SPR Packaging Datalogic

The company manufactures packaging films on made to order or configure to order basis. Every order has a different set of requirements from the product characteristics perspective and hence requires machine’s settings to be adjusted accordingly. If the film quality does not meet the required standards, the degraded quality impacts customer delivery causes customer dissatisfaction and results in lower margins. The biggest challenge was to identify the real root cause and devise a remedy for that.

KHS develops and produces machines and equipment for filling and packaging in the drinks industry. Because drinks manufacturing, filling and packaging consist of a number of highly complex processes, the user-friendly and intuitive operation of equipment is increasingly gaining in significance. In order to design these processes as simple as possible for the user, KHS decided to introduce a uniform, transparent and standardized solution to the company. The HMI interface should meet the requirement for people with different qualifications and enable them to work on a standard platform.

The ReMASTER Compressed Air Monitoring system was installed in 2015. This system is capable of monitoring compressed air system parameters on a continuous basis and transferring that information to a cloud server which can be accessed by Atlas Container personnel, Industrial Diagnostics and Sparks Dynamics. This information was collected into a database which can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet or displayed graphically using Sparks Dynamics ViewMaster Software. The average annual compressed air electricity expense was estimated to be approximately $116,000. This is based on an incremental $/KWh electric rate of $.091 per KWh and an estimated compressed air energy consumption of 1,279,200 KWH. The implementation phase of Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) for the Compressed Air System included: • Identification and repair of compressed air leaks • Understanding of compressed air usage per manufacturing machine and installation of shut off valves when the machines are no longer in production mode • Identification of misapplications of compressed air to include blow offs, venturis, and cooling scenarios • Understand system pressure requirements and potential installation of point of use pressure regulation.

While digitization is increasing efficiency and significantly growing customer engagement, it also comes with several challenges, not least being the growing risk of cyberattacks.This led the company’s Australian, Pacific and Indonesian operations (CCEP API) to create a three-year roadmap for developing and implementing enhanced security measures. A key element of the plan has been to improve existing privileged access management processes and gain heightened oversight and control over the use of elevated credentials.

The extrusion and other machines at Mondi’s plant are large and complex, measuring up to 50 meters long and 15 meters high. Each machine is controlled by up to five programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which log temperature, pressure, velocity, and other performance parameters from the machine’s sensors. Each machine records 300–400 parameter values every minute, generating 7 gigabytes of data daily.Mondi faced several challenges in using this data for predictive maintenance. First, the plant personnel had limited experience with statistical analysis and machine learning. They needed to evaluate a variety of machine learning approaches to identify which produced the most accurate results for their data. They also needed to develop an application that presented the results clearly and immediately to machine operators. Lastly, they needed to package this application for continuous use in a production environment.

As the complexity of production machinery increases, so does the need for highly-trained specialists in each factory. This creates the following challenges:Higher personnel costs in every plantHarder to recruit experienced talent at each locationPersonnel turnover becomes more costlyLess experienced operators run the machines sub-optimally, impacting resource consumption and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).