Sustainable packaging machines through Big Data and GRIPS.world

Big Data is the new currency – in the packaging industry as well as everywhere else. But storing machine data alone is not enough. If you really want to profit from sustainable packaging machines, you need a meaningful analysis of the important key figures and one-hundred-percent protection against attacks from the Internet. Schubert makes both possible: A GS.Gate is integrated into every new TLM line as an industrial gateway. This enables detailed evaluations of plant productivity to be called up. The results can be viewed either on the GRIPS.world customer platform or on the machine’s operating terminal. From this analysis, potentials and possibilities can then be derived as to how to improve the OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) ratio of the line and therefore its added value.

How had you been monitoring and analysing your machines until now?
Stefan Knoth:
Until now, we had used an OEE calculation program for our production meetings, which obtained part of its data from records from the machine operators on individual production lines. These records, however, do not consistently list the interruption times. This is because the elimination of a fault has priority over the documentation process for the machine operators – which results in certain inaccuracies in the documentation.

Why are you now using OEE evaluation with GRIPS.world?
Stefan Knoth:
Compared with our previous method, it is a real advantage that we now have a tool that automatically records the reasons for disruptions and downtimes. The weekly report provided by Schubert for this purpose provides an initial overview of the entire line’s performance. Detailed statements are possible with the program’s extensive analysis functions. Another highlight is the ECO dashboard for recording and evaluating power and compressed air consumption. This enables us to provide detailed data to our energy management system.

What were your requirements for the Schubert evaluation?
Stefan Knoth:
Shortly after the installation of the two new packaging machines, we approached Schubert’s system developers and expressed our wishes regarding the evaluation and presentation of the individual data. Together we succeeded in making it possible to evaluate the machine data by means of selection and filter functions – according to error messages, error classes or error status in number and/or duration. And this is done both layer- and article-related, in a graphic or tabular view.

What do you especially like about the solution?
Stefan Knoth:
A nice add-on is the possibility to export the processed data as a pdf file or into MS Excel and use it for further analysis. In the future, together with Schubert’s system development department, we intend to integrate further upstream and downstream machines into the system to process error messages from these systems as plain text in real time. As a result, we now have a powerful tool that provides us with excellent support in plant analysis and in increasing overall plant effectiveness.