OEE, SPC, and Real-Time Dashboards for Greater Insight into Six Production Lines

Project Scope

• Tags: 6,000
• Screens: 30
• Clients: 15
• Alarms: 2,000
• Devices used: 10
• Architectures used: Central gateway in plant 1. A second edge gateway is used to gather tags in plant 2.
• Databases used: Microsoft SQL Server and database connection to ERP
• Historical data logged: Millions of rows

Project Overview

Gaining real-time and historical insight in the production process on any level is the key in this project. All of this is achieved by leveraging the options that Ignition delivers. Using standards in combination with the customization resulted in a state-of-the-art project.

Before starting with the project, AT-Automation (AT) identified the need for The Compound Company. This identification resulted in a single application that can be used throughout the full company. The solution mainly consists of four key elements:

• Real-time and historical insight into production.
• Insight into production data to identify pain points.
• Statistical analysis of the process parameters so deviations between setpoints and actual values are identified quickly.
• Mobile application so production information can be accessed from remote locations.

AT’s solution includes the above-mentioned key elements. It’s an Ignition application using Vision and Perspective. Functionality includes:

• Real-time insight — At any time, it’s clear for anyone in the organization what the status of the production lines is. The amount and type of information is customized for each user role. Via overview screens, detailed and summarized data can be viewed.
• Settingcards (recipe management) — Within the application, there is an option to define settingcards. A settingcard can be seen as a recipe for a specific product on a specific production line. As soon as an operator wants to start a new batch, he/she gains insights on the needed settingcard and is able to set the production line accordingly. Any additional comments filled in at the settingcard will also be visualized. As soon as a change on the settingcard is made, a new settingcard version is created. Due to the versioning, it can always be identified with what settings the product has been produced. If the actual setting deviates from the settingcard, this can be identified by the SPC functionality.
• OEE Downtime — The Overall Equipment Effectiveness gives the company the option to identify processes that can be improved. In addition, the effect of these improvements can easily be identified. Next to the standard OEE calculation, AT also included the total asset performance in order to give feedback on the performance for the planning department. By integrating all this information, the customer can focus on the correct matters.
• SPC analysis — By adding SPC analysis to the application, AT was able to provide a deeper insight into the gathered production data. All the eight Nelson rules can easily be activated on the production parameters. Via the standard alarming functions, the results can be seen. OCAPs can be connected to any of the created alarms which will help the operator to take the desired action.
• Quality Control — The production process is a real batch process where the quality coordinator should approve the first results of the batch before it can be processed any further. Previously this was not automated and needed many interactions before it was clear what the quality of the product was. Due to regulations, the quality check needs to be redone when the machine has downtime. These rechecks were easy to miss. With the quality control function, it’s clear for the operator and quality coordinator what the actual quality of the batch is at any moment. If an action is required, the quality coordinator can easily identify this action. Any modifications of quality later can easily be inserted.

It’s now possible for the customer to see data that is being generated by the production lines. All the production lines are easily visualized in one overview. The option to zoom in on data regarding one production line is also available to identify the smallest details. The OEE functionality generates options to analyze input from operators, quality coordinators, settingcards, and machines. It enables optimizations to be created and reviewed intensively. The SPC functionality generates additional insight into the process data. Changing settings can be done before the parameters run out of limits — and downtimes can be prevented. Ignition Perspective on mobile phones adds the ability to always monitor the production from anywhere.