How AI and Aluminium Join Forces Towards a Lower Carbon Future

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT More and more, throughout the time, we can hear urgent and important discussions being raised regarding climate change, global warming and sustainable development. Recently, Covid-19 has disrupted our lives and economies in an unprecedented way. Societies are now experiencing an immediate need to protect lives and livelihoods which heightens the urgency of following a strict and necessary climate agenda.  This has not come up as just a moral question but also as serious danger for the global ecosystems and economy if nothing is done and implemented systemically. With this urgency, artificial intelligence has been pointed out as an important and key tool to adopt responsible business practices. But not only that... When we envision a more sustainable and lower carbon future, we can think about different routes and possibilities to achieve these goals. One is investing in research and development and in the improvement of existing technologies like AI; the other is betting on using renewable energy in order to produce materials. But there is a third one called aluminium. 1_AI: Optimization For The Environment Artificial intelligence that is properly incorporated into the ecosystem can be the way towards a…

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Real-Time in Packaging: The 4 Main Advantages For Tube Manufacturers

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT If the idea of having pilots, air traffic controllers or managers relying on data collected hours ago is utterly scary to us. So, what makes us think that it is actually a viable solution to apply the same strategy to a tube manufacturing company? I know what you’re thinking… “such a dramatic example!”. Well, it is…. But it might be what is exactly needed to understand the importance of real-time data monitoring vs data collected on paper and excel spreadsheets. Tube manufacturing plants that don’t adopt real-time data are always one step behind of fixing their problems or even of finding out they have one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ3FZwdONic   This is what your tube manufacturing business can get with real-time data: 1_Better people management By monitoring the systems it is possible to obtain immediate information regarding the distribution of employees in the different sectors of the company. At the same time, updated information on their availability is also given. No doubt about it… this makes everything a lot easier when thinking about how to manage a team and how to optimize the work of employees towards higher collective income. 2_Identify business opportunities…

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The 8 Reasons Why Your Packaging Manufacturing Business Needs A Remote SaaS Service

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT If you are here, it is probably because you are interested in building your factory’s own production metrics system. When trying to get more insights from your factory’s data, one thinks about a software that can be the right arm in this task. In this specific blogpost we asked ourselves: among all possibilities, why should you opt for a SaaS service and why is remote not a threat to the quality of the service? A remote software company is not physically based and more than 80% of the work is done remotely, even if, at some point, local visits are needed. Compared to the traditional models, a SaaS works particularly well based on a remote service. It is a type of software distribution and sales in which the software supplier is responsible for all the necessary structures to make the system available (servers, connectivity, information security care) and the client uses the software via the Internet, paying a fee for the service. For this set of reasons, it is possible to create an ecosystem, ready to support your manufacturing business without a set of strict and complicated rules and needs…

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How To Hire a Remote Software Service for your Plastic Tube Manufacturing Business

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT It’s expected that at a certain moment of your plastic tube manufacturing business you will start wondering when is the right time to hire a remote service from a software company and how to do so. In one of the previous blog posts we had the chance to share with you an International Labour Organization study, in 2017, entitled: “Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work”. Long story short, this study shares very interesting data on how the model of remote work is influencing how companies are hiring professionals and project teams. Our goal with this post is to give useful information on how to proceed with the buying process of a software service, from the searching and finishing, including the project deployment in your plastic tube factory. A remote software company can be seen as a remote enterprise that offers a service beyond physical borders. Companies that follow this model do the majority of the work remotely with occasional local visits when needed. Now, we are ready to give you the list you will need to have with you: 1_Freelancers might not be the best long-term…

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How Lean 4.0 Can Help Leverage Efficiency On Your Shop Floor

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT Lean manufacturing or lean production is a methodology already accepted in the industrial context. It concerns a strict approach to the integration of humans in the manufacturing process through the continuous improvement and focus on activities that add value while eliminating waste. On the other hand, we already know about Industry 4.0 and how it has been emerging in the manufacturing sector. What we usually call 4.0 technologies allow the creation of smart networks of machines, products, components, individuals and ICT systems in the entire value chain to have an intelligent factory. What is the value of lean methodology for manufacturers? It helps manufacturers reduce operational complexity, eliminate waste and drive productivity improvements by empowering workers on the shop floor. The human element is a key principle of lean manufacturing because human analysis and flexibility produces the majority of the efficiency from these principles. When we think about the types of waste considered in this methodology we can find eight: transportation, inventory, motion, waiting time, overproduction, over processing, defects and unutilized talent.  We can look at Industry 4.0 as the technology enabler and for lean manufacturing as the cultural application…

