Manufacturing companies in the metal industry need oils and other fluids that are consumed by their machines. To make this consumption transparent and to establish a link to the ERP system, Arnold Umformtechnik relies on the IIoT platform, moneo, in combination with the SAP-based software solution Shop Floor Integration (SFI) – both from ifm.
A specialist in high-quality and innovative fastening technology, Arnold Umformtechnik relies on the cold forming presses and rollers as the most important machines in its production process. All these machines require different fluids to ensure their operation. Five different oils, including waste oil and emulsion, are stored in a central oil supply system. There is a filling station in each department where employees can collect the oils for the individual machines.
In the past, the consumption of the individual machines was not transparent, and it was not possible, for example, to track which machine would consume which amount of oil. The company has now implemented an Industry 4.0 solution based on the moneo IIoT platform. The employee collecting the oil selects the machine for which the oil is needed at the filling station’s control panel. Flow meters then measure the amount of oil dispensed. The moneo agent accesses the controller to further process the information about the oil quantities, and can analyse the detected consumption and provide a clear overview. It is of particular interest to Arnold that the SFI solution from ifm feeds the data directly into the SAP system.
This solution thus creates end-to-end transparency of the consumption, so that quantities can be booked accordingly. Detecting the oil consumption of each machine offers another important advantage. If the oil consumption of two identical machines differs significantly, this will be noticed immediately. Arnold has known ifm as a sensor supplier for a long time. However, the fact that moneo is an open system is very important for the project. For example, Arnold uses sensors from a manufacturer other than ifm to measure oil quantities, but the data from these sensors can be seamlessly imported into moneo. These sensors were already installed in the plant.
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