HAMAMATSU PULSE Adopts Roland DG Assemble Solution to Transform Production for Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturers

07/01/2024　Corporate Activities, Digital Printing

Recently, Roland DG has identified SaaS (Software as a Service) business as a new growth area. As part of this initiative, we launched Roland DG Assemble, a cloud-based service aimed at improving production sites for small and medium-sized manufacturers in December 2023. We are currently offering it primarily to manufacturers in Hamamatsu. In this blog, we highlight the actual improvement effects achieved at HAMAMATSU PULSE Co., Ltd., an early adopter of our service.

What is Roland DG Assemble?

Leveraging over 20 years of experience and expertise from our proprietary Digital Yatai production system, Roland DG Assemble is a cloud-based production site improvement solution for small and medium-sized manufacturers. Users can utilize existing devices and networks, and it can be introduced with only a monthly fee.

Key features of Roland DG Assemble include:
Worker support: Reducing workloads through going paperless and incorporating IoT.
Administrator support: Visualizing production site conditions and issues in real-time.
Factory value improvement: Supporting high-mix, low-volume production and constantly changing product types and quantities.

The solution also offers “process design,” “work instructions and support,” and “visualization and analysis” functionalities, providing flexibility across various industries and business types. Additionally, it allows for gradual expansion, tailored to each user’s needs, and has been selected for the “IT Introduction Subsidy 2024,” making it more affordable.

News release on Roland DG Assemble

*Digital Yatai: Developed independently by Roland DG in 2000, this system supports the digitization and improvement of production sites, achieving benefits such as going paperless, incorporating IoT, reducing workloads, shortening lead times, and ensuring quality reliability.

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  Roland DG Assemble operation image

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  Roland DG Assemble management tool

Streamlining production management at HAMAMATSU PULSE

One of the companies that introduced Roland DG Assemble is HAMAMATSU PULSE Co., Ltd., a manufacturer that undertakes contract manufacturing from printed circuit board assembly to finished product assembly. We have built a long-term cooperative relationship with them. Last summer, they adopted Roland DG Assemble ahead of its sale to the general public, using it for their ink filling operations and providing valuable feedback.

We recently had the opportunity to visit the site where Roland DG Assemble was introduced. In the factory, where ink filling for large-format inkjet printers is performed, several workers are engaged in the filling operations. Each worker has a tablet device in front of them, displaying the type and amount of ink to be filled, as well as the work procedures. The workers operate the machines while following the instructions displayed on the screen.

According to a representative from HAMAMATSU PULSE, these work details were previously recorded on paper check sheets. They also manually weighed and recorded the filled amounts.

However, the variety of ink types and colors made paper management time-consuming and prone to errors. Additionally, from a production management perspective, data analysis was challenging.

With the introduction of Roland DG Assemble, the check sheets have been digitized, significantly reducing the management workload of filling out and tallying the sheets. This allows more time to be spent on considering improvements to production status and equipment.

Furthermore, by using the administrator dashboard in Roland DG Assemble to check production plans and progress, it is now possible to accurately track who performed which ink-filling operations and understand the work speed and progress of each operator, which can be utilized for future production planning.

Previously, managing data on paper required significant effort and time, making thorough analysis difficult. Roland DG Assemble makes it easy to visualize collected operation data in real-time through graphs to facilitate data analysis. This has helped staff accumulate analysis experience, develop their problem-solving skills, and seize opportunities for improvement.

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  Introducing Roland DG Assemble at the ink filling site

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  Previous extensive paper check sheets

Interview with HAMAMATSU PULSE Co., Ltd. on their adoption case (Japanese text only)

Supporting further growth in the manufacturing industry

For those of us at Roland DG who have primarily focused on our hardware-based business, offering Roland DG Assemble represents a new challenge. We plan to further update its features and strengthen tools capable of incorporating IoT. We also aim to establish a user community for future collaboration among manufacturers, sharing management, improvement strategies, and addressing the shortage of production technology personnel. Through these initiatives, we strive to provide better solutions.

We will continue to support the digitization and improvement activities of production sites for small and medium-sized manufacturers through Roland DG Assemble, pioneering the future of the manufacturing industry together.