An article in Asia Pacific Food Industry (APFI) online trade magazine for the food and beverage industry prepared by Schneider Electric makes the case for the digital factory..
June 19, 2018—Worximity Blog, by Deanna Radford
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies can be used to maximize understanding of asset operations and production without having to invest new capital. Creating a digital factory with IIoT technology can help improve operational efficiency, asset reliability and profitability.
Digital Factory—Avoid Idle Equipment
By using an advanced Manufacturing Execution System (MES), which “maintains order, effectiveness and quality in plant operations,” users can zero in on data analytics that identify lags within a production system. By digitizing the batch management processes for example, equipment-idle can be avoided and asset-use can be optimized.
Cloud Smart Factory solutions help with security standards, offline performance capabilities, centralized management viability. Total cost of ownership is low. Lightweight cloud solutions help with manual or semi-manual operations with a local site and needs minimal control. This is especially useful for factories in remote locations or geographies.
A hybrid approach to manufacturing that brings together on-site and cloud-based elements with advanced cloud-based applications in place can make an ideal combination.
Digitalizing Asset Management—Avoid costly failures
Digitizing the manufacturing process to create a digital factory using big data brings valuable insights and improves performance and reliability. Here's how the process, also known as Asset Performance Management (APM), works:
- A data historian (high-performance process database) gives detailed views into past & real-time issues.
- Condition-based monitoring (rules-based logic set by the user,) automatically triggers work orders.
- Predictive maintenance solutions help manage high-cost, mission-critical assets.
APM also allows users to plan and simulate maintenance strategies and imagine long-term outcomes.
Case in Point—New Belgium brewery
Digitalisation of factory processes allows companies to tap into existing assets more fully without having to make new capital investments. Upon digitalising operations using an MES, US craft brewer New Belgium decreased downtime by more than 50% and enabled the company to expand production from 150,000 cases per week to 200,000.
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Have you considered cloud-based solutions for your factory? Contact Worximity to book a demonstration now.
SOURCE: An article in Asia Pacific Food Industry (APFI) online trade magazine http://apfoodonline.com/industry/food-beverage-manufacturers-embrace-iiot-market-overview
