By Mark Ruberg, Vice President, Pro Mach Business Process

Transcription

1 ProTech by Pro Mach is a cloud based Asset Management Tool that Drives Packaging Line Productivity Globally through a Suite of Remote Solution Applications By Mark Ruberg, Vice President, Pro Mach Business Process ProTech s remote solutions technology provides remote monitoring and remote service capabilities from all Pro Mach brands ProTech by Pro Mach is a new suite of remote solutions available from all of the more than 20 Pro Mach brands. ProTech provides packaging operations with secure remote machine monitoring for overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) reporting, remote service and tech support, and customized condition monitoring. ProTech s Downtime Tracking app sends alerts and Pareto reports that facilitate documented OEE productivity increases and continuous improvement. ProTech enables small, medium, and large organizations to maximize uptime and throughput. This ensures that capital investments in Pro Mach branded solutions are optimized over the service life of the packaging machine and/or complete integrated packaging line. 1

2 The security and redundancy engineered into the ProTech cloud-based solution is comparable to that used by the world s leading financial institutions. Building on this secure foundation, Pro Mach engineers created a smart services infrastructure that is optimized for the packaging industry, both with individual machines and integrated lines. ProTech is only available from Pro Mach brands but is capable of connecting to other machines to allow customers to maximize productivity of their entire facility. Remote monitoring for higher machine uptime Sensors, servos, motors, drives, pneumatic valves, actuators, and other components feature a level of embedded microprocessor intelligence that was only speculated about a few short years ago. The amount of operational data within these components is immense. While some of the world s largest consumer brands companies have the wherewithal to develop data gathering and analytics initiatives to take advantage of this massive amount of data, most organizations, especially today with smaller support teams, simply do not have the resources for comparable development. ProTech brings a world-class remote solutions suite availability to companies of all sizes. ProTech utilizes secure point-to-point internet connectivity to deliver component and system data to dedicated, redundant cloud-based servers. This data is collected in real time, analyzed, and presented back to the packaging operation as OEE dashboards that are available via external monitors, HMIs, PCs, smart phones, and tablets. 2

3 These dashboards detailed graphs and charts display operating conditions occurring on the machine hour by hour. This information provides Pareto reports that can drive six sigma continuous improvement initiatives. ProTech remote monitoring levels the playing field between small to medium sized companies and larger ones in terms of providing all sizes of organizations with the ability to optimize machine performance based on OEE data. ProTech reporting drives continuous improvement for greater utilization and competitiveness of the packaging line. As simple as connecting an Ethernet cable ProTech provides out-of-the-box reports, administration tools, and analytics that allow customers to start a remote solutions program in days with minimal impact on their internal resources. Application development tools exist if a customer wants to customize their installation. ProTech engineers will provide customization as well, if desired. This is all accomplished for the operation through the simple process of running an Ethernet cable to the embedded ProTech communications device. A ProTech router is installed in plants where there are multiple ProTech enabled machines. ProTech hardware can be retroactively embedded in the machines of Pro Mach brands or in virtually any modern machine. This means that small and medium sized packaging operations can have line-wide OEE data without diverting internal resources to build this analysis and reporting system from scratch. 3

4 Remote service and tech support Remote Service, where an OEM s technician logs on to the machine via the Internet to diagnose and fix a problem, has been available for years. One of the major hurdles to the widespread adoption of remote support has been the question of secure connectivity. With packaging machines from dozens of companies within a plant all with different remote access protocols, IT departments, concerned with the integrity of their corporate systems, simply found it expedient to issue a blanket rejection of access to outside suppliers through the corporate firewall. Technology evolves. With the growing appreciation of the power of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), big data, Industry 4.0, and the maturing of cloud-based computing all developments based on the connectivity of smart devices that attitude of interconnection rejection by the IT department is changing for systems that can pass close examination. To date, when ProTech has been presented to a company involved in packaging small, medium, or large and the cloud-based security protocols fully explained, IT representatives in the meeting have expressed no objection to allowing connection to a ProTech enabled machine, thereby unleashing significant productivity gains. 4

5 Remote tech support has the potential to reduce service times when a machine is down from days, in the case when a technician has to be dispatched to the packaging line, to a matter of hours or minutes. Pro Mach s Engineering Council estimates that more than half of onsite service calls have the potential to be handled remotely. When onsite service is required, the service technician arrives at the customer s facility better prepared due to the diagnostic knowledge supplied from ProTech. This results in faster resolution of the issues. Remote tech support can also help with downloading software updates, machine audits, optimizing material usage, and a host of other issues that impact quality, cost, and productivity as determined by the customer through the administration tools built into ProTech. Apps aren t just for mobile phones and tablets ProTech offers condition monitoring apps Suppose a packaging machine utilizes compressed air, one of the most expensive sources of energy in a plant. That plant can request a ProTech application to monitor the condition of the pneumatic system and alert personnel when a costly leak occurs. This app could pay for itself very quickly as even minor leaks can lead to thousands of dollars of wasted cost over the course of a year. 5

