Buhler Group

At the start of the pandemic, the overwhelming priority was to safeguard and stabilize operations, liquidity, people, supply chains and markets. Now, companies are thinking strategically about how they can adapt as the pandemic and markets evolve, and interest in automation continues to increase. From large manufacturing plants that are run almost entirely by robots to smaller forms of automation in the quest to lower costs, increase production, and reduce response times, automation is improving key production processes and changing manufacturing as we know it. But not all manufacturing lends itself toward a “dark factory,”a fully automated production without direct human intervention. Now more than ever is a great opportunity to leverage IoT connectivity. The manufacturer has long focused on lean manufacturing, to minimize waste and maximize productivity. By partnering with a solutions provider to digitizing these practices in a cloud-based partnership, the manufacturer can unlock a higher level of productivity.

The Digital Relationship Brings Value

The goal of any solution partner should be to provide the most advanced manufacturing solutions and engage in a connected partnership that will sustain optimized operations. We achieve this partnership through a digital connectivity, the back-and-forth flow of information analytics between manufacturer and solutions provider. Both can see a dashboard that centralizes and synthesizes data in real time for meaningful insights. This connectivity serves as a platform for proactive customer service, shared actionable insight, on premise process optimization, and powerful data analytics, all with the intent to improve efficiency, increase yield and improve product quality. And people are the secret ingredient to making this connection work. If we use the data to connect people, true action can take place. Digitalization allows us to do this at the frequency required to reach an operational level of communication. Regardless of the manufacturing industry, this connection can drive competitive strategy, culture, and organizational design.

The opportunity to continuously ask a question, based on data, keeps the plant striving toward efficiency

Achieves Better Asset Utilization

Every piece of equipment on a plant floor contributes to the effectiveness of the plant’s total production. Each and every moment a machine is not working, planned or unplanned, negatively impacts the plant’s overall effectiveness.  In the thermal processing industry, for instance, IoT capacity metrics will demonstrate how much a dryer is down due to maintenance, and these insights may offer the opportunities to make new business decisions. If a dryer is down 60 percent of time, there is 40 percent more capacity available for running more product, or selling more contracts. Data gained from IoT can help the plant manager have a better view of the entire production for better asset utilization.

Manages the Human Element More Effectively

Thermal processing for industrial products like rubber and charcoal briquettes, or products like petfood and breakfast cereal, that need to be shelf stable, require controlled drying parameters to remove the precise amount of moisture. However, one processing deviation can dramatically affect batch specifications, requiring an operator to over dry, just to compensate. This can mean reduced yield as well as compromised product. Therefore, when a dryer operator is asked to get as close to the target moisture point as possible, there is a natural tendency to over dry. When pet food, for example, is overdried, too much water is evaporated which has to be replaced with raw ingredients. Access to full time, real-time monitoring with hardware, software, and ongoing process expertise, combined with technical support, enables the operator to consistently reach the desired moisture target and do it with confidence. As the inline moisture sensor takes a reading, an algorithm written to control the dryer can control temperature setting to consistently achieve the desired output. This digital relationship gives the operator confidence that systems are calibrated and that processing is efficient.

Verifies Processing Parameters

In the food industry, there is an important need to control pathogens like Salmonella and Listeria, and to validate that a thermal process is delivering the desired kill step according todefined parameters, such asretention time, product temperature, process air temperature, air velocity, product moisture content and process air humidity. IoT connectivity, with sensors correlated to a known validation, can monitor critical processing parameters in real time so that you never have to wonder if you are producing a safe product. Should a process interruption occur, an IoT-connected tool in cloud-based management services can send the operator a warning. This might happen because of a change in temperature, moisture or time retention. Or, perhaps a burner goes out. An alert gives the operator an opportunity to do something about it, to have the product closely checked or keep it from being shipped. For food processing applications, this can ensure food safety. It can also save product that would potentially have to be discarded.

Discovers Hidden Opportunities to Improve Efficiencies

IoT enables you to ask a question that you did not know needed to be asked. With continuous online access to expertise and data on the cloud, a solutions provider can see and interpret processing data. Service records can be viewed and data interpreted on a time stamped basis, which allows the processor to see the big picture, to take action based on history. Here is an example. If a plant manager notices a production line was energized two hours out of an eight-hour shift, he can ask what happened. Perhaps some adjustments are made to reduce that time. Then the next day, it is clear there was only one hour of energized time showing. The plant manager can acknowledge the energized reduction, but also ask what was done differently. The opportunity to continuously ask a question, based on data, keeps the plant striving toward efficiency.

Connects Data with People, WhichImproves Performances

IoT is a tool that when leveraged correctly, will engage people across multiple platforms and connect them to valued partners. IoT can drive competitive insights based on facts, to better integrate an organizational structure and its capabilities. It can create trusted, human connected solutions that improve businesses and customer experiences. It can also leverage partnerships and breaks down barriers between people, to bring full employee engagement to quickly solve problems.

The PartnerNever Goes Away

Look for the digital relationship that can offer you the most contact points, the most intimacy, and the most shared information in the production process. In the initial period, a service will be discovered and shaped, to find ways to become more sustainable in the processes you already know. These won’t be new solutions, but they will offer a more consistent way to execute them in real-time. When you find a partner who will always be there, you will find extraordinary value.