Using IIot to improve packaging line performance part 1: data collection and use

IIoT deployments increase as plant engineers and experts assess the best path to efficiency and success.

Food packaging plants face a host of challenges in terms of eliminating food waste, improving safety and increasing uptime. These challenges are heightened by a confluence of external factors including pressure on margins, responding to real-time demand, requirements to use sustainable materials and others.

Many of these issues can be addressed by applying the industrial internet of things (IIoT) and related edge technologies in a systematic and incremental manner. Specifically, this will require more comprehensive data collection, reporting and analytics across the supply chain. Here we look at issues facing packaging plant managers and other personnel, and then show how the problems can be solved through intelligent implementation of IIoT solutions.

Acquiring and Using Data

Many of the challenges faced by packaging plant personnel can be addressed by better use of existing data, by acquiring new data and by subsequently analyzing this data more effectively.

Modern automation packaging plants are typically controlled by programmable logic controllers (PLCs). These controllers not only provide real-time automation, but also act as data collectors and concentrators. Controllers are usually connected to human machine interface (HMI) platforms, often PC-based, but increasingly running on industrial edge computing platforms. Most HMIs come with the hardware connections and software protocols required to send data to data analytics software systems running either on-premises or in the cloud.

Adding these new data points using traditional methods can be cumbersome and expensive. It requires installing a new sensor or instrument, wiring it to the PLC and configuring the PLC and HMI software to exchange the new data.

The IIoT approach can greatly simplify the process across the engineering life-cycle. New data points can often be added by installing wireless sensors powered with built-in batteries. By configuring update rates to send data only when it changes, sensor batteries can last for up to 10 years. Some wireless sensors include energy harvesting components that can scavenge power from vibration or heat to power batteries, extending battery life to decades.

Whether new sensors are wireless or wired, bypassing the PLC and connecting them directly to HMI and other high-level data analysis and data collection platforms are often more cost-effective. . These connection methods use the company’s intranet or the internet, giving the IIoT application.

HMIs and higher-level computing platforms, such as asset management or data analytics software, can be on premises or cloud-based, using either secure intranet or internet connectivity respectively.

Now that we’ve examined the mechanics of the IIoT, let’s look at how it can be used to solve real-world challenges.

Productivity and Quality Office