By Mario Ishikawa, CTO at PackIOT The IoT revolution is here and we cannot deny it. What is incredible for manufacturing is that with the IoT adoption on the shop floor, we saw the convergence of OT - Operational Technology with IT - Information Technology, creating the Industrial Internet of Things, or IIoT. It does not mean killing what is already out there, but bringing more connectivity and use cases for so much data that can be collected on a plant. But certainly, there is an overlap. If in the past the stack PLC + SCADA or dedicated gateway was basically the only option to collect data from the process, now there are many more possibilities. And when we are not talking about critical missions, it is certainly viable to think in a system on the cloud. One thing is when you need your operator to keep the process in control using an HMI. Another thing is when you want your manager to study past data to make better maintenance decisions for a packaging line. For that case, a cloud solution, presented as a SaaS (software as a service) offering can have several advantages: 1_Converting CapEx to…

I don't even think we should start this article by telling you the benefits of real-time data. The best approach is to begin by showing you what happens when you don't have it. A good way to explain this is to imagine a scenario where you're driving your car: not having real-time data is the same as looking through the rearview mirror while driving, without paying attention to the road. Can you imagine pilots, air traffic controllers, and airport managers relying only on data collected 12 hours ago? Or two weeks ago? They need to make decisions on real-time. It seems an exaggerated example (and it is), but it's just to make a point and warn you that your plant might be losing a lot of money if you keep on using data collected on paper and excel spreadsheets (which have become obsolete). Manufacturing plants that do not have real-time data are always one step behind of the resolution of any problem. Or worse, they are always one step behind of finding out they have a problem. Real-time data in the packaging industry (manufacturing) The evolution of technology makes changes happen at an ever-increasing speed and in…

OEE + Packaging Manufacturers + Challenges Every production manager is familiar with OEE (an abbreviation for the manufacturing metric Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and has tried to implement it in their factory. For a production manager, OEE is almost as important as his or her credit rate, body mass index or golf handicap. It carries the simplicity of being a single number and this is great. However, there are many traps to avoid when using this in your factory to know if you are doing it right or not. Below we would be outlining the most frequent mistakes packaging manufacturers make when using the “holy number”. 1. Comparing Apples To Bananas Since it is a single number, people tend to use it to compare different factories, as a method of comparing their efficiency. This is a dangerous game, for some reasons: Not all companies calculate OEE the same way. Actually, if you ask 10 production managers how they calculate OEE, you will get 11 different answers. Some exclude preventive maintenance from the availability calculations, others exclude holidays others don’t. Batch sizes and process inherent particularities can hugely affect OEE. Take for example a film extrusion line compared to cosmetic plastic…