Page 18 - MetalForming July 2019

Software for Manufacturing
avoid manufacturing disruption caused by common problems such as unplanned downtime, diminished machine perform- ance and substandard quality output.
The suite enables manufacturers to implement and leverage connectivity, breaking down silos created by varying protocols and data types used by equip- ment and sensors by simplifying the con- nection to machines and the contextual- ization of data, according to company officials. They note that Plex Industrial IoT grants access to the underlying machine intelligence, delivering to manufacturers timely and accurate insight in a single solu- tion, thus eliminating operational surprises.
The capability echoes an Industry 4.0 trend, where research shows that by 2021, 90 percent of manufacturers will leverage real-time equipment and asset-performance data to self-diagnose issues in advance and trigger a service intervention to avoid unplanned downtime.
Plex Industrial IoT provides manufac-
turers with the opportunity of continuous improvement through access to historical IIoT data. The suite’s first solution focuses on APM, starting with an understanding of current and historical activity. Its real- time assessment provides shift supervisors and plant managers with data needed to understand behaviors and trends, and diagnose root causes of common chal- lenges such as machine failures, efficiency dips or substandard quality.
Another suite feature: improved pro- ductivity with real-time, comprehensive, pre-built asset dashboards. These help manufacturers monitor the status of any asset, in any facility, from any connected device. Customizable, the dashboards deliver access to up-to-the-minute metrics and analytics, delivering information that enables immediate and accurate response to live data, to improve operator perform- ance and overall equipment effectiveness mid-shift.
Also, the software minimizes operational
disruptions by predicting and preempting unplanned downtime. Data collected over time with Plex Industrial IoT are analyzed against historical trends and contextualized against MES and ERP data from the same facilities to provide insights from the shop floor to the top floor, according to company officials. This helps reduce operational disruptions and allows manufacturers to better plan for unanticipated issues.
“Plex Industrial IoT will provide us a direct view into the status and overall performance of assets,” says Bob Bierwagen, vice president of digital strategy for MPI Corp., a manu- facturer and Plex customer, “and we are excited about the ability to tie quality and part-level performance expectations to asset performance—information that traditionally has been difficult to generate. With this information available we can correlate data— as well as understand causality in order to make the operational improvements that will positively impact our bottom line.”
Plex Systems: www.plex.com
16 MetalForming/July 2019
www.metalformingmagazine.com