How Innobayt assisted a lubricant manufacturer in increasing operational efficiency
Innovation through automation – Through interconnecting systems and IoT integration, Innobayt’s unique solutions enabled a lubricant producer to improve operational efficiency.
For a worldwide lubricant producer, operational inefficiencies arising from manual procedures and other sources posed a significant challenge. Innobayt used IoT software development and smart sensors to create a strong custom middleware that optimized the manufacturing process and integrated their disparate legacy systems. By eliminating human participation, automating processes, and centralizing all data, the adjustments addressed the majority of the manufacturing process’ productivity difficulties.
About the client
Innobayt’s client is a well-known manufacturer of industrial and automotive lubricants, with a strong focus on quality, safety, and sustainability. The lubricant company now has operations in over 130 countries and various R&D facilities that are always developing novel and efficient products for its clients. The client has a long history in the industry and is the preferred lubricant for automotive, marine, industrial machinery, aviation, and a variety of other industries.
The client’s difficulties:
Prior to Innobayt’s involvement, the client’s production process was riddled with irregularities and problems. They recognized that manual and segregated procedures were the primary sources of inefficiencies in the system and turned to Innobayt for help. Before going into detail about Innobayt’s adjustments, it’s important to review the previous activities.
The filling lines, where bottles were preparing by being filled with the proper lubricant, were the starting point for the target production line. On a conveyor line, the prepare bottles were then sorted into cartons. The product name, batch number, and manufacture date were then printed on a label and manually attaching to cartons using a laser printer.
The cartons went through a quality control system after being manually labeled, which accepted or rejected them based on their weight. A robotic arm then placed the accepted cartons on pallets, which were subsequently wrapped for safety and picked up for storage and distribution.
In terms of operational efficiency and overall production, the old approach was woefully inadequate. The client will confront with a number of issues, most of which stemmed from the following five sources.
1 – System operations are disconnecting.
The former procedure had a lot of moving elements that all worked on their own. Because there was little or no collaboration, the production line had a lot of antiquated equipment, employed numerous data processing systems, and had no synergy. This lack of centralization resulted in a slew of issues, since there was no actionable data or insights from the production configuration to aid decision-making, limiting the ability to make meaningful changes.
2 – Inefficiencies as a result of manual processes
Several steps of the assembly line required manual intervention. Every stage needed human intervention, from the entry of records to the verification of content and the removal of rejected cartons, resulting in several inefficiencies.
3 – A scarcity of real-time data
The client’s ERP system’s ability to supply crucial data when need was additionally hampering by data decentralization and reliance on manual operations. Inventory levels, production output, and other critical parameters were disperse over several systems, including SAP, MS Excel, and emails, among others. This meant that no one at the facility had a complete picture of what was going on at any given time, making decision-making time consuming and ineffective.
4 – Frequent production halts
The client also had to deal with frequent production halts caused by manual intervention. This was one of the primary difficulties they will need to address because it was harming their manufacturing efficiency. Because of the absence of accountability and surveillance, effectively decreasing these stoppages was challenging. In addition, the client had a limited number of viable solutions for reducing physical intervention without compromising other critical characteristics.
5 – There is little or no tracking of rejections and removals.
As previously stated, the majority of the client’s issues stemmed from inefficient and legacy systems. Because data will collect from various stages of the product line was decentralizing, it was difficult to track rejections and carton removals from the production line. This resulted in inconsistencies in inventory, production records, and other critical records.
How did Innobayt help?
Innobayt began its work by gaining a better knowledge of the client’s problems. Innobayt conducted numerous workshops and interviews with the affected teams and management. Following the clarification of expectations, Innobayt’s experts created a comprehensive middleware solution aimed at increasing production efficiency by allowing all existing systems to work synchronously and so reach their full potential.
The automated system included a bespoke middleware that linked all previously soloed systems in place, such as the roller conveyor, weight rejector, label printer, robotic arm, and so on. Innobayt took a five-pronged approach to achieve optimal performance and consistency by automating as much as possible.
1 – The sorting procedure can be automating.
From the conveyor belt to the final pelleting, Innobayt automated the whole sorting process. The API and PLC-based integration allowed the various printing, rejecting, robotic arm, and scanning devices to communicate with one another, eliminating the need for manual oversight.
An integrated system that took information directly from the client database (SAP) for printing replacing the offline printing approach with human data entry. Innobayt additionally improving the carton and pallet printers, adding advance sensors (SICK photosensor), scanners (ZEBRA QR code scanner, Data logic QR code scanner), and built an interconnected system capable of real-time data processing and analysis.
2 – Improved operational control and transparency
The poor tracking of production output and inventories was one of the key issues the client facing as a result of data decentralization. Nobody knew how many boxes will reject or why they were rejecting. This data disparity made it difficult to make any improvements to the process, and it may lead to inaccurate reporting for the client.
To solve the problem, Innobayt used a combination of industrial photo sensors and QR code scanners. Each carton and pallet was given a unique code that could be used to trace the contents and where the carton was locate. Innobayt created a unified web interface that all stakeholders could use (with role-based access control) and that supplied real-time data, allowing the system to be more dependable and allowing the customer to make educated decisions.
3 – Capabilities for remote management
The customer could not only keep an eye on all critical parameters and production processes with the custom-developed admin interface, but they could also start, stop, and maintain control over the operations by accessing the middleware via the web.
4 – Legacy equipment integration with IoT-based middleware
Any automation system is rendering useless if outdated systems are unable to communicate adequately with the new IoT infrastructure. By employing a PLC to connect its middleware with the previous configuration, Innobayt improving the weight rejector system. The client was able to track the rejected cartons and sort them out independently without having to stop production.
5 – Production is not disrupt due to proactive and reactive maintenance support.
The services of Innobayt did not finish with the creation and installation of the bespoke solution. To assure the consistency and reliability of the given solution, a proactive and reactive maintenance strategy was also design.
Summary: The client’s production operations were effectively overhaul thanks to Innobayt’s creative methodology.
Innobayt was approach by a client who had an inefficient system that was not performing to its full capacity. Different systems operate in silos and required regular human involvement to function. Innobayt’s middleware bridge the gap between the client’s hardware and operating systems, allowing the production process to be fully automate and output synergies for increased productivity and efficiency.
