Fuji Photo Film

Manufacturing Execution Systems

Fuji Photo Film has a European production branch for films and photographic paper in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The company is vertically integrated and has an emulsion factory, a coating factory and various finishing factories.

At the P2 finishing plant, Ferranti CS achieved a large integration project between the ERP layer on top and 14 assembly machines (robots).

Ferranti Computer Systems developed a Process Control Unit (PCU), an application based on an Oracle database and Advanced Queuing which co-ordinates the entire shopfloor. Interfaces with several other computer systems are implemented: RQS, a Roll Quality System, a machine settings database, a WCU (Warehouse Control Unit), the SAP R/3 ERP system with accompanying planning packet and a statistical database.

The whole thing has been set up in in 3 tier architecture (Database Server, Application Server and Web interface) on Digital UNIX with a Win95-client for each of the 14 production machines. Interfacing to the PLCs from the machines themselves is even planned (Omron Sysnet and Omron Ethernet TCP-IP).

The project is striving for better control of the jobs on the floor as well as follow-up and tracking of all the production to production lots and client orders. The production control system forms a central co-ordinating function at the finishing plant.