Industry
- Medical Device Contract Manufacturer
Technology Used
- Maple Systems IIOT Edge Gateway
- Mosquitto MQTT Broker
- Ignition by Inductive Automation
- Sepasoft OEE Module
Project Overview
The customer was operating a relatively new facility and was challenged to match production to an ever-increasing demand. The Covid pandemic sent business through the roof and the manufacturing company could not expand its footprint quickly enough to meet growing production targets.
Given the time-sensitive production needs during the pandemic, the manufacturer could not afford to lose any production time to accommodate implementing new equipment.
They required an industrial automation solution that could improve capacity and effectiveness, leveraging only their existing equipment.
Looking forward, the new UNS architecture will allow the company to modify its manufacturing footprint as it continues to grow or change, making it significantly easier to integrate new islands of automation and add new functionality into the existing system.
Pete Larochelle, VP of Sales for NeoMatrix
Challenge
The company’s manufacturing facility had "islands of automation," meaning its processes consisted of isolated automated systems and equipment that operated independently of each other. These “islands” performed specific tasks within the manufacturing process, but they did not effectively communicate or integrate with the broader manufacturing control systems.
This lack of integration resulted in several challenges and inefficiencies, mainly the inability to get a comprehensive view of the entire manufacturing process. Without integration and any remote data visualization, operators and managers could not monitor and control processes in real time, make decisions quickly or troubleshoot effectively. As a result of having to observe machines locally, identifying the source of issues and coordinating repairs was time-consuming and costly.
And in this particular case where the company was looking to expand its manufacturing processes to meet demand, the lack of integration also hindered efforts to accommodate changes or additions within the desired timeframe.
Another challenge was that the equipment was under warranty from the OEM and the customer was not allowed to modify the programming or network configuration of the automation systems.
Solution
NeoMatrix designed and implemented a Unified Namespace (UNS) architecture that created a scalable foundation that met the company’s immediate needs, as well as provided them with the ability to easily integrate additional projects and systems in the future.
Implementing a Maple Systems IIOT Edge Gateway allowed NeoMatrix to connect to the existing architecture (without making changes on the equipment side) and publish to an area MQTT broker in the UNS. This integration enables a holistic view of the manufacturing process and makes critical information accessible from a centralized interface for monitoring, analysis, and decision-making.
The addition of an OEE solution made it possible to analyze the performance of the company’s existing manufacturing process. This information provided actionable insights into where the company could optimize current lines to immediately increase production output.
Results
Looking forward, the new UNS architecture will allow the company to modify its manufacturing footprint as it continues to grow or change, making it significantly easier to integrate new islands of automation and add new functionality into the existing system.