How to follow the packaging lines

Astn’go allows to follow the production on the lines in different fields of packaging and production.

What data can you track on a line?

The monitoring of an equipment generally involves measuring the production cycle time of a part in relation to a standard cycle time defined by the WO, the reference or the equipment.

1. Measure the availability of your means of production

You can measure the availability of your means of production by comparing the machine’s operating time with the planned production time (the planned porduction time is equal to the opening time of the means of production minus the planned downtimes). This approach allows you to obtain the use rate of the equipment and a detail on the reasons impacting the proper functioning of this one, for example: downtimes, material supply, cleaning, breaks, technical downtime.

2. Measure the performance of your means of production

If the eqIf the equipment and the process allow it, you can track the number of parts produced by the machine. This approach allows you to measure the performance of your equipment by comparing the time it takes to complete a part against the time initially planned.

How to follow a line with Astn’go?

1. Collecting the operating time of the line

The operating time of your equipment is calculated according to the production represented by the counting of parts.

As shown in the diagrams below, Astn’go can determine the operating or downtime status of a production equipment according to the standard cycle time for the current production. This cycle time can be carried by the WO operation, the reference, the equipment.

2. Collecting the performance with counting of parts on the line

Each Top corresponds to a part but it is possible to set X parts for each Top cycle. With Astn’go, the number of parts per cycle can be set at the WO operation, reference or equipment level.

The IIoT must receive a signal indicating each Top part. This signal can come from a relay powered by a sensor or by a signal sent at each detection of parts.

3. Evaluate the performance of a line

• By retrieving the Top Part signal and deducting the number of parts produced, you can measure the performance rate of your machine in addition to the availability rate.

The performance rate will compare the actual cycle time for the completion of a part against the standard cycle time.

Two ways of interpreting downtime

By comparing the count of parts produced with the standard cycle time, it is possible to detect equipment downtime.

The line is considered to be in production if the time between two tops cycle is less than or equal to N times the standard cycle time. If it is greater, the line is on downtime.

Depending on the settings, it is possible to define 2 scenarios for taking this downtime into account:

• The downtime can be taken into account as soon as the time between 2 Tops cycle is equal to N times the cycle time:

• The downtime is taken into account from the moment the last part has been counted.

Is Astn’go’s IIoT mandatory for line data collect?

To retrieve the data mentioned above, it is necessary to connect the Astn’go IIoT to your machine. This data will be processed by the Astn’go application and displayed on the different screens to the operator and the manager in real time.

What process and what equipment?

This type of monitoring is particularly suitable for packaging and production lines.