6 Allpax, a Pro Mach business that manufactures retorts and retort-room automation systems, has already developed a ProTech app for condition monitoring of energy and water usage in the retort room. Orion, the Pro Mach stretch and pallet wrapping business, has developed a load tracking app that monitors how much stretch wrap is used per pallet. Too little stretch wrap for a specific pallet recipe sends an alert that the pallet load may be unstable; while too much stretch wrap used sends an alert to readjust for optimum material usage. The custom development and availability of a suite of ProTech condition monitoring apps ensures that the organizations environment will be best served. The importance of one baseline solution across more than 20 Pro Mach brands In 2013, the Pro Mach Engineering Council, the interdivisional group of engineers charged with ensuring best engineering practices, took up the question of remote solutions. An internal survey across Pro Mach businesses revealed that there were more than a half dozen active and unique efforts to develop remote services capabilities and not one of those was identical. Not only was this duplication of effort an inefficient use of engineering resources, but also no single business had the resources to devote to the development of a robust, scalable, industry-leading solution. Furthermore, in multi-machine integrated systems, unrelated solutions would simply be ineffective. Mark Anderson, Pro Mach President and CEO, recognized that the development of one company-wide solution would provide the most elegant outcome. He committed 6

7 sufficient company resources to assure that an optimal solution was achieved. It has been achieved with ProTech, and will continue to evolve with today s rapid technology advances. The Pro Mach strategy was to work with a technology partner with a track record of success in smart services and remote solutions. The ideal partner would provide the foundation for a secure cloud-based solution. Council members also wanted to find a partner with expertise in packaging and automation. A subcommittee study project was launched and a number of potential partners were invited in for presentations followed by feedback on detailed technical questions, product demonstrations, and references. ei 3 from Mountvale, N.J., consistently came out on top in the various evaluation criteria. ei 3, founded in 1999, has become an authority of secure cloud-based computing and smart services. They have experience in the packaging industry with past projects involving the leaders in automation control and others in packaging machine design and construction. The company is a member of OMAC Packaging Workgroup, an organization with the mission to maximize the business value of packaging machinery by improving automation guidelines and standards. ei 3 also belongs to The Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Significantly, ei 3 agreed to provide Pro Mach with exclusivity to its technology in the packaging industry. Exclusivity gives Pro Mach a competitive advantage and serves to protect the significant investment Pro Mach is making in smart service. Pro Mach and ei 3 began joint development work in mid-2014 and by 2015 had a number of installations at early adopter sites in the United States and Latin America. By mid-2015, 7

8 there was a growing familiarity within the Pro Mach engineering and sales community, as well as distributors and customers, about the advantages of ProTech technology. At Pack Expo Las Vegas 2015, the company formally introduced ProTech to the packaging machinery marketplace. ProTech is the latest innovation of the ProCustomer initiative at Pro Mach At Pack Expo in 2009, Pro Mach launched its ProCustomer program focused on providing the highest level of customer service and aftermarket support in the packaging industry. The press release announcing the program stated: ProCustomer is the assurance that all customer service, technical support, training, product upgrades, and parts programs provided by Pro Mach divisions adhere to consistent standards of excellence. These standards are based on in-depth customer research and industry best practices. All Pro Mach divisions deliver service and support that meets or exceeds 13 key attributes for reactive, interactive, and proactive care, with an emphasis on improving packaging line productivity. Pro Mach senior management believes the support requirements of customers for world-class productivity and highest overall equipment efficiency (OEE) will only become more varied and extensive over time Adhering to best practices will ensure that customers have the support to maintain peak productivity, said Mark Anderson, President and CEO, Pro Mach, Inc. Importantly, ProCustomer is designed to be flexible with individual goals suited to the needs of each customer. ProCustomer is the latest in a series of strategic initiatives, which include operations excellence, product excellence, customer service excellence, and distribution excellence. The company s stated goals for service made six years ago remain part of the organization s culture. ProTech adheres point by point with the statement reactive, interactive, and proactive care, with an emphasis on improving packaging line productivity. Reactive in this instance equates to remote service and tech support; and 8

9 interactive and proactive equate to remote monitoring for OEE. Customized conditionmonitoring apps illustrate Mark Anderson s objective to design ProCustomer to be flexible with individual goals suited to the needs of each customer. The ProTech initiative is the latest investment in the company s strategic mission to earn the trust of customers for new and repeat business through its commitment to maintain machines at peak performance year after year. ProCustomer and ProTech allow Pro Mach s professional technicians to protect the customer s machine investment anywhere around the globe. For more Information on ProTech by Pro Mach, speak with the sales teams at any Pro Mach business or visit A complete list of Pro Mach brands with details on their areas of expertise can be found at ### About Pro Mach Pro Mach is a leading provider of integrated packaging and processing products and solutions for food, beverage, consumer goods, pharmaceutical, and other diverse companies. Through its brands, Pro Mach provides product packaging and processing equipment, PMMI certified training, installation, parts, and service in Bottling & Capping, Primary Packaging, Flexible Packaging, Material Handling, Labeling & Coding, and End of Line. Pro Mach has a diverse customer base, from Fortune 500 companies to smaller, privately held businesses worldwide, which depend on reliable, flexible, technologically advanced equipment and integrated solutions. Pro Mach is headquartered near Cincinnati, Ohio, with manufacturing facilities and offices throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. For more information about Pro Mach, visit 9