Using Tableau to Visualize Massive Data in Smart Factories

Praise for Intuitive Controls, Support, and Easy Rollout

So why was Tableau chosen from among the three products considered? Hironai gives three general reasons.

First is that Tableau’s controls are intuitive, and Prep can be used to flexibly link up to various data sources. “Since there is a high volume of data involved, we especially appreciated how easy it is to filter data. Drill down and other features can also be used more flexibly than with other BI products.”

Second, Tableau provides a robust amount of data and strong support structure. If users have any questions, he says, they can look up many of the answers on the internet. If they still can’t resolve the issue, they can contact Tableau Software, Inc. directly. To make further use of these advantages, the company also signed up for Premium Support in November 2021 when they achieved 500 Tableau users.

Third is just how easy it is to roll out. “I have been using Tableau since the summer of my first year with the company. Although I had no experience with the program, I was able to create a dashboard after about two weeks,” said Shiona Yaegashi, IT Promotion staff in the IT Promotion Department of KIOXIA Iwate. If the user has received some simple training in advance, she says, almost nothing in Tableau should be difficult, and using the software should be fun.

Faster Creation of Reference Materials and Quicker Decision-making

Using Tableau in smart factories has yielded the following benefits:

Reports Created in Less Time

“Although there was already a system in place for collecting data from manufacturing plants in real time, Excel was used to aggregate this data and create daily reports,” explains Hironai. He reflects on how this process wasted two to three hours every day. “Most of that work is now no longer needed. We have cut down the time spent on creating reports by 78%.”

Improving the Accuracy and Speed of Decision-making

There has been an improvement in the speed of decision-making when a problem occurs on-site. Previously, dozens of relevant personnel needed to come together based on the reference materials created, but now they can simply look at the dashboard, have a discussion, and make a decision without meeting. Moreover, since everyone is looking at the same data, discussions will be more precise and to the point. The amount of time required to address a given issue is somewhere between half and a third of what it was before, although this varies from case to case.

Cultivating a Data-driven Culture

Using Tableau on an everyday basis is also changing the mindset of personnel. “More personnel are beginning their days by checking the status of things on their dashboard before beginning their daily work,” Ando explains. He adds that personnel are also showing interest in dashboards outside the manufacturing department. Some members of the accounting department have begun using dashboards. “There has also been talk of using the tools in areas such as electrical power usage analysis. Moving forward, I hope we can spread this company culture to other companies in the Group.”

Capture a Wider Range of Data to Support the Independent Growth of Personnel

Although Tableau is currently used to visualize equipment data in factories, Shibayama says he would like to import more infrastructure data and data needed for decision-making at large plants such as chemical plants and similar facilities as reference material for management decisions. In the future, he adds, he would also like to conduct discussions with partners and other external companies based on this data in order to make external business decisions.

Meanwhile, he also says he expects Tableau to contribute greatly to creating an environment in which personnel can achieve independent growth. “There are many young staff at our company, but semiconductor manufacturing is a complex and difficult job in which many different matters are intertwined, making it difficult to master in a short period of time. Of course, we offer internal company training and the opportunity to be taught by more senior staff, but that will not be fast enough. However, with a system like Tableau, even staff who have yet to acquire the necessary skills have an easier time making proper decisions. I look forward to seeing this sort of system expanded further in the future.”