Asystom’s Beverage Solution Use Case – Unexpected failure of critical equipment avoided
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Asystom use case Story - Beverage Production
Source from Asystom
About HoST
HoST, founded back in 1990, operates in the industrial automation market across Singapore and parts of South East Asia. HoST’s vision is to be a company that delivers customer-centric values to address evolving business needs. HoST has been mainly recognised as the sole authorised distributor of Allen-Bradley Company in Singapore. Over the years, HoST has not only established strong ties with its various business partners but have continued to build new and successful business relationships to provide its customers with the best-in-class solutions that are available in this competitive market. HoST ever-expanding portfolio of solutions makes up the three core pillars of its business, specifically in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Industrial Network and Security, as well as Carbon Footprint Reduction, which reflect HoST’s commitment to innovation and sustainable growth.
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AsystomPredict IN ACTION:
Asystom use case Story Terreal
Source from Asystom
About HoST
HoST, founded back in 1990, operates in the industrial automation market across Singapore and parts of South East Asia. HoST’s vision is to be a company that delivers customer-centric values to address evolving business needs. HoST has been mainly recognised as the sole authorised distributor of Allen-Bradley Company in Singapore. Over the years, HoST has not only established strong ties with its various business partners but have continued to build new and successful business relationships to provide its customers with the best-in-class solutions that are available in this competitive market. HoST ever-expanding portfolio of solutions makes up the three core pillars of its business, specifically in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Industrial Network and Security, as well as Carbon Footprint Reduction, which reflect HoST’s commitment to innovation and sustainable growth.
For more information, please visit www.host.sg or follow on LinkedIn and Facebook
Digital transformation: continuously optimizing manufacturing operations
The story of Rockwell Automation’s own Digital Transformation journey. Read how Rockwell Automation has pushed beyond the initial stages of digital transformation to reach a state of continuous improvement—so they can remain on the forefront of whatever comes next. How many manufacturers can say they’ve experienced more than a century of continued success? Rockwell Automation can. Established in 1903, what began as the world’s first motor control company has grown into a storied technology and manufacturing powerhouse. Through transformative events from the invention of the moving assembly line to the rise of industrial robotics, Rockwell Automation has always remained an industrial leader. Rockwell Automation has thrived for 117 years because they’ve stayed on the cutting edge for 117 years. Today, Rockwell Automation is building what’s next by applying that same mindset of innovation.
Digital Transformation at Rockwell Automation Case Study
Source from Rockwell Automation
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About HoST
HoST, founded back in 1990, operates in the industrial automation market across Singapore and parts of South East Asia. HoST’s vision is to be a company that delivers customer-centric values to address evolving business needs. HoST has been mainly recognised as the sole authorised distributor of Allen-Bradley Company in Singapore. Over the years, HoST has not only established strong ties with its various business partners but have continued to build new and successful business relationships to provide its customers with the best-in-class solutions that are available in this competitive market. HoST ever-expanding portfolio of solutions makes up the three core pillars of its business, specifically in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Industrial Network and Security, as well as Carbon Footprint Reduction, which reflect HoST’s commitment to innovation and sustainable growth.
For more information, please visit www.host.sg or follow on LinkedIn and Facebook
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About HoST
HoST, founded back in 1990, operates in the industrial automation market across Singapore and parts of South East Asia. HoST’s vision is to be a company that delivers customer-centric values to address evolving business needs. HoST has been mainly recognised as the sole authorised distributor of Allen-Bradley Company in Singapore. Over the years, HoST has not only established strong ties with its various business partners but have continued to build new and successful business relationships to provide its customers with the best-in-class solutions that are available in this competitive market. HoST ever-expanding portfolio of solutions makes up the three core pillars of its business, specifically in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Industrial Network and Security, as well as Carbon Footprint Reduction, which reflect HoST’s commitment to innovation and sustainable growth.
