Italian ‘Big Data’ Technology Helps You Be in the Know Like Never Before

SYSTEM’s PRIME platform is hosted on state-of-the-art hardware with an excellent HMI.

Italian Technology Helps You Be in the Know LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Since its founding in 1970, SYSTEM SpA (Fiorano Modenese, Italy, www.system-group.it) has always been a leader in automating the production of high-quality ceramics. So it’s no surprise this member of ACIMAC, the Italian Ceramic Plant and Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (www.acimac.com) has studied Industry 4.0 in depth since the concept emerged. In fact, SYSTEM created a special department called “digital industrial design” in which a team of electronic engineers, mechanical engineers, IT engineers, chemists and physicists work together “with the aim of creating one of the Industry 4.0 models for the ceramics sector, as a point of reference not only in Europe but worldwide.”

In SYSTEM’s view, today’s manufacturers face new challenges in the personalization of products and reduction of costs and quantities. Changing from large-scale production to the production of small batches and even single products requires a high degree of manufacturing agility. “In this scenario, the human assets, complete digitalization of processes and effective use of data all represent essential factors, vital to the creation of a new manufacturing paradigm.”

To address these challenges, SYSTEM has introduced PRIME: a platform of software services aimed at “controlling production capacity of entire factories, optimizing the quality of control processes and the standardization of information received from systems, in order to provide management tools aimed at improving awareness and decision repeatability.”

PRIME is a product-analysis tool hosted on highly integrated and cutting-edge IT systems. It features a single interface that lets a user represent his entire manufacturing facility with 3D computer graphics.

SYSTEM’s PRIME platform provides a holistic view of a ceramic manufacturing operation, with the ability to zoom in on any aspect to study it in detail.

The user can also focus in on any individual machine, checking it thoroughly. Thus production facilities can be represented in detail and as a dynamic whole, “enabling a holistic view of the entire production cycle, where all systems are connected and can share information on feedback or the alignment of processes, aimed at improving the process itself in real time.”

This approach represents a real evolution and authentic role change for the company, SYSTEM added. While the company is still a manufacturer of automated machines for the ceramic industry, with PRIME it becomes a supplier of services too. It has redesigned its organizational structure and the relative business model in line with the cornerstones of Industry 4.0.

Channeling creativity into a repeatable process

Cerutti Group SpA (Casalle Monferatto, Italy, www.cerutti.it) is a world leader in rotogravure presses, arguably the ultimate in printing technology given its ability to deliver extremely fine detail with an unbeatable variety of inks and coatings (including vivid metallics and fluorescents) on virtually any material. Although the mechanical technology behind rotogravure printing goes back to the 1800s, Massimo Genio, sales director for North American Cerutti (New Berlin, WI) said modern presses, like any machine today, are filled with electronics that make it possible to capture data about virtually everything going on during the print process. Most important, he said, is the ability to record what he calls the “production recipe,” the key settings that govern the process to produce a given product at the desired quality. “We store temperature, tension on the roll, cylinder position, cylinder facing, doctor blade position, master control positions... All the parameters related to the production of a certain product so they can be duplicated the next time you have to produce this product.” Naturally, this then shortens the setup time for this job any time it’s repeated. Plus, they can serve as the basis for another similar product, saving setup time on new jobs too. At the same time, some mechanical tasks, like putting the press into register, are now fully automated. Besides saving time, these improvements reduce waste and save money.

Printing securities is a big market for rotogravure. (For example, Canadian currency is printed on a polymer, which requires rotogravure.) As one would expect, the attention to detail in this market is extreme. “You need to completely control the printing parameters. You’re printing on very special substrates, using very special inks, and any mistake can be costly.” So analyzing the data to achieve a better process is critical. But once it’s done, the process is static for such work, unlike printing packaging and other items that change frequently. In that field, using data to speed setup is a prime consideration.

Beyond using data as a setup aid, Cerutti has developed a system called CMS, for “computerized maintenance system.” The system is structured so that the user has access to all the manuals instantly on the HMI.

“Whenever something happens, you have an immediate cross reference to the electrical drawings where the problem occurred. It’s interactive. You can also check what kind of maintenance you need to do,” Genio said. “For example, let’s say every 300 hours you have to grease the bearings. You get a screen that tells you. If you’re overdue, it tracks that. When you do it, it records that such-and-such user performed the task and resets the counter. All these things give the operator a better understand of what he has to do and when.”

The industry is not yet at the point where parts failure can be accurately predicted (so worn-out parts can be replaced before causing downtime), but that’s the goal, Genio said.

One way to speed that understanding would be to share and analyze data across multiple customers like the Siemens MindSphere concept. But, for better or worse, Genio said customers keep their data within their own local networks. And in some cases, the interpretation of the data (like why one job took longer than another) is left to the customer. Genio thinks another factor hindering a truly “big data” analysis is that printing combines automatic and mechanical aspects with human and manual aspects. “It’s not always possible to determine where one starts and the other begins.” Still, Cerutti is considering putting even more sensors in the machine to further improve predictive maintenance.

There may not be data sharing in the cloud, but Cerutti provides remote assistance on demand, 24/7. Each press can be accessed on-line by a Cerutti technician—even on Christmas.

This capability is more useful now than it was just a few years ago—because the electronic aspects of the machines have become more important, Genio said. And most problems are caused by

The Simec Digital Background monitors a customer’s processes to predict the need for parts and supplies in advance.

“errors in the procedure or something electronic, rather than anything mechanical.”

