A sales presentation for San Diego-based Tapestry Solutions Inc. often involves a trip to another corner of the country — to a Boeing Co. plant in the Pacific Northwest.
On the factory floor where Boeing (NYSE: BA) assembles its large passenger jets, prospective customers get a glimpse of how the Tapestry Solutions software works.
The software is middleware called ESI (short for Enterprise Sensor Integration). It collects data from a variety of sensors, tracks assets, automates workflows and offers managers better visibility into their supply chains. Boeing plans to use it as a stepping stone for introducing more internet-connected equipment to its factory floors.
None of the visitors to Boeing’s giant plant assemble aircraft, so it takes a little imagination for prospective clients to realize how the Tapestry middleware might help their particular factory processes. Over the course of a tour, the visitors’ faces change with realization. “The light bulb goes on,” said Todd Fields, a Tapestry representative who has made the trip to Boeing’s Everett, Wash., plant with prospective customers.
Boeing is the first company to implement the software, and Tapestry claims that Boeing has saved almost $100 million per year because of the efficiencies the software has introduced. Boeing now has the software in 50 plants and wants to put it in more.
It should be noted that Boeing owns Tapestry. The software started in 2013 as a two-year, in-house project to streamline Boeing’s factory processes. More recently, Tapestry Solutions adapted the product for a broader market. It announced its availability in November.
Tapestry is now going after Fortune 500 firms — including pharmaceutical makers, wireless companies and auto manufacturers — as well as government clients. “All have challenges knowing where their stuff is,” said Fields, whose title is senior director for marketing and operations.
So far it has no takers. Tapestry officials say they have patience, and that the sales process can take some time.
Geo-Fencing Feature
Though widely regarded as an aircraft manufacturer, Boeing is a giant supply chain management company, putting some $40 billion annually into that aspect of its business, said Michael Spencer, Tapestry’s vice president of global sales.
There is much to keep track of. One example that Spencer cited is rental equipment — and rental agreements. Sometimes a big company keeps equipment longer than promised and has to pay late fees.
The ESI middleware can take on other jobs. With a geo-fencing feature, it can track the progress of major parts as they cross the factory floor, or anticipate situations where people should be well clear of a dangerous activity. ESI might regulate lighting or temperature in certain parts of the factory. Boeing uses some “very expensive” epoxies and composite materials that must be stored at certain temperatures, Fields explained.
Then there is the issue of factories installing sensor systems from multiple vendors. “None of it is really designed to talk to each other,” Fields said.
Tapestry’s cloud-based ESI software does its job by fusing data from many sources, including optically scanned bar codes, radio-frequency ID tags (from a variety of manufacturers) and GPS-enabled Wi-Fi tags. Boeing, in its factories, uses ESI to integrate seven supply systems and five types of radio-frequency tags. (The middleware has been able to handle 1.5 billion to 2 billion tag reads per week, Tapestry added.)
A diagram of a sample installation shows the ESI middleware as a central collection point, taking data from eight groups of sensors and forwarding it all to eight disparate computer systems devoted to topics such as tooling, inventory, shipping, receiving and quality control. Data from the ESI system can also be shared with customers or forwarded to the manufacturer’s enterprise resource planning system. Companies use ERP systems to further streamline accounting and other business processes.
Sensor Agnostic
Tapestry’s sales team says its software is sensor agnostic, working with all. Competing software is often provided by hardware vendors — the people who make the RFID readers, for example — and therefore applies to just one type of sensor.
Tapestry Solutions was founded in 1998. Boeing acquired it in 2008 and followed it with a second San Diego software acquisition, Miro Technologies, in 2012. Tapestry Solutions also provides logistics help, mission planning, training and simulation to U.S. military clients and U.S. allies.
TAPESTRY SOLUTIONS INC.
CEO: Robin Wright
Revenue: Undisclosed
No. of employees: Tapestry Solutions has 850 employees in total
Investors: Tapestry Solutions is a non-fully integrated subsidiary of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA)
Headquarters: Kearny Mesa
Year founded: 1998
What makes the company innovative: Tapestry Solutions’ software, called ESI, collects factory sensor data to boost efficiency, cut costs and pave the way for more internet-connected machinery