For more information, please visit www.host.sg or follow on LinkedIn and Facebook
Pharmaceutical company UPSA, adopts Asystom’s solution to enable predictive maintenance of its air handling units
Established in the Agen (France) region since its creation in 1935, the UPSA pharmaceutical laboratory has two production sites, which manufacture all 250 of its finished products sold throughout the world. UPSA has chosen to rely on Asystom to enable predictive maintenance of its air handling units (AHUs), within its powder manufacturing workshops. These AHUs are critical elements for the laboratory because they not only allow the workshops to be placed under overpressure in order to avoid any sanitary contamination, but also to dry the air, a necessity for powder and effervescent production units.
Limit the risks and additional costs associated with an unscheduled production shutdown
Founded in 1935 by Doctor Camille Bru, UPSA (for Union of Applied Scientific Pharmacology) is a pharmaceutical laboratory firmly anchored in the Agen region. Its 250 products, produced exclusively in the laboratory’s two French factories, allow it to ensure a presence not only in 100% of France’s pharmacies, but also internationally (UPSA realizes 48% of its turnover in exports).
The laboratory produces 15 boxes of drugs every second, with effervescence as its main trademark. But producing effervescents and powders requires having clean areas with dry air. The workshops must also be placed under overpressure, in order to avoid any risk of health contamination. To this end, the production sites are equipped with several air handling units, or AHUs.
“On our site, we have nearly 250 AHUs. Over the years, the probability of a failure occurring will increase … If the fan of an air handling unit breaks down, this not only results in an immediate shutdown of production, but also two additional days of shutdown, the time of its repair … It is estimated that each unplanned shutdown of production due to a breakdown costs us between 40,000 and 50,000 euros”, explains Jean-Pierre Bourroux, Infrastructure Maintenance Manager at UPSA, in charge of the project.
To limit these additional costs, the laboratory was looking to equip itself with a predictive maintenance solution, which would allow it to be able to closely monitor its machines and to anticipate possible breakdowns. The teams identified the solution proposed by the start-up Asystom, which caught their attention because it is the only wireless solution on the market. “It was this aspect that really appealed to us. Asystom multi-sensor beacons are installed inside the air handling units, attached to the fan motors. They communicate through a LoRa wireless network created by a gateway. So, with a single gateway, we can monitor multiple machines. There is no need for cables to connect one to the other, making installation easier and cheaper! », Adds Jean-Pierre Bourroux.
The Asystom solution was installed in part of a powder manufacturing workshop, at the end of 2019, during one of the technical shutdowns (traditionally scheduled between Christmas and New Year). This allowed UPSA to rigorously test what this type of technology can bring to the process and to monitor the infrastructure used in the clean room production chain. The complete solution was fully operational when production resumed in January.
A solution that quickly demonstrates its effectiveness
“Since installing the solution offered by Asystom, we can monitor continuously the condition of the fans of the equipped air handling units. If we realize that one of the fans is drifting, it is now possible for us to carry out
preventive maintenance operations during a scheduled technical shutdown: in short, we can now carry out a repair, so that the breakdown does not happen! », Specifies Mr. Bourroux.
At the end of May 2020, during an overview of the dashboards of the machines monitored by Asystom, the teams noted that an AHU had a balancing problem. This early information made it possible to plan an intervention during the next technical shutdown, in August, with the minimum impact on production.
“Personally, I see several advantages to using the solution developed by Asystom. On the one hand, it allows us to avoid the additional costs associated with an uncontrolled production shutdown and emergency repairs. But, beyond this significant financial aspect, I also see a real effect on the motivation of the teams: Asystom supports our technicians step by step and trains them to develop their skills in vibration analysis, in order to make them as autonomous as possible. During installation, Asystom teaches them how to position the beacons, how best to configure them to adapt their operation to the machine they supervise, etc. They are then trained in the use of the solution itself (setting of alerts and trigger rules, interpretation of analytical curves, etc.). They feel truly valued by this contribution of new technology as well as by this gaining of new skills, new know-how. Finally, there is clearly a de-stressing effect: we have better control of the installations, we can prevent breakdowns, which makes it possible to avoid emergency interventions, which are more prone to accidents» adds the Infrastructure Maintenance Manager.
