New SAS® Process Intelligence boosts quality, yield for manufacturers

Analytic solution delivers enterprise view of manufacturing process, speeding time-to-yield and time-to-problem resolution

LAS VEGAS, NV  (Oct. 06, 2003)  –  At the APICS 2003 International Conference & Exposition, SAS, the leader in business intelligence and analytics, today announced the immediate availability of SAS® Process Intelligence. A new analytic software solution that allows manufacturers to dramatically reduce the overall cost of quality, SAS Process Intelligence requires minimal customization and quickly delivers results. It incorporates the best quality improvement practices from SAS’ 27 years of experience working with leading manufacturers.

SAS Process Intelligence is unique in that it provides an enterprise view of the manufacturing process. It seamlessly accesses and integrates equipment, product and process data from manufacturing execution systems (MES), enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and other sources, across multiple plants and geographies. The SAS solution identifies relationships and correlations among manufacturing processes and operations that could contribute to special cause variations. This insight allows organizations to proactively implement strategies and tactics that simultaneously speed time-to-yield and problem resolution.

Companies in the semiconductor, high-technology and life sciences industries are among the initial targets for this solution. Like all SAS solutions for manufacturers, including SAS Supplier Relationship Management and SAS Warranty Analysis, the new offering goes beyond the traditionally accepted definition of business intelligence software. Query and reporting is important, serving as a rear-view mirror that provides historical insight into manufacturing operations. But only analytics, a core strength of SAS and a fundamental element of SAS Process Intelligence, helps customers make the proper forward-looking decisions that optimize quality, scrap and other manufacturing-related performance.

"As evidenced by our long-term customer base, market leadership and profitability, SAS clearly understands the business value of analytic intelligence," said Donna Fulenwider, director of process intelligence strategy at SAS. "By marrying this unique understanding with our ability to seamlessly integrate high-quality manufacturing data, SAS Process Intelligence delivers unparalled insight into the total manufacturing process. The result is a competitive weapon for manufacturers to quickly drive sustained process, product and service quality improvement."

About SAS® Process Intelligence

SAS Process Intelligence enables manufacturing and engineering process owners and managers to intelligently monitor performance, uncover key issues, perform investigational discovery, and collaborate within and between teams to promote learning. With SAS Process Intelligence, companies can:

• Speed time-to-yield, problem resolution and time-to-market.
• Reduce costs and waste.
• Realize the full benefit of factory automation and data collection.
• Improve process, product and service quality.

• The Information Store provides a unified view of process, product and equipment data. An integrated data environment manages all relevant data associated with the end-to-end manufacturing process. This accurate, real-time view replaces disparate spreadsheets and proprietary tools that carry their own assumptions and criteria.
• The Navigator is an easy-to-use interface that serves as the intermediary between end-users and the Information Store, brokering queries and responses. By eliminating their need to manipulate data, customers can instead focus on quickly retrieving information to address business needs.
• The Discoverer is a Web-accessible interface that makes it easy for regional or global organizations to analyze historical data. It provides methods to identify and quantify root causes of production problems to reveal deeper understandings so that corrective monitoring, control and improvement actions can be taken.
• The Agent operates as an early-warning system by continuously scanning time-based data and identifying potential issues before they affect quality. The Agent publishes alerts that can be shared with other plants and colleagues who may face the same issues.
• The Collaborative Space is where organizations share lessons learned. Analyses and reports generated by the Agent and Discoverer modules are published to this repository, allowing best practices to be shared throughout the organization.

SAS improves manufacturing efficiency and financial performance

Quality in manufacturing is just one of the three areas in which SAS helps manufacturers improve efficiency and financial performance. Based on the SAS Intelligence Architecture, which includes data access, warehousing, cleansing and mining, SAS offerings enable customers to generate intelligence from existing transactional supply chain management, MES and ERP systems. In addition to SAS Process Intelligence, these analytic solutions include SAS Supplier Relationship Management and SAS Warranty Analysis. For more information on the SAS solutions for manufacturing, visit http://www.sas.com/industry/mfg/index.html.

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