Integrating information from all the equipment in a production facility is “becoming a very big field to explore,” he added. But he cautioned that doing so intelligently requires taking steps to ensure that you don’t duplicate data and confuse things. “For example, the production recipe can be stored in a central control or in an individual press. Ideally, you want all the data, even from auxiliary equipment like coroma readers, colorimeters and densitometers, in one organized file. This increased optimization.”

What’s next? “Your mind is the limit,” Genio said. And while he had referred to printing as a process that combines mechanical and human inputs, he said one of the key advantages of rotogravure is that it’s more repeatable than other forms of printing, like flexo. “If I give you the setup data and the same press, you and I should produce the same results,” he said. “So theoretically, with more sensors and more data it should be possible to make it completely repeatable. We want to funnel the creativity of the human being into a set of processes we can repeat exactly.”

At the same, Genio said, you want to limit yourself to gathering information that is truly useful and to implement what he called “sustainable automation.” He recalled a time years ago when his firm built a completely automated press for a facility in Japan in which all inputs to the press were also automated. Such a system can work in such an environment. But it leaves little or no room for flexibility or creativity. “There’s always a fine balance between what information can give you and what you can give the system. Nothing can emulate your brain. Full automation is a cage. A beautiful, golden cage. But a cage.” Another reason he argues for “sustainable automation” is the changing nature of the printing business in North America.

“It was always ‘bigger is better.’ Now we see more and more small companies who compete by offering better quality. They don’t care if they are faster. They don’t care if they are not producing more than other companies—but they are making it tougher for the big guys,” Genio said. “This is why production runs are getting smaller and smaller. You have to be flexible. You have to be creative. You always have to be on the top of your game because otherwise, you are done. So Cerutti doesn’t want to introduce a solution that limits your creativity.”

1-888-italtrade Cerutti is a member of ACIMGA, the Italian manufacturers’ association of machinery for the graphic, converting and paper industry (www.acimga.it/en).

Knowing what the customer needs before it does Another ACIMGA member, Simec Group Srl (Olgiate Olona, Italy, www.simecgroup.com) makes large rolls for flexographic printing, embossing, lamination, coating, gluing, and other processes. And it prides itself on wearing the Made in Italy label “by controlling the entire production chain and guaranteeing excellence.” As part of this, the company has relentlessly pursued improvements in its plants through Industry 4.0 initiatives.

By the end of this year, all of its manufacturing equipment will be equipped with the latest generation HMIs, integrated with production processes that aim to continually refine their procedures. Simec introduced the Simec Digital Background (SDB), a predictive warehouse project that calls for complete, step by step, digital management of its factories. The software, developed in-house, collects and manages a consistent amount of data, involves every department and leads to a predictive approach that guarantees substantial reduction in its customers’ waiting times for parts and supplies.

A user joining the project provides key process indicators (KPIs) through a dedicated and secure IT environment. The KPIs are structured to identify trends and forecast needs. SDB will therefore outline a customer’s requirements in advance, giving it the benefit of a reduction in waiting time of at least 50% compared with the market average. Essentially, Simec Group would know what a customer needs before it does and produce the needed products in advance. As Simec Group puts it: Welcome to the future!

Smart control of a plant’s air treatment from afar AERIS GROUP (Clusone, Italy, www.aerisgroup.it) is a holding company of multiple brands in the fields of air treatment, heating, cooling, filtration and related services. A member of ACIMIT, the association of Italian textile machinery manufacturers (www.acimit.it), AERIS recently received a “seal of excellence” from the European Union Commission in recognition of its innovative new technology. It also received funding under the European Horizon 2020 project. (Horizon 2020 is a seven-year,

Digitron 2.0 connects all the sensors, actuators, valves and power drivers in an air treatment system to instantly adapt to changing conditions.

$90+ billion effort to “ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation.”) One AERIS company, AleniA NW Srl (Bergamo, Italy, www.alenianw.it), specializes in providing technical advice to customers seeking the most suitable filtration and air-treatment equipment, specifically using non-woven fiber materials (hence the “NW”).

Among AleniA’s developments is a new software generation called Digitron 2.0 Vario. It connects all the sensors, actuators, valves and power drivers in an air treatment system via a modbus (serial communication protocol). The software “constantly checks the correct execution of all the given commands and receives feedback from the field that enable the continuous supervision of position, faults and absorption,” the company said. Better yet, the software uses the data to instantly respond to problem and adjust to changing conditions.

AleniA added that the result is a self-adjusting system that guarantees correct capacity with minimum energy consumption; a record

of thermo hygrometric conditions and anomalies; accurate, real-time accounting of energy, thermal fluid and water humidification consumption, and remote monitoring from any PC in or outside of the company. On top of that, the AleniA technical service team can provide remote control free of charge.

A closely related product is the New Generation Humidification Plant 4.0 marketed by AERIS’ Mazzini group (Clusone, Italy; www.mazziniici.com/?lang=en). It takes advantage of the Digitron 2.0 Vario monitoring and control functions to deliver a huge increase in performance and efficiency, yielding a constant temperature and relative humidity in the treated area throughout the year. At the same time, it cuts water use more than 60%, cuts energy use more than 40%, requires little or no maintenance and eliminates corrosion problems and the risk of bacteria and mucilage growth. Mazzini said the system also needs less than half the air volume of conventional systems to achieve the same effect—and therefore a Mazzini unit can be 25 to 40% smaller than competing technology for the same size facility.

A Mazzini unit from the AERIS Group yields a constant temperature and relative humidity in the treated area while cutting water use more than 60% and energy use more than 40%.