At a glance
- Customer: igus GmbH
- Industry: Manufacturing
- Project goal: Development of a cloud platform for full connectivity between people and machines as part of an Industry 4.0 scenario
- Technologies: Azure IoT Hub, Databricks, Azure Data Lake, Azure Storage Account, Power BI
As an established manufacturer in the injection molding industry, Cologne-based igus GmbH faces the typical challenges of our time: both energy and labor costs are high compared to international standards. At the same time, stricter sustainability requirements are being imposed by policymakers and customers alike. As a result, optimization is needed across all areas in order to maintain a leading position in global competition.
The goal is a fully networked production environment leveraging IoT technologies. (igus)
‘We feel a lot of pressure to be productive in every way,’ says Stefan Fertmann, Head of In-house Automation. ‘There are loads of ways to do this, because the manufacturing processes for our diverse products are complex and energy-intensive. We see huge potential in process monitoring in particular, which we need to tap into.’
For those responsible, this means consistently focusing on Industry 4.0: ‘We have developed a step-by-step plan that ranges from setting up a stable database to the complete networking of machines and people via the Internet of Things.’ Together with ORAYLIS, igus has now set about implementing this ‘Industry 4.0 master plan’, with the first concrete applications already leading to remarkable improvements.
Cloud Platform as the Foundation
Stefan Fertmann, Head of Inhouse Automation at igus. (igus)
‘We have had very good experiences with ORAYLIS on various Power BI projects,’ says Stefan Fertmann, explaining the choice of partner. ‘In addition, the ORAYLIS team has already successfully completed several such large-scale projects. That convinced us.’ Together, they then tackled the first stage of the igus plan: the planning and implementation of a modern data platform in the Azure Cloud that centrally consolidates all of the company’s data. When setting up the infrastructure, a particular focus was placed on the processing of real-time data.
‘Ultimately, IoT means nothing more than networking live data from a variety of sources and making it available for a wide range of business applications,’ says Christoph Epping, IoT expert at ORAYLIS. ‘In the case of igus, this currently mainly involves production figures and status reports delivered in real time by the machine control system. Recently, special sensors have also been added to measure factors such as temperature, humidity and energy requirements. In the next step, we will also tap into this data for productive use.’
However, even with the existing data, those involved were able to digitise initial processes and introduce targeted improvements. For example, a new production reporting system has relieved shift supervisors of time-consuming manual tasks.
Real-Time Data Instead of Paper Notes
In order to check the status and productivity of production, shift supervisors in a department previously had to check 20 to 30 machines individually every day. The desired values were noted down manually and then entered into the system – a process that took machine operators working in three shifts around 45 minutes each time. The new reporting system now provides those involved with this data in the form of meaningful key figures in a matter of seconds.
Christoph Epping, Senior Consultant and IoT expert at ORAYLIS GmbH. (ORAYLIS)
‘Essentially, it’s about the output of the machines in terms of quantities or metres,’ explains Christoph Epping. “This is based on real-time data from the control system, which we enrich with master data from our data platform – such as location, machine number and machine type. This also enables in-depth analyses of the respective shift, the quantities per hour and the distribution over the week. Shift supervisors can not only see how much is being produced in what time, but also track downtime and malfunctions more easily. With this in mind, we will soon be implementing the first alarm functions.”
The new data offering is complemented by a live dashboard in the factory hall, which uses a traffic light system to show the current status of all machines directly to everyone present. And, of course, the newly launched reporting system is waiting for additional data sources to be added. In addition to profitability assessments, those responsible want to establish a system of predictive troubleshooting and maintenance in the medium to long term, which will enable extensive optimisation of resource and energy consumption as well as working hours.
Building an Intelligent, Company-Wide Process Landscape
Based on the new data platform, more and more tasks are now being reviewed and digitised or automated as comprehensively as possible. Those involved always have the major Industry 4.0 goal of comprehensive networking of systems and processes in mind: ‘The aim is to link sequential process steps that are technically and functionally related in a targeted manner and to control them digitally,’ says Stefan Fertmann. ‘What is currently running as a stand-alone solution is to be integrated into the company-wide Internet of Things in the future. In this way, we want to eliminate human error as far as possible.’
Future IoT technologies will also support sustainable resource management. (igus)
A clear example of this is manufacturing: “The plastic parts for our energy chains, for example, are produced by our injection moulding machines in a complex process and then fed into the automatic assembly machines. Networking – and thus seamless monitoring – enables us to precisely coordinate the individual process steps and thus ensure optimum utilisation. We also avoid waste.‘ In future, areas of application beyond the pure production process will also be on the agenda. ’As part of our building services, we want to keep a closer eye on the supply of electricity and compressed air in addition to temperature. The latter in particular is a major cost factor for us and offers high savings potential.”
The starting point for implementing further plans remains the data platform set up with ORAYLIS. ‘Thanks to the cloud approach, there are basically no limits,’ Stefan Fertmann sums up with satisfaction. ‘We can take our first steps into the digital future and, at the same time, change course flexibly at any time and implement new ideas. That’s why I’m really looking forward to continuing our collaboration with ORAYLIS and seeing what the future holds.’
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