Pierre Naccache, President and Founder of Asystom, adds: “The advantage of our technology is that it provides an immediate response to a need for remote and continuous machine monitoring, as well as a quick return on investment. But beyond this first step, we systematically observe that the monitoring of the general condition of a machine is not enough and that it is necessary to also have a detailed analysis, to be able to diagnose what are the precise elements of any malfunction. This is what Asystom enables from its remote viewing platform. “
A larger-scale deployment of the Asystom solution is already scheduled
This first test phase really convinced the laboratory teams. Whilst to date only one workshop is partially equipped with the Asystom solution, at the end of the year, during the next technical break a second will also be equipped. As part of the process, a program will be put in place which will equip all the critical dry air AHUs on the site: the necessary beacons have already been ordered.
Source : Asystom
Ensuring the perfect sample sizes with help from a Modbus® module
Samples are popular among most consumers: You can test a product before you commit to a purchase, or compare it with those offered by competing companies.
But have you ever thought of how manufacturers make samples – especially small, self-contained ones? It’s a process that requires as much precision as possible.
A major beauty and perfume manufacturer knew that accurate and precise measurements were key when it was considering upgrading its production machines. The manufacturer has production lines for its perfumes that have seven skids. Each skid has a mixer and two storage tanks. From the skid, the manufacturer would send product to the packaging machine. But after the transfer, pipe cleaning with alcohol was required – which was an extremely costly step in the long-term because this liquid needed treatment before drain away. In addition, only the new lines were connected to the batch system. The manufacturer also had older packaging machines that were ideal for smaller batches and sample packaging that needed to be supported.
The manufacturer contacted AP System, a system integrator based in Poland that handles project management, system integration, and design of automation systems. One of its main vertical markets is cosmetics. They sought to find a scale that could connect to their Rockwell Automation® ControlLogix® system, which utilized EtherNet/IP™. The scale would measure the weight of mobile tanks (identified with barcodes), which would support the older packaging machines creating smaller batches and samples and send the product to the warehouse.
The problem was that the EtherNet/IP-based scale was expensive and would not arrive for nine weeks. A scale from RADWAG was available at a much lower cost and had a three-week delivery time – but it utilized Modbus®.
AP System suggested to the manufacturer that they opt for the RADWAG scale and use a Modbus Serial module from ProSoft Technology to facilitate communications between the ControlLogix and the scale.
“The perfume manufacturer already had other solutions from ProSoft,” said Piotr Dużyja, a co-owner of AP System and member of the board. “Between their experience with ProSoft and our suggestion of the Modbus module, we agreed that this communication solution was the right fit for their application.”
Besides the communications aspect, ProSoft’s module helped the manufacturer add some flexibility to its process.
“The operator now has more freedom,” said Krzysztof Hajzyk, ProSoft Technology Regional Director-Sales & Marketing. “The system knows the tank size, so overfilling it is impossible. The operator can also choose how much product he wants to put in the tank. This is especially helpful in sample production, in which the end user is providing samples to sellers in small bottles without an atomizer. Our module is reading values from the scale. The benefits of this solution were monumental for the customer.”
The RADWAG scale was a great find for the end user: Not only was the cost difference considerable, the delivery time for the RADWAG scale was significantly shorter, helping the company gets its new system up and running much more quickly than would have been possible with the alternative scale. The fact that the company could connect the scale to its controller and ensure clear communications between the two components made this an easy decision.
Since the older production machines could be supported by this solution and were ideal for production of perfumes of varying size, they could still be utilized, even in an updated setup. This solution also allowed the operator more control over the process, freeing the company from any overfill issues and providing more flexibility during production.
Best of all for the consumer? Streamlined production of samples they’ll enjoy.
