4.0 Industry, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Internet of Production (IoP)
How can KERN IoP help you enter the 4.0 Industry revolution?
If the objectives proposed in the 4.0 Industry philosophy are to be achieved, it is necessary to acquire, digitize and structure all the key data of a process.
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In the initial stages of the implementation of industrial monitoring processes it is important to obtain data on the number of parts (and where possible, number of quality approved parts). In the case of manufacturing processes, it is crucial to acquire real production hours (time of use of the spindle), from which assembly and configuration times, downtimes (errors, repairs, machine without production orders, etc.) can be calculated. Other data to collect could be the type of tooling used, wear, initial hours of use, type of failure at the end of its life-cycle, etc.
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The objective of collecting this data is to increase productivity, improve machine occupancy, minimize assembly times and downtimes, in addition to understanding the reason for any incident involving the machines. Its usefulness for planning maintenance is also very high, since the actual hours of operation of critical components can be determined.
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Finally, having a data history of the entire production chain allows to make much more realistic cost calculations and begin to model the behavior of the process, based on its input variables and enabling the prediction of possible effects on the manufactured parts.
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KERN IoP systems offer you the ability to deliver all this data to a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), reducing the amount of information that is manually collected and managed by the operators. KERN IoP helps companies to acquire a culture of data management, encouraging its members to appreciate the importance of preserving data for making future informed decisions.​
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Having the data at hand and gaining knowledge about the influence of the different production parameters on the final result, allows greater flexibility when making decisions in the event of an unexpected change.
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In this way, something radical happens in companies: the organization of each process, depending on its own conditions, eliminates the need for rigid and strict planning that also consumes time). Furthermore, the kind of purely routine work that has prevented many plant operators from using their analytical skills to solve problems now allows them to make decisions during the process because more and more the consequences of variations in different parameters. In this way, they are empowered to generate alternative solutions that make production more efficient, thus increasing the internal knowledge of the companies and, therefore, adding value to the production chain.
KERN by PM Tec has been partially funded and supported by: