Success Stories
Empowering MSA Safety with Data: Power BI and Power Platform for Enhanced Quality Control
Platform: Power Apps and Power BI
Simple BI's collaboration with MSA Safety Incorporated marked a groundbreaking shift in how the company manages its extensive global manufacturing operations. Utilizing the advanced capabilities of the Microsoft Power Platform, including custom-developed Power Apps and Power BI analytics, Simple BI significantly enhanced MSA’s data integration, operational efficiency, and productivity.
This strategic initiative led to considerable cost savings, remarkable gains in data management, streamlined processes, and improved decision-making across all levels of the organization.
Client Background: Who are MSA Safety?
Founded in the wake of a mining disaster in 1914, MSA Safety Incorporated has established itself as a leader in developing safety equipment crucial for high-risk environments. Serving diverse sectors such as oil and gas, military, construction, and mining, MSA's product suite includes advanced detection systems and protective gear designed to safeguard workers in critical situations.
With manufacturing sites distributed across major global regions including the Americas, Europe, and Asia, MSA is dedicated to upholding stringent safety standards, ensuring product reliability, and adhering to regulatory compliance across all production phases.
Challenges and Objectives
MSA's expansive global operation faced significant hurdles due to inconsistent data management practices and varied quality control protocols across its international plants. These challenges hindered the company's ability to perform cohesive quality assessments and made it difficult to implement uniform standards of operation.
MSA's global expansion and diverse operations introduced significant challenges, chiefly due to the heterogeneity of data handling and productivity measurement across its facilities.
Key objectives to resolve these issues included:
The objectives set to overcome these challenges were to:
Solutions Deployed with Power Apps and Power BI
Simple BI devised and implemented robust solutions tailored to meet MSA's complex needs:
A Power BI Datamart was constructed to serve as the single source of truth, integrating disparate data for unified quality management.
Two tiers of reporting were developed
- An executive dashboard that offered insights into overall production quality and performance across all lines and plants.
- Detailed factory-level reports that provided granular views of individual quality control tests, empowering local managers to conduct in-depth analyses and proactive quality management.
Development of mobile applications with Power Apps for direct data input on the production floor, enabling immediate data capture and validation.
Creation of dynamic, interactive dashboards in Power BI that provide comprehensive analytics on productivity, quality, and operational efficiency, accessible in real-time to both floor managers and executive leadership.
Implementation of a robust, scalable database environment in the Dataverse to support seamless integration of data across various sources, ensuring consistency and reliability.
Implementation Process
The project kicked off with an in-depth analysis of MSA’s existing operational processes to identify key data integration points. Simple BI then designed a customized data architecture in Microsoft Dataverse, facilitating the deployment of tailored Power Apps. These apps were rolled out across MSA's production lines globally, supported by training sessions to ensure user competency and buy-in.
Simultaneously, Power BI dashboards were developed and deployed, providing layers of analytics tailored to various user needs—from line managers needing real-time operational data to executives monitoring strategic KPIs.
Results Achieved
The integration of Simple BI solutions led to transformative outcomes for MSA:
Conclusion and Future Outlook
The successful partnership between MSA Safety and Simple BI is a testament to the transformative power of digital technologies in modern manufacturing. As we continue to innovate and expand our capabilities, Simple BI remains committed to empowering manufacturing giants like MSA with the tools to excel in a competitive global marketplace. The project not only showcases the robust functionality of the Power Platform but also sets a benchmark for similar enterprises aiming to harness the potential of digital transformation.
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