Molding productivity with predictive maintenance, digitalization

Manufacturers in the plastics and rubber industry are facing increasing competition, higher raw material costs and tighter margins.

Fausto Belotti, global segment manager for rubber and plastics for ABB Motion, says that adopting digitalization can help manufacturers address those challenges through increased efficiency while also enhancing their sustainability.

A "very significant factor" compounding the challenge of increasing efficiency is the global footprint of many manufacturers, Belotti said.

The global aspect requires them to optimize production on multiple lines spanning different sites in different countries. Because they need to be close to demand points and sources of raw material, larger manufacturers may have, for instance, a presence in 35 countries with a number of individual plants in each country, he said. Each plant also has different production lines, so to enable proper resource planning, they need a robust platform that optimizes manufacturing processes and reduces costs.

The end goal for many of these companies is to create smarter process equipment through digitalization — machines that can self-diagnose, self-correct and communicate with overarching plant control systems, Belotti said. The benefits of networked machinery are clear: increased productivity.

The digitalization of manufacturing is transforming operations, processes and energy footprint of factories and the management of manufacturing supply chains, just as it is also changing how products are designed, fabricated, used and serviced, he said. An important value driver is the impact of the Internet of Things in facilitating predictive and preventive factory equipment maintenance, specifically via remote condition monitoring.

New cloud-based services make it easier to monitor conditions with minimal installation costs, he said. The cloud can track information from multiple machines and manage them with reduced potential for human and machine errors.

Belotti noted that smart sensors pick up data on the changing vibration patterns, temperature and other parameters, information that can be used to gain meaningful insights on the condition and performance of the equipment. The collected data is sent via the cloud for analysis, enabling users to identify inefficiencies within their system and to reduce risks related to operation and maintenance.

Remote monitoring tracks critical health and operating parameters in real time. This means users can identify issues before they become problems, so maintenance can be planned before a failure occurs, reducing downtime, he said. Predictive maintenance is especially important to prevent unplanned downtime of critical machinery that can lead to a ripple effect, where other equipment down the production line also malfunctions, causing further disruption. It is therefore advisable to identify all critical equipment and adopt appropriate monitoring systems, such as smart sensors. This also allows manufacturers to improve their production scheduling to provide greater flexibility to meet changing customer requirements such as smaller production runs.

Smart sensors can also uncover potential for energy savings by monitoring the energy consumption of motors. Adding variable speed drives (VSDs) to control high-efficiency motors will also increase energy savings. Traditionally, motors in factories run at full speed when they don't always need to, which wastes energy.

A VSD adjusts motors to meet a factory's actual needs. Belotti said the system can cut energy consumption by 20-60 percent.

The next step in digitalization, he said, is monitoring the condition of the entire powertrain. This provides a customizable, scalable approach that connects the various drives, motors, mounted bearings, pumps and gearing used in critical process equipment.

Each asset sends data to the cloud, Belotti said, which is then analyzed and presented in the form of simple, actionable information that can be viewed in a single unified portal. This information not only allows manufacturers to predict when maintenance is required, but it gives them a broad picture of the unique influence components have on one another. The solution allows them to improve the performance, reliability and efficiency of their powertrain components, which in turn improves system optimization. Engineers who are not specialized across all of the processes on large sites benefit, too, as they get a detailed understanding of their equipment.

It is not just a question of having the right technology. Any solution must also consider the effects on workers and put people first.

For digitalization to get a proper foothold, digital skills training needs to take place across the board, from blue-collar workers whose jobs will otherwise be automated to managers who need to become more data literate. Maintenance engineers, in particular, need to develop a broader set of skills. Another option is to create larger, more fluid teams than has traditionally been the case, combining a range of skill sets to provide flexibility.

Digital processes and rapid manufacturing are viable practices today that can produce high-quality, complex parts quickly and cost-effectively. This ultimately translates to more flexible and responsive supply chains, reduced waste and energy consumption for enhanced sustainability, and crucially, higher margins.

Cybersecurity in the IoT has become a growing concern as technology becomes more interconnected. In the case of industry, vulnerabilities are often due to the adaptation of legacy manufacturing equipment, but even new systems are at risk.

Belotti said ABB uses Microsoft Azure as a digital cloud partner to reduce that risk. To ensure data and equipment security for drives, the platform is protected by Azure security center policy-based access control linked to a customer's installed base of variable speed drives by a gateway. This gateway acts as the connector between the drives and the ABB platform and handles protocol conversion, data aggregation and multiple security layers.

The gateway, installed within a customer's network behind a firewall, establishes outbound connections to predefined servers only, and there is no direct access from the cloud to the drive control. This adapter uses either serial bus, optical fiber or local Ethernet networks.

Manufacturers, most notably those in the plastics and rubber industry, must make a concerted effort to move away from the traditional linear make-use-dispose model of creation and consumption towards a more circular economy, where one industry's waste becomes another's raw material, Belotti said.

Planned collaboration with suppliers and customers can keep products, components and materials in circulation, while new business models that rethink ownership can shift value along such a supply circle. Some companies are even pioneering new business models that enable them to retain ownership of the materials used in the products they sell.

While the transition to a circular economy may well create new business opportunities for manufacturers while closing the loop on their products, the business case extends well beyond the fabrication of new, high-value products. It also allows manufacturers to optimize their manufacturing processes, reduce resource consumption and gain better control over the entire product lifecycle.

Apart from a creative, strategic vision, realizing these benefits requires a robust digital technology foundation that allows a manufacturer to scale up new products and processes quickly and efficiently. Digital tools, such as smart sensors and digital powertrains, can be the catalyst for optimizing manufacturing and business processes to prepare for the circular economy. Furthermore, with machine learning tools, manufacturers can optimize the efficiency and quality of their manufacturing processes while minimizing waste and energy consumption.

The plastics and rubber industries must look at a complete transformation to fully benefit from ditialization, Belotti said.