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Software Streamlines Data Collection, Visualization and Analysis of Shop-Floor Automation

September 29, 2023

ABB-OptiFact-software-OEE ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation has released the modular OptiFact software platform, which streamlines data collection, visualization and analysis in automated production facilities. The platform enables users to collect, manage and analyze data from hundreds of factory devices, including ABB robots, to determine key performance indicators including cycle time and overall equipment efficiency. By speeding diagnostics and decision making, OptiFact increases production-line uptime with less engineering effort, ensuring that production can keep pace with demand, according to company officials.

With OptiFact, factory operators can determine the root cause of production errors and use ABB’s RobotStudio Cloud, for example, to make adjustments to the program and develop an improved robotic solution. OptiFact reportedly has been deployed in several production facilities, including a highly automated automotive production environment, where it collects and analyzes production-process cycle times and other key performance indicators, providing visibility into factory operations and saving as much as 25 percent of experts’ time. As a result, report ABB Robotics officials, the manufactuer has deployed more than 580 robots in its operations.

The platform has also proven its value for small and mid-sized enterprises. An additional pilot reportedly demonstrated the platform’s ability to identify production bottlenecks in production lines involving as many as 20 robots. The user’s digital team integrated OptiFact into its production environment in only 2 months from first contact to final delivery. Once deployed, OptiFact simplified data collection and the visualization of key performance indicators such as cycle time and programmable logic controller alarms. By addressing operational inefficiencies detected using OptiFact, the facility increased production time by as much as 20 percent, according to ABB Robotics officials.

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See also: ABB Press Automation Solutions