Source : ProSoft Technology
As the only Tier 1 supplier exclusively dedicated to cabin electronics, and with the broadest product portfolio in this segment, Visteon is in an unrivaled position to meet the needs of automobile manufacturers of smart digital cabins for electric and automatic vehicles. The company’s mission is to guarantee that drivers and passengers can interact easily, efficiently and safely with a vehicle’s sophisticated technology. To stay competitive in a fast-changing market, Visteon is constantly looking automate its workflow. For example, Visteon faced numerous challenges with its internal logistics as its employees manually transported raw materials from the warehouse to the production lines and returned with finished products. This undermined productivity, increased the risk of physical injuries and slowed transportation times.
To overcome these challenges, the company looked for an automated, traceable, autonomous, flexible and scalable solution that could work through three continuous shifts and could automatically link the warehouse area with the production. Moreover, Visteon needed a system that could support the personnel operating inside the facilities, since their work was negatively affected by the manual processes that resulted in long transportation times and physical risks associated with pushing heavy carts.
Significant time savings with autonomous navigation
Visteon decided to implement a fleet of seven MiR100 robots from Mobile Industrial Robots, the global market leader of AMRs. With these collaborative robots, Visteon aimed to improe and expand the autonomy of the company’s internal logistics, facilitatethe remote control of the mobile robots, while being able to trace the delivery of material and overall increase increase staff productivity.
Six of the mobile robots are now constantly on the move between the warehouse and production, while one robot automatically picks up and delivers electronic component reels to and from the SMT machines. Visteon can constently monitor the AMRs, which increases the efficiency of the internal material transportation.
“With the addition of innovative MiR technologies, we’ve improved the functioning and operability of the production plant by connecting our production and storage areas to transport our products and raw materials,” said Arturo Robledo Ulloa, plant manager, Visteon Reynosa. “In addition, these robots enable our workers to be more productive as they focus on tasks that provide greater value for the company.”
One MIR100 robot can deliver materials to three production lines singlehandedly, and and this automated and autonomous transportation has significantly increased the factory’s productivity. “All of our robots are working three shifts a day, so the robots have hugely increased our capacity,” Ulloa added.
User-friendly fleet management system supports traceability and simplification of processes
Visteon’s operational team is responsible for assembling and reviewing plant activity. They record the finished products and coordinate the transportation. The entire operation is coordinated from the monitoring center, tracking the mobile robots through the user-friendly management software, MiRFleet.
“The communication the robots use is very simple,” said Julián Méndez Guerrero, Automatization Engineer of Visteon. “With MiRFleet, we can keep accurate track of all the robots and their tasks from one command screen at all times. The robots can even communicate with each other to guarantee the most efficient delivery routes.”
Via MiRFleet, all robotic information is concentrated in a single system, which simplifies the internal transportation and the work with the robots. The real-time monitoring enables Visteon to keep track of their components and ensure on-time deliveries of the right materials from the warehouse to production.
Improved work environment thanks to collaborative and safe operation
At Visteon, the mobile robots are contributing to a better work environment by taking over the heavy lifting from the employees and saving them many steps – and wasted time – each day. The robots drive completely autonomously and avoid all obstacles on their routes, including people and other robots. The robots are therefore able to navigate in the same workspace as the employees. Fortunately, due to the tasks that the robots have taken over, Visteon’s employeess have come to see the robots as their colleagues.
MiR is an open source system that allows customers to develop solutions that are customized for their needs. Consequently, Visteon developed its own interface for the robots, one that allows employees to summon a robot with a single push on a button at the kiosk lines, making the robots especially easy to work with for the employees.
Want to see the MiR robots in action at your facility? Contact us now
Source: Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR )
When the City of Lima, Ohio was looking to upgrade a legacy system for their wastewater treatment plant, they invested in a Stratus solution that became an integral part of their system. Now the ftServer system runs 8 VMs for their plant with only 30% of usage and is the best, most cost-effective solution.
Source: Stratus Tecnologies
The multinational manufacturer of Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning products deploys a MiR200 in its Barcelona plant to deliver parts and materials to one of its newest production lines and pick up packaging materials for disposal.
