Embedding Industry 4.0 For Major Global Manufacturers
Embedding Industry 4.0 For Major Global Manufacturers
By The Manufacturer
Mpac Group Plc and Siemens have used Industrial Edge, virtual simulation and digital collaboration tools to help major brands transform their manufacturing operations. In 2020, Mpac Group recognized that it needed to implement next-level digital technologies to meet changing customer needs, reduce time to market, and innovate for the future.
Mpac Group is a global machine builder that creates high-speed packaging and automation solutions across the clean energy, pharmaceutical, food and beverage and healthcare markets. Mpac’s customers include Mondelez, 3M, CooperVision, and Jonshon & Johnson. In analyzing future customer needs, Mpac is able to take the time to stop and analyze how they need to adapt to them.
According to Mpac Group Plc’s Innovation Director Mike Lewis at the Siemens event, when Industry 4.0 entered the dictionary, it became an industry buzzword. In response, he looked for ways to embed Industry 4.00 technologies into his factory. However, the challenge was that the digital landscape was noisy. To ensure this, he leveraged his potential by going back to basics.
Embedding leading-edge technologies into the solution will support Mpac’s efforts to deliver the best and innovative digital solutions to customers. In maximizing OEE, it can create transparency and reporting of critical data in today’s plant. That way, data can help maximize availability, offer scalability, and risk-free decision-making. In most manufacturing businesses, a significant amount of data lies dormant and unused. The industrial edge offers a faster and easier way for manufacturers to collect and analyze data. It is then flexibly integrated into existing automated systems.
Through the Industrial Edge, data is processed right where it is generated, whether on production machines, machine tools, processes, or plants. This means that users can make practical use of these insights for rapid optimization. Mpac Cube’s digital products use Industrial Edge to collect and correlate machine data, so Mpac can deliver critical insights on OEE and machine performance to its engineers and customers in seconds.
Risk, time, and energy can be reduced through simulation for automation. Every industry from movies to sports is already using CAD for better performance. However, perhaps no industry can benefit more from the potential of simulation technology than manufacturing. Whether at the machine, cell, line or plant level. Simulation is able to offer enormous efficiency and sustainability benefits to manufacturers.
By virtually simulating a machine or process, Mpac is able to reduce unknown risks. Eliminating risk also speeds up development. In projects where machines need to be developed quickly, simulation allows weeks to be removed from the manufacturing process, so customers get machines faster. Simulation also allows Mpac to reduce energy and waste as its teams can work together in a sandbox environment to prevent inefficiencies and excessive waste.
Producing more efficient machines is one thing, but working as efficiently as possible as a business is a real challenge in the post-pandemic hybrid world. Mpac needs to be able to produce efficient machines, regardless of the technician’s location or uptime. Through tools such as Siemens’ TIA Portal, multiple teams can work together simultaneously in a shared, centralized database through traceable changes and clear workflows. Today, Mpac is like never before. Mpac collaborates in one space, regardless of location or experience to create a single source of truth and cut engineering and commissioning time.
Source:
https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/embedding-industry-4-0-for-major-global-manufacturers/