Knowing your production line problem without being on-site | 3 benefits of AIoT Cloud solution

Let’s imagine the situation: When you check the data, you discover that the production capacity is not as expected. Then, you have to go to the factory to check the production progress and the cause of the problem. However, the on-site personnel cannot report in time, resulting in time-consuming maintenance. Meanwhile, do you know how the characteristic of IoT can assist you? You can monitor your factory in real time with the AIoT Cloud solution, and here’s the explanation.

1. In the past – Data collection of the machines

Production line data mostly base on manual calculations, including feeding time, machine production time, statistics on the quantity of good and defective products, mold replacement time, machine failure time, etc. However, when the line starts producing, the on-site staff has to take care of more than a single machine. They can only confirm if the devices are in processing status during high-peaked production time but cannot accurately record the data. As a result, the machine output data is merely an estimated value but not a reference for the following process.

IoT makes the data more precise and functions as the extra workforce to assist in real-time machine data monitoring and productivity calculations. Then, the current crew can focus on machine operation to maximise productivity.

2. In the present – On-site real-time inspection and status monitoring

Stable equipment or machine operation is one of the factors to performing smooth production. If there is no record, you can only fix the current symptoms but not the root cause. The production will continue if you cannot find the problem, and you will call for technicians if the equipment fails to process. However, the line will still produce if the technician does not find a severe problem. You may ignore it even if the process isn’t that smooth.

Let’s imagine there are two pieces of equipment, one of which stably produces 30 products in one hour, which means 2 minutes per unit. Meanwhile, the other equipment yields 15 pieces in the first 20 minutes, but it stops for half an hour after a while. When the machine is back on track, we speed up production to catch up. The output of the two pieces of equipment is similar, but if the machine status is unstable, it will increase the burden on the on-site operators. At the same time, it takes extra time to check and repair when you don’t know what’s the problem.

In addition to recording data and reporting real-time status, AIoT Cloud can help you effectively monitor and manage the device’s operating situation. Not only the failure problems and incident time but maintenance history records can also be recorded timely. Hence, you can avoid constant repairs due to the ignorance of machine failures. Maintaining the machine’s standard operation is the most essential task. Records can help to preserve the equipment in advance. If there is a problem in the inspection, it can be fixed immediately and the production progress can be grasped.

3. In the future – Productivity prediction, maintenance, and optimisation

Data collection and analysis can assist in production planning. In the past, the data on production capacity is just a reference to estimate the approximate productivity range for the next time. The estimated range will not deviate too much from the previous one. Therefore, you cannot see the effective growth rate in the data. When there are too many orders, the work order is stuck, and we don’t know how to increase the line capacity.

IoT helps you to collect data. The application will gather the machine status and production capacity of each work order, then generate the precise value of the output. With it, you can also see the cause and quantity of defects, to optimize the site process. The actual operating time of the equipment can be seen through the utilization rate chart, and you can decide whether to raise the maintenance benchmark.

Each step of production is interlinked. Data utilization is one of the main functions of AIoT Cloud to assist you in monitoring the production lines. We hope this article may be beneficial for every manufacturer.