September 30, 2009

A new generation Manufacturing System (MES) is unleashed

Portugal, September 30th, 2009 The right solution for Manufacturing Operations was released by Critical Manufacturing. cmNavigo  is the only known Rich Internet Manufacturing Solutions Application for the high-tech market of semiconductor, solar and electronics

Being a compelling interactive application, that serves all levels of manufacturing stake-holders:

  • Line personnel – with easy navigation and ergonomically designed for production operations;
  • Engineering staff – for complete monitoring of all manufacturing data, objects and areas;
  • and Management – to get full visibility into the production, with reports for the required level.

Having so many years of experience in the production and automation industry“, says Reiner Missale, CEO of Critical Manufacturing, ” we know in and out the pain-points of the industry, what the gaps of the available systems are and the best way to provide the right solution for the users“.

cmNavigo is a Next Generation Software for Manufacturing Operations Management, adding unique values to manufacturing business, with:

  • Advanced Semiconductor and Solar Modeling
  • Compelling User eXperience, through a unique rich Internet Graphical User Interface
  • Unprecedented Production Line visibility
  • Powerful object, interface and workflow extensibility
  • World Class Performance and Low Total Cost of Ownership
  • Seamless Integration with ERP and any other application
  • Flexible multi-site integration and migration capabilities

With no installation required, cmNavigo has a multi-threaded responsive web interface, is accessible from the production line, from the office, or from anywhere else in the world, allows changing the language in run-time and has interactive, customizable and shareable working areas, which include data-sets, actions, warnings, charts, images and video.   “cmNavigo goes beyond traditional Manufacturing Execution Systems. It encompasses a true integration and productivity framework, a Graphical User Interface extensible platform and an Analytics and Manufacturing Intelligence platform“, says Francisco Almada Lobo, COO and responsible for Product Development at Critical Manufacturing.

cmNavigo provides

  • Next generation User eXperience – all graphic interaction is based on Microsoft Silverlight 3.0 web technology, providing User eXperience beyond what these industries have seen.
  • Rich advanced modeling for semiconductor and solar, for complex process, products, resource and material models, allows full monitoring and control of the production line, and fast introduction of new products and flows.
  • A rich, fast modeling solution, with pre-built models for semiconductor frontend and backend, and solar wafering and cell manufacturing enables incredibly fast deployments.
  • Manufacturing visibility anywhere – all manufacturing data, reports, charts, etc., both actual and historical, @ the distance of a click.
  • Powerful configuration and extensibility – unique combination of Graphical User Interface extensibility, extension of existing or creation of new manufacturing objects and multi-level workflows.
  • Step-by-step migration – based on the powerful Critical Manufacturing Foundation, allows step-by-step, low risk migration from existing legacy solutions.”

Production processes in the High Tech industry require particularly comprehensive, flexible and reliable software” explains Reiner Missale. “All information on material, processes, resources, containers, extent of utilization etc., must be immediately available at any time; therefore flexible modeling solutions are required. This is exactly what’s provided by Critical Manufacturing’s cmNavigo.”

All available market solutions have their weaknesses“, stresses Henrique Pereira, VP of Services. “The consequence is the need for additional changes and constant add-on programming – a not insignificant cost driver for the concerned customers, who are continuously focused on continuously lowering the manufacturing costs.”

Additionally, cmNavigo introduces Rich Internet Application (RIA) graphical user interface, a breakthrough for industrial environments, enabling  full access to all rich-feature functions through a web browser“, says Francisco Almada Lobo. “This is extremely interesting even for smaller and middle enterprises as expensive purchase and complex installations of the software are unnecessary and can be offered as complete ‘software as a service’“.

cmNavigo has proven its value proposition already. In a pilot installation at one of the biggest solar cell manufacturers worldwide, the software was implemented and accepted within 3 months from project start, with excellent user satisfaction.

About Critical Manufacturing S.A.

Critical Manufacturing is part of the Critical Group, a private group of companies founded in 1998 to provide solutions for mission and business critical information systems, operating a CMMI Level 3 and ISO9001 Quality System.

Critical Manufacturing is based on an experienced services team coming from Critical Group, and established a product team of individuals with more than 10 years experience in high-tech manufacturing. The company comprises over 80 people, with its headquarters and main technical centre in Portugal and additional facilities in Germany and China.