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Covid-19 Pandemic Drives Manufacturers to adopt a Digital Transformation Strategy

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT A study done by SYSPRO, a global provider of ERP software, is telling us that the covid-19 pandemic is accelerating the need for digital transformation among manufacturers. The study is called “The Inflection Point for the Factory of the Future” and you can find the report here. The survey was completed by 144 respondents at different managerial levels across different regions: USA, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific region. It gives us an overview into how manufacturers and distributors handled the shift caused by the pandemic. These actors have seen, overtime, an increased need for collaboration, supply chain disruptions and emerging trends to keep up with. Sounds interesting! Some key finding that are particularly interesting to look at: 47% OF BUSINESSES WERE UNABLE TO FUNCTION DUE TO OPERATIONAL STAFF RELIANCE ON-PREMISE. This comes to show us how unprepared the industry professionals were for a scenario where most of the workforce would have to work remote. Well, a pandemic came, unannounced and not a lot could be done to prevent it. The global lockdowns saw the rise of remote workforce and 47% of the businesses were not ready... the…

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PackIOT Software Demo

Does your factory struggle with tons of paperwork or human errors on spreadsheets? Do you know your main downtime reasons or can you answer how is your production running right now? You can answer all of those question and even more with PackIOT. A plug-and-play software that helps you with real time data in your manufacturing industry. https://youtu.be/BK0kxRLfoH0 With our production analytics software, you can track your day by day production and easily compare it with your goal for the production order and monitor your trend line. You are able to compare how your production is running right now with your goals for that specific production order. Easily track your OEE, the changeovers you had in that period and your productivity on each shift. You can also keep track of all the production orders that are in progress at the moment. You can track planned or unplanned downtime reasons: by line, category, and machine. All informed by the operators on the shop floor. Those downtime inputs are very important to add context to the reasons that your machine isn’t working or your production line stopped. With our software you will have a high engagement of the operators…

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Company Culture: The Force Behind Digital Transformation

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT How does digital transformation really happen? “Digital Transformation” became a very big expression used across several industries and contexts to name the process through which the company adopts and implements digital solutions which offer benefits to its activity. In this blog post we want to dig deeper and explore the necessary steps to bring digital transformation forward in the manufacturing world. When researching to bring this blog post to life, it was very easy to notice the prevailing narrative around digital transformation as how digital transformation enables a cultural shift in the company. Interesting how often we talk about culture as consequence of a certain event but not as the force behind it. This approach might be missing some important aspects... Before we move further into the subject, we want to bring to light why we decided to talk about this. Some weeks ago, in a very normal day at PackIOT, during a meeting with a client something very important was said: “Culture first. Tool second.”. So important that we had to write about it. Guess what, no matter how amazing a digital tool is and the benefits that come…

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The Two Webinars On Transformation and Digitalization of The Packaging Industry You Can’t Miss

By Mariana Costa, Marketing Specialist at PackIOT Looking back at 2020, it was a year of new discoveries, challenges a lot of new trials and testing. In the midst of a global pandemic aligned with the uncertainty that comes with it, it feels daunting to try something never done before. Nevertheless, it felt right to take this time and try to connect different people from the industry for a higher purpose! It was time to elevate the bar, to try new ways of producing content, join different experts from around the globe and bring this directly to you. November and December of 2020 were busy months where we finally decided to go ahead and organize a series of webinars part of PackIOT Talks. This cycle was merely dedicated to debate the transformation and digitalization of the Packaging Industry. Joining different stakeholders from different countries and organizations, we wanted to try something new while bringing value to you and to everyone involved. And so it was! On the 24th of November 2020, we had our first ever webinar under the theme "Technology for Operational Efficiency in Packaging". The Packaging Industry has been at a crossroads with significant pressure…

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Niched x Generic Solution: Which One Fits Best Your Factory’s Digital Transformation Journey?

By Fernando Pacheco, COO at PackIOT Find the right solution that really fits your digital transformation maturity/moment is not an easy task. But being honest, it neither does have to be a nightmare. First of all, we’ve been saying this for so long: industry 4.0. innovation and digital transformation are not only about technology but also highly committed and related to the culture of a company. After overcoming this stage of the cultural challenge, you will be able to pick the right suppliers to help you solve your factory's pain points. But should you choose a niched solution or a generically one?  (no matter the service you are looking for). This is a simple question to answer. Always choose the company/technology that has experience in your sector. Most of the time, niched solutions are adapted to address your needs because they were created to solve those specific problems exactly, already familiar to you and your factory. #1 How to find out if a company is able to help your packaging factory? Check out their cases: does the company have experience in your sector? Do you know their clients? How are they positioning themselves in the market? Ask…

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