FUTURE MANUFACTURING
Solution for the confectionery industry
Developers and manufacturers of special machines for the confectionery industry have joined forces to pool their expertise in the process chain and to represent and control it in a clear and uniform way through a digital platform . The result is a manufacturer-independent platform that they specifically developed for confectionery production . Based on this decision , participating companies can now devote themselves to the development of profitable digital value-added services .
With just one login , machine operators have access to all the information they need , including documentation , spare parts catalogues and maintenance lists for all machinery . In addition , users can make use of a machine logbook with an integrated troubleshooting database . Especially in the event of a malfunction , the questions of whether and how quickly the relevant operating instructions can be accessed or whether the system offers interactive troubleshooting assistance become crucial . Even just access to the events of the past two hours is a great advantage when troubleshooting in brownfield applications . Since the beginning of 2022 , the developers of the manufacturer-independent platform have been adding every new machine to this platform , equipping each with QR codes to speed up access to the digital services .
Easy integration
In addition to these services , which are provided to all machine and plant operators , each machine and plant manufacturer can add its own applications that
The platform provides support right at the machine – for example when searching for documents for an assembly .
can be connected to the existing services . The “ REST interfaces ” provided can also be very easily integrated into the machine and plant manufacturer ’ s own system landscape . This also enables integration with manufacturing execution systems ( MES ), enterprise resource planning ( ERP ) systems or maintenance systems of the machine operator . The machine and plant manufacturers are already working intensively on specific app concepts .
For machine operators , a platform only becomes attractive if it can be used to handle a minimum number of machines and services . When it comes to successfully establishing a platform in the market , therefore , the connection of machines and plants in the brownfield becomes particularly relevant . Manufacturers must therefore keep the brownfield in focus alongside their new machines . An early definition of standards , such as the Weihenstephan Standards , forms an important basis for ensuring future viability , even before choosing a platform . From the point of view of machine or plant operators , the integration of third-party machines is also important to ensure that the platform offered is accepted by customers .
Connection possible at different levels
The manufacturer-independent platform for the confectionery industry offers various levels at which machines and plants can be connected . At the simplest level , the machine or plant is created in the system without any live data connection and furnished with documents , maintenance and a machine logbook . Machine operators can also implement this independently for all their machinery . In addition , the spare parts catalogue can be linked to the machine . At a higher level , a live data connection is implemented by means of a remote maintenance router or edge device , which sends the data to the platform via MQTT . An advantage for customers is the fact that Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen has already been using a standard device for several years . This means that a data connection can be established in most cases without having to retrofit hardware . l
Viktor Janzen Development Engineer WINKLER und DÜNNEBIER Süßwarenmaschinen GmbH
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