The company’s manufacturing plant in Spain, located in the town of Vacarisses close to Barcelona, has been making air conditioning units for industrial and commercial use, as well as aerothermal products for homes, since 1993. The plant operates 12 assembly lines and various production areas for the manufacture of semi-finished products, and with an average of 400 employees, they produce 51,000 units a year with an estimated annual turnover of 116 million euros.
“Our aim is to always fulfil the requirements of our clients with maximum quality and flexibility by operating according to the standards of the internationally recognized and award-winning Johnson Controls Manufacturing System, and applying the concept of Lean in our production processes,” says Valle Jiménez, Assistant Manager in the Commercial and Production Planning Department at the plant.
Mobile robot technology used to achieve Lean processes
In accordance with this strategy, the team at the Vacarisses plant are constantly looking for opportunities to improve processes and achieve greater efficiencies, not least through automation and the use of robot technology, and in one area in particular, they have successfully created an application to automate the transport of materials from the supplies warehouse to one of the newest production lines in the factory.
For this they chose a MiR200™ as the central element of an internal transport application with a payload capacity sufficient for their needs and developed specifically for the purpose with the support of local distributors and systems integrators, Vicosystems. The application combines the mobile robot with travelling shelving units and carries materials and component parts automatically from the store to the production line, unloads them using a Karakuri system, picks up waste packaging through the same method and returns to the store.
Important savings in man hours
The MiR robot is in operation during a full 8 hour shift every day and the benefits of the system were immediately obvious from the moment it entered into operation. “The robot has travelled 750km in the last year and currently does up to 12km per shift, which in turn translates into a saving of 3 man hours a day when compared to a worker carrying out the same task with a trolley“, says Raúl Galan, Section Manager in the Production Engineering department of the plant. “It also allows us to maintain constant levels of stock of materials on the production line, and avoids the need for movement of forklifts up and down the aisles of the production area, thereby not only optimizing the line’s productivity but also making the factory floor a safer place for all”.
Flexible, easy to use, collaborative
The fact the that MiR robot is able to work in collaboration with the warehouse operator in the timely delivery of parts and materials to the line workers and is quick and easy to program with an intuitive and user-friendly interface combined with mapping technology were key factors in the decision to opt for the MiR200. “We were looking for a flexible solution which allows us to make quick changes to processes and layout in the plant, but one that doesn’t require modifying our installations as would be the case if we used an AGV with magnetic lines”, Raúl Galan adds. “The mapping technology used by MiR makes it especially adaptable and easy to reprogram whenever changes are made”.
“Workers in the plant greeted the MiR robot with a degree of curiosity the first couple of days, even though they are accustomed to seeing other types of vehicles like AGVs on the factory floor” says Oriol Morgado, technician in the Production Engineering department. “But they soon saw that it was a valuable tool for improving productivity and safety in the workplace. Programming the robot is not particularly complex and even operators with little or no knowledge of programming language are able to create and modify its configuration if necessary”.
“The cooperation and dialogue with Mobile Industrial Robots and their distributor Vicosystems was excellent, not only during the installation phase but also when it came to resolving a few small teething problems at the start and the implementation of the system for anchoring the robot to the shelving units using a servomotor with a spindle and PLC”, he adds.
More MiR robots to be deployed within the year
With an expected return on investment of less than two years, the experience so far has been so positive that Johnson Controls-Hitachi are already considering adding more MiR robots to their fleet. “We’ve identified several projects where we could deploy mobile robots in the plant, with our priority focused on the task of delivering raw materials to production lines and transporting finished products to the warehouse”, says Raul Galan. “We want to incorporate two more MiRs for such tasks within the next year and we are also studying the concept of a ‘follow me’ type solution for the picking process prior to final delivery to a defined point in the production line. Then as part of a second phase, we would like to apply mobile robots in conjunction with collaborative robot arms and artificial vision technology with the aim of automating processes that combine both transportation and assembly tasks”.
Want to see the MiR robots in action at your facility? Contact us now
Source: Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR )
