Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 6

SYSTEMS INTEGRATION Contact: JERRY SENK [email protected] actions. The maintenance technician can immediately be told what component has alarmed, a suggested point of inspection, and suggested steps to resolve the failure; all without having to find the O&M manuals, page though the O&M manual for referenced help, or even having to call for help. Additional help features that employ a connected modem will allow the OEM Service Department to access your system and help to quickly correct the problem. All these features described above require additional components, programming, assembly, integration, and will add to the total installed cost of your system. But when you consider the ongoing cost of ownership and returns on reliability; these costs can be insignificant. The results of a recent mold line installation showed the potential value to the foundry. In this case, the revenue potential is over $10,000 per hour. Therefore, speed to re-start is vital. By integrating the features mentioned above, simple alarms were quickly and effectively resolved with very little disruption to the mold line process. When compared to similar molding systems with less sophisticated controls, the additional costs offered a comparable return on investment of less than 3 months. The advanced control features discussed may all be offered “a-la-carte” or as complete optional packages. If you are considering or specifying new equipment, be sure to ask your potential vendors about these options. But what’s the “next-generation” in advanced control? Innovative and forward thinking companies should be looking at what we call Predictive Analytics. What if your foundry machines could tell you: • It isn’t operating correctly? • When a cylinder or actuator rebuild is going to be necessary? • The best time to conduct a maintenance event? • Real time changes in product quality? Predictive Analytics combines additional non-traditional component sensing and smart “maintenance-minded” thinking that helps predict when failures can occur and provides advanced warning of the potential outage or changes in production. Predicting when maintenance is needed and preventing failures or rejects before they occur carries several additional benefits, including avoiding high-cost events, increasing foundry uptime and reliability, reducing the need for frequent maintenance/repair and minimizing the maintenance burden placed on shop personnel by unexpected downtime, and reduced scrap. The future of Predictive Analytics will provide a smart, connected foundry with the capability of monitoring in-service equipment to capture and respond to real-time operational data. The data capture will assist foundry operations with quality and ISO reporting, identify maintenance trends, deteriorating conditions and more. This, in turn, helps foundry managers plan ahead – whether that means scheduling the necessary personnel to perform maintenance or ensuring the necessary replacement parts are in stock. 22