Author: Reckers Mechatronics

The project was based on Industry 4.0.

The challenge is to make machine talkative so that it uses its best tools to facilitate us with its best performance for which it is designed off. Also to present the raw data in the manner where anyone ca select the desired inputs which are coming after several data filters created as per the requirement from the customer for a machine.

From the previous Client data (through SAP) which they are using to prepare recipes for the product to be developed on machine and to automate these recipes where machine itself speaks about its best possible tools in terms of DIE, MATERIALS, OPERATOR ETC. Industry 4.0 (IIoT) network is used.

The previous system was running manually where production and downtime or breakdown data is recorded manually for analysis of the product and the system.

To remove this hassle from the system where everything is on pen and paper and also to diminish human intervention into the system. A system has been developed by us which is compatible to their previous system. A system which can talk to the machines with the data given by client. A system which is so handy to use so that anyone can use it without any hassle.

During the first phase of this project we had integrated SAP data into our designed system.

Brief about the system designed by us

On each machine there is a separate data concentrator (Controller or PLC) which is recording Production and breakdown or downtime of machine. Production is recorded with the help of signals and feedback given by client.

For recording downtime or breakdown data a push button box is provided on each machine which contains push buttons with LED. These buttons are customizable as per the customer choice also these are the possible buttons for a machine to be in downtime or breakdown either because of System or Machine fault. For every fault an email and sms is generated by the system to the concern persons.All the data is logging into the SQL for optimization and analysis.

A led will glow till the machine is in breakdown and will off after the machine is in production.

Two parallel SCADA has been designed over which anyone from operator to manager level can view the machine performance.  A SAP SCADA communication interface has been developed where authorized persons can select the latest data if generated by SAP in CSV format.

All data has been shared in the CSV format after a certain time frame.

Performance Monitoring

There are different ways of performance monitoring; it can be of a machine or a line in a plant. One standard measure is measuring the OEE.

OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness, it can be calculated as:

OEE = Availability x Performance x Quality

Challenges Faced by Manufacturing Industries:

Here are few challenges faced by manufacturing industries during production in a Plant:

1. Different Information required by departments.
2. Small Units of Information which is to be gathered.
3. Manual Logging and Reporting.

 1. Different Information required by departments:

In a manufacturing Industry there is different information required by persons handling different departments. For instance: During production of a product in Industry, Plant Manager wants to know the new Order Capacity ; Operations department want to know how the process is going against the plan etc.

2. Small Units of Information to be gathered:

There is information available with each department and to take a decision it is required to gather all the relevant information

3. Manual Logging and Reporting:

Usually in manufacturing Industries, the information is collected from different departments in Log sheets form and then is compiled to form reports.

Flaws of Manual System:

1. The data is compiled and then reported. Thus, it is not Real Time data.
2. Data collection and reporting is tedious and time consuming, can be inaccurate.
3. Data can be manipulated.
4. Requires a lot of productive time.

Role of OEE with help of Rockwell Automation Software:

There is software called Factory Talk Metrics which is connected to the data sources in different sections of a plant. It picks up relevant data and then represents in the form of reports, which can be viewed in Real Time through web, i.e. online.

Thus, information can be provided to different stake holders for their analysis and thus timely decision.

BENEFITS of OEE:

Here are few benefits of OEE:

1. We can track the performance of earlier shifts too.
2. Multiple operations and multiple products can be produced on the same line.
3. We can get important insights on How to systematically improve manufacturing process.