Monitoring production or machine utilization

The system is designed to monitor production utilization and production assets.

A typical motivation for installing a system is:

• the need to get an accurate overview of the productivity of individual workplaces, i.e. the number of pieces produced, hourly productivity, downtime for service, technological breaks, etc,
• the need to monitor the work of employees, i.e. (usually after the introduction of “logging in” to the system using contactless cards or PINs) to monitor differences in productivity and dead time between individual employees,
• the need to monitor energy consumption and to avoid wasting energy resources,
• tracking changes in productivity caused by changes in organisational measures or production processes, where electronic tracking can detect even a few percent changes very accurately.

The basis of the technical solution is the installation of a tracking unit that records data from an individual production device (e.g. press, screen printing, sewing machine). As a rule, the switching on and off of the machine (its main switch) and the number of cycles of the machine (e.g. in the case of a press) or the length of its operation (e.g. in the case of a sewing machine) are recorded. This data is then electronically processed and presented to the user in the form of reports and graphs, or as “raw data”, e.g. in MS Excel for further statistical processing

Depending on the type of technology, statistical indicators such as percentage of dead time, percentage of downtime, or even more complex mathematical constructions are usually introduced, for example, the correlation between the number of breakdowns or forced downtime of a machine and the employee (shift) that is working at the time of the breakdown or downtime. outages served.

Our device uses standard inputs and outputs in automation technology, so it can be connected to almost any machine. If it is not possible to interfere with the machine for reasons such as warranty, size or safety, it is possible to install external sensors – e.g. optical or capacitive motion and position detectors.

To motivate employees, the data from the system can be connected to a display panel of the number of units produced, where the fulfilment of the plan is displayed in colour, numerically or graphically according to the customer’s requirements.

We use a monitoring unit that is equipped with four 24 V AC/DC switching inputs (or for connecting a potential-free contact) and that is able to process the signal from the connected inputs easily.

For each input, you can select the mode of monitoring its status:

• easy monitoring of on/off status (e.g. spindle operation, furnace start-up, fault signals, etc.),
• counting impulses (e.g. press runs),
• Meter input (conversion of data from the connected meter to kW consumption where it makes sense to monitor machine consumption).

Another monitored signal is the power supply of the tracking unit itself, which is always powered (for safety reasons) behind the main switch of the machine. When the main switch is turned off, the backup battery records the time of the shutdown and the unit is subsequently put to sleep.

Concept of data collection

Tracking units, installed on individual machines, record data on the operation of the machines. This data needs to be transferred in some way to the end user who will perform the evaluation.

Several different technical solutions are possible:

• off-line data transfer, where the individual monitoring units work as “black boxes” with memory for several weeks of operation and if necessary (or periodically, e.g. once a week) they are bypassed by a technician who copies the contents of the memory of the units to a USB flash drive at the touch of a button,
• on-line data transfer, where the units themselves do not store any data, but transfer it on-line to the system server.

U online we assume the use of Wi-Fi or Ethernet network and communication using common Internet standards TCP/IP with the server, which will be located and operated either remotely at our place, or we can physically deliver the server – then it is operated by the local IT department (in this case it would be a small NAS server – the required performance is minimal).

Processing of the resulting data

The data must be displayed and evaluated in some way.

The “raw” data is always in the form of a table with columns such as time, machine identification, event (e.g. power on). This data must then be processed into a clear form according to your requirements, for example as a graphical display of the operation of individual machines on the timeline and tabular reports for individual shifts and machines or employees.

The on-line solution is able to display this processed data in real time; the off-line solution, of course, only after the data has been downloaded from the individual tracking units.

Logically, there are many extensions to the system: monitoring of machine utilization according to work on individual orders (the terminal at the machine is used to enter which order is being worked on), monitoring of machine downtime (e.g. entering the status “adjusting” or “waiting for repair” either from the technology or manually by button and subsequent evaluation of this downtime), etc.

For information, for a purchase of 10 pcs of tracking units in the indicated design, we provide the prices:

• 1 tracking unit with off-line data transmission – 7 300 CZK
• 1 tracking unit with on-line data transmission – 11 600 CZK (for Wi-Fi)
• Supplementing the tracking unit with an employee identification card reader or a keypad for PIN code – 820 CZK
• Addition of LCD touch screen to the tracking unit – 3 800 CZK
• Three-phase electricity meter max. 3×50 A to the tracking unit (if necessary to monitor power consumption) – 1 400 CZK
• For off-line solutions: specialized software + algorithm modifications within 5 hours. – 6 000 CZK
• For on-line solutions: server operation at our company incl. evaluation software – 430 CZK per month (if technically possible)
• For on-line solutions: miniserver + software for installation at your place – from 17 000 CZK
• Consultation and/or technical work at the installation site – 550 CZK/hour. + travel and travel time

We deliver the equipment with enough detailed documentation so that local maintenance is able to install it into the machines independently – there is no need for us to carry out the installation.

Prices are without VAT.