Increasing efficiencies on manufacturing equipment availability and reducing downtimes.
Overview
Since 2017 a high-volume metal caps manufacturer has trusted its machinery efficiency control to SENSE4 IoT solution. Expensive machines run 24/7 at a high-speed production throughput, producing thousands of caps for metal cans per minute. Every unplanned stop, downtime, or idle state is measured with noninvasive sensors, is analyzed in real-time with a smart AI algorithm in a centralized IoT Gateway, and pushed to web-based interactive dashboards.
"According to Machine Metrics study, 80% of companies do not know how to calculate the inactivity timing cost correctly. Another study from ServiceMax shows that on average, companies lost 37% of the production time of their star product. This is one of the most frequent challenges for manufacturers' production control nowadays. Idle times represent thousands of dollars in losses annually and the control of them remains an unsolved problem across industries. "
Customer Challenge
In this case, the customer had poor, costly, and manual control over their machine's productive time. Despite the fact that most industrial machines come with their own sensors the integration of systems with multiple brands, models, and technologies implies a high cost of implementation. Standard solutions for this problem need to be programmed by highly specialized technicians with long and expensive setup procedures.
Solution
SENSE4 technology allowed to easily plug noninvasive sensors clamped to the power lines of each machine and train the system in less than 3 hours. It was applied to every machine type the client wanted to integrate. Overnight the customer started getting real-time data of the usability of their equipment in interactive web dashboards.
The system has become a key component for generating all the production equipment performance reports and central to the root cause analyses for continuous improvement. Not a single minute of idle time escapes without strict supervision and documentation, which enables them to set efficiency goals, reduce cost on machinery maintenance. The data plays a key role in determining if the purchase new equipment is necessary.
Our client is now able to get real-time data of the overall equipment efficiency (OEE) and the necessary indicators to track the quantatity of production vs. scrap. This allows them to compare themselves against international benchmarks of productivity without any hassle or inaccuracy.
Solution & Integrations
• 6 large machines monitored
• Web Platform for analytics
• Floor plant panel dashboards and alerts system
• Integration to third party High-Speed quality inspection cameras system
ROI facts sheet
1. Productivity
One machine produces 100 units per minute. $0,1 market value each. Down 10min equals $100 low in productivity.
2. Energy
Small 20hp conventional CNC machine rated at 7 kwatt hours; it would cost approximately $1,385 per month to power. Nearly $2 per hour. 10% less idle time equals $72 per month. Reference Link1 , link2
3. Depreciation
A machine cost of $200.000 depreciated at 10 years term and salvage value of $40.000. Financial cost per day down equals $44.
4. Lost sales
Machine shop service market cost per hour: $35-$120 Link
5. Others
Automated administrative reports
Typically, OEE, downtime and availability reports in manufacturing are:
• Inaccurate
• Not in real time
• Manually documented on production floor.
• Dashboard processed and prepared by expensive personnel - managers or supervisors
• Don’t point to root causes.
• Not useful for continues improvement.
Preventive maintenance based on real usage not on preset scheduling
Always less expensive than reactive maintenance.
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