved in production in a broad sense, such as the design department, sales department, and production department, need to share the latest market trends. Also, it is necessary to give accurate instructions to the workers. This is "information and work instructions".
Therefore, in order to improve the manufacturing quality of the production system and increase efficiency, it is necessary to constantly analyze and manage the state of the production system from these perspectives.
Change management and change point management
There are change management and change point management in management using the 4M of production. Although the terms are a little confusing, change management refers to "predictable changes" in the process of operating a production system. On the other hand, change point management refers to "unpredictable changes" in the process of operating a production system.
Change management examples
"Predictable changes" include design changes, quality improvements through improvement activities, process changes, etc. For example, by analyzing a production system in advance from the perspective of the 4Ms of production, you can grasp the tendencies of the production system, such as "our quality is likely to improve through improvement activities" or "our products have a lot of design changes."
Specific examples of change point management
On the other hand, there are also "unpredictable changes." A typical example would be when a breakdown or product defect occurs. By introducing the 4M perspective and analyzing in this case, you will be able to identify the cause of the breakdown or product defect and deal with it. When a production line is starting up or nearing the end of its life, it becomes unstable and prone to malfunctions. However, by discovering malfunctions during such unstable times and identifying, analyzing, and recording the causes, it becomes possible to predict unknown troubles as production line habits. This will make it possible to handle it as change management, such as "That trouble won't occur under these conditions. Let's take action."
What is the 5M+1E of production?
The 5M+1E of production is a concept that has emerged in recent years, which adds measurement and environment to the 4M of production.
The reason why "measurement" was added is that originally, when aiming to improve the efficiency and quality of each process by feeding back the analysis of the 4M, inspection processes were often added at key points in the process. In addition, the quality required for products has become more advanced in recent years, so the importance of inspection processes has increased in recent years, which can be seen as a reason for the addition of measurement factors.
There is another meaning to the measurement factor, which is to attach sensors to key points of production equipment to measure and monitor their movements in order to maintain stable operation of the production line. This is an extension of the idea of constant monitoring, and edge computing is useful here. If constant monitoring is automated using edge computing, it is possible to reduce the burden on engineers and technicians and spend more time on more advanced judgments and decision-making.
The background to the addition of "environment" is that the impact of the production environment on quality has become more important in recent years. For example, the resin materials used in injection molding become soft when heated, and in that state, pressure is applied to perform injection molding, but as the functionality of resin materials has become more advanced, the range of temperatures at which they melt has become narrower. Also, in the exposure equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing, the length of the structural materials changes subtly depending on the temperature, which affects the precision of the final product. For these reasons, it can be said that the importance of managing the environment is increasing.
Furthermore, the environment of the workers who work there is also important. Until now, some factories did not have heating or cooling equipment, and the harsh environment of hot summers and cold winters had a significant psychological and physical impact on workers. This "environment" also leads to the quality of the final product.
What are the 6Ms of Production?
The 6M of production is the 5M+1E above, with the environment removed and management added, and this is also a term that has become popular in recent years. The background to this is the internationalization of production sites.
Whether produced overseas or domestically, manufacturing quality can decline and the rate of non-defective products can fall. This is why it is important to strengthen inspection and prevent defective products from being released onto the market. For this reason, the measurement factors in the 6M of production also mean that inspection is particularly important.
Let's use the 4Ms of production as a framework
Above, we have explained the 4M, 5M+1E, and 6M of production. When operating a production system, various problems will occur. However, if you analyze it from the perspective of the 4M, 5M+1E, and 6M of production, you will be able to clarify the problems and take quick action. This will ultimately help prevent quality decline and lead to improved efficiency.
