eMRB is a groundbreaking solution for the creation of MRBs. It provides a scalable solution for collecting and collating all required data and documents for the manufacture of an individual product, enabling complete product lifecycle management and resource management.
Key features are:
- Automation: eMRB will automatically produce electronic MRBs conforming to a user specified structure and file format containing all the relevant manufacturing, testing, logistics and supply chain data for a product uploaded into the central database.
- MRB quality and validation: eMRB results in an increase in the quality of the generated MRB by automating the extraction and import of as much data as possible from the individual documents into a single database, avoiding data entry errors and providing automated consistency checks and validation.
- Flexibility: eMRB can be used to create other user specified documents (i.e. test summaries, process summaries or even MRBs for sub-systems of larger products).
- Delegation and workflow streamlining: the eMRB software architecture implements ‘user accounts’ that allows the end user organisation to specify which of its personnel and authorised supply chain partners can upload documents.
- Complete Life Cycle MRBs: eMRB allows revised MRBs to be quickly generated once the appropriate new documentation (revised blueprints, test reports etc.) has been uploaded.
- Ease of use and configuration: the eMRB software solution is accessed via a web browser.
- Standardised and custom MRB structures: eMRB can transform such documents to a common generic template configured to the end users preferred layout/structure and allows them to specify the layout of the MRB (to that required by the customer).
- Integration with other systems: eMRB can be configured to operate with end users’ existing IT systems/ ‘back end systems’ such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems enabling the automated import of documents from them.
- Security and reliability: eMRB is provided as Software as a Service (SaaS). It can be hosted on an organisation’s own IT system or on CodeIT’s private cloud system.
eMRB is unique in its ability to enable industrial manufacturers to automate the production of electronic MRBs specifically tailored to the requirements of their customers and compliant with all relevant national and inter-national legislation and regulations. The economic benefits for each potential user of eMRB will be dependent on their specif-ic size, type and volume of product(s) they produce. It will reduce the resources needed to create and manage MRBs and reduce the number of errors, significantly reducing the need for paper-based archive store, makes documentation a fully-fledged part of the product and prevent delaying of delivery or billing. As indicator of the economic benefits, as part of our Feasibility Study, one potential end user, Bestra AS (a supplier of equipment to the offshore and marine sectors), eMRB has resulted in cost savings of 60%, freeing up highly educated specialist personnel to work on more demanding, non-administration activities. It also significantly reduces ‘industrial tourism’ – the need for technical staff to be onsite to control, document and evaluate production. Hence there will be savings to both the end user and customer in terms of reduced travel-ling and personnel time costs.
