As technology continues to evolve, many equipment manufacturers across a variety of industries have added remote monitoring to their machines to track equipment output and maintenance needs. The packing industry is no different.
Highly specialised packing equipment manufacturers now offer full-service diagnostics plans to optimise the packing line, set up and use resources, enhance health and safety standards and boost energy efficiency.
A full-service diagnostic plan should include short-term and long-term production data collection as well as optimisation plans. These diagnostics services come together to improve output and increase equipment uptime.
Production data collection
Short-term and long-term data collection processes track connected machines to combine performance and maintenance reports into a single dashboard to make monitoring equipment settings simple. Operators can monitor machines’ production rates in real time to see how equipment is performing. The results can be used to identify productivity challenges and inefficiencies, such as bottlenecks on the packing line, so an operations team can quickly address them.
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Some systems store all data in a single online portal with customisable alert systems and reports. The portal keeps track of maintenance intervals for all assemblies and components and sends early notifications as a reminder to order wear parts. These systems can alert operators to any discrepancy in the packing or palletising machines to allow faster maintenance and increase efficiency on the packing line. Some systems also provide service teams a direct line to the equipment manufacturer’s experts to address any concerns.
Having these systems integrated into packing lines from the outset can help set the system up for success in the future and provide a solid base of information that optimisation plans can build from.
Optimisation plans
While automated options track machine performance, nothing can replace the expertise of human input. Some manufacturers will send system specialists to visit customer plants and provide a full plant audit. These experts observe the operation and recommend enhancements classified by level of urgency. The full plant audit considers all areas, from product storage and handling to packing, bag transport, palletising and loading lines, as well as surrounding machines and environmental factors. Look for a manufacturer that has its specialists then put together a full report with a tagged system that marks areas for improvement, ensuring critical updates are prioritised. The goal of this report is to give plant managers a thorough idea of how their plant is currently performing and where critical updates need to be made.
Another optimisation option offered by some manufacturers focuses on all aspects of the bag. Specialists test and analyse the bag and the product to optimise the remaining of the three major factors in the packing process — machines, bags and products — resulting in recommendations to achieve the highest levels of productivity and efficiency. The manufacturer will include things like a bag volume test, bag valve check, visual pallet checks and a bag specification check. These tests check the chemical composition of the product, how the machine can aerate the product for maximum efficiency in filling and which bags provide the best protection for that specific product. The goal is to have a cohesive packing line that works together in the most efficient way possible.
A full-service approach
To get the most productive packing plant, cement plants should work with specialised manufacturers who offer a full-line approach. Diagnostics are just the first step in getting a fully optimised packing line with as few inefficiencies as possible. Operators, maintenance managers, reliability engineers and plant managers should all look for a manufacturer who takes a holistic view of the packing line, from diagnostics and equipment to spare parts and process engineering, to ensure cement plants get the perfect flow.