Case 4: Paper Manufacturing
Large-Scale Performance Tracking & Integration
This client is a pioneer of labeling and packaging materials. Among multiple items, they manufacture different dimension paper rolls for packaging and labeling. They needed to integrate their 11 manufacturing plants that produce this product into one.
Old Processes & Issues They Faced
Manual performance tracking was cumbersome in a company stretched across 11 manufacturing plants. Our focus was bringing the systems together, and being able to both automate processes and track data throughout.
The company is a pioneer of labeling and packaging materials. They have a large line-up of different products, manufacturing different dimension paper rolls for packaging and labeling. They needed to integrate their 11 manufacturing plants that produce this product into one.
A wider roll, called “bulk roll,” is used as the raw material for production. This roll is cut into multiple smaller rolls called “slit rolls.” Work Orders are lined up in ERP, for shift-wise execution based on their priorities. One work order may contain slit rolls of multiple widths. To reduce material waste – multiple work orders are grouped to consume the entire bulk roll. Produced material, in the form of slit rolls, is assigned a unique number for tracking and moved to the designated location for packaging and shipping.
In their current process, performance tracking of individual machines from a single location was cumbersome. Parameters such as individual machine runtime, downtime, the reason for downtime, length of individually-produced rolls, etc. was not present or able to be tracked – leading to disorganization and a low efficiency in production and quality.
Facto-Tools We Implemented
Main Issues Addressed.
01. Efficient Tracking: In their current process, performance tracking of individual machines from a single location was cumbersome. Parameters such as individual machine runtime, downtime, the reason for downtime, length of individually-produced rolls, scraps from both raw and produced material, etc. were not being captured efficiently
02. Real-Time Monitoring: An MES application was designed & developed using Ignition for real-time production monitoring. Ignition was used as the SCADA to take care of all the above requirements and work in sync with the individual, real-time production processes.
03. Manual Processes: Through our Facto-Tools, we were able to completely shift the company to a paperless environment, increasing efficiency and ease of use throughout the facilities.
Primary Features of Our Solution.
A legacy system was already in place, but it was not efficient enough to meet the requirements. A lot of manual effort was needed to maintain constant output. Also, machine data was supposed to be captured in real-time to have correct production charts, but produced materials were too numerous to use bar codes.
Ignition was used as the SCADA to take care of all the above requirements and work in sync with the individual, real-time production processes. An MES application was designed and developed using Ignition for real-time production monitoring. All 11 locations were integrated using a single server. The handshake with the ERP was done efficiently and the client was very impressed with the integration and performance of the system.
A Data-Driven Solution to Impact their Bottom Line.
Ignition was used as the SCADA to take care of all the above requirements and work in sync with the individual, real-time production processes. An MES application was designed & developed using Ignition for real-time production monitoring.
OpteBiz achieved a 2% reduction in downtime, 10% improvement in processing throughput, and helped the client achieve a paperless environment, which results in large cost savings.
Improvement in processing throughout the facilities.
Reduction in total Downtime.
The Optebiz Advantage.
Our expert team of consultants and proprietary tools enable your business to collect and analyze current and historical data. Our FactoTools break this data down, providing key insights of your business. Whether it’s on a small scale, or dealing with big-data on a multi-plant scale, we digest the data and present it through intuitive dashboards and reports built for you – giving you an in-depth oversight of your operations.
Our solutions are flexible – we can design web based or mobile solutions to fit your needs – giving you access anytime, anywhere.
A Trusted, Reliable Partner to Support Ops
Optebiz is an ISA-95 certified company for enterprise automation. We are also a preferred partner of Inductive Automation for consulting and implementation of Ignition based solutions across diverse manufacturing industries. With a comprehensive implementation and support experience of over 20 years, we build customized, reliable solutions for all of your MES tracking and reporting needs.
We’re here for you every step of the way. Contact us to get started!