"As we have realized the need for more emphasis on end-of-line operations and a specific control strategy for operations downstream from the filler in total, PackML starts to come into play," said Doney. "It provides solutions for interconnectivity between the unit operations, and by providing a communication structure to report information up the line."
He said integrators like PackML because they know that, as they go from machine to machine on the line, the faults will have a similar tagging format. Integrators can configure the line control to fit the application. Today, the first thing they often have to do is to review the internal structure of the programming for each machine and adjust the programming to access the information needed to implement the line control.
Many of these functions were not implemented in the past because networking technology wasn't where it is today. As networks have evolved and Ethernet has emerged as a connectivity solution between machines and upstream, it has opened the door for what PackML can offer in terms of line diagnostics. "Users can now have an expected performance of the line, composed of the product of its parts. On a given day, if expected performance drops 5 to 10 percent, it is easy to go back and identify the reason," said Doney. "We can find out if the problem has been fixed or not and if it is something that over time is creating a degradation affecting hitting the target."
PackML enables users to get information from each of the machines with enough detail to analyze what is contributing to downtime. The software is designed to help simplify overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) reporting, solve problems quicker, and prioritize resources based on where the data shows it will provide the most benefit.
The goal is to move away from needing an engineer or high-level technician investing hours into investigating why the line is stopping and the duration of the stops. All the information is in the control of the machine, and PackML becomes a tool to extract that information. "If it takes several tries to clear the jam, it might be the same fault five times with a one-minute duration or one fault with a five-minute duration. It's a lot to ask the operators to keep detailed records and also keep the line going," said Doney. "PackML has the potential for enabling better running of the line with a more flexible workforce that can move from unit operation to unit operation. With the idea of a common look and feel, they don't need to be retrained on specific machines to know status and fault information."
It's good to see yet another step toward standardization on the factory floor. This is one more step away from hodge-podge world of plant automation. I would guess this will also give control engineers some relief from the daunting task of original programming.
It's actually amazing to me that there hasn't been a common HMI look and feel and standards prior to this kind of effort--or at least one that has any teeth. Coordinating that diversity must be a bear for organizations to manage let alone impeding worker productivity. Why has it taken so long to push standards?
HMIs are an interesting, sometimes overlooked area of focus for software/display technology improvements. Yet they play a vital part in what happens on the factory floor, and how well, and how quickly, operators can adapt to, or fix, problems in process control. It seems like improvements have been ongoing for a really long time. It's good to see that some kind of standardization is finally arriving, at least on packaging lines.
I agree it is a good thing, Ann, especially as systems are becoming increasingly complex. I would imagine this becomes a more manageable world for control engineers -- greater complexity, simpler interfaces and less original programming.
Rob, my understanding is that better, more use-friendly HMI systems are key for both control engineers and operators. There's a shift underway to put more decision-making into the hands of lower-cost operators rather than engineers, which is made possible by more automation of functions and databases that experienced engineers used to do, as you've mentioned several times. This is also being facilitated by better HMI systems.
That's a new twist I was not aware of, Ann. I didn't realize the decision making was shifting to lower-cost operators. I knew vendors were relieving plant operators of the original programming that used to be part of running a plant, but I didn't realize that meant non-engineers had their hands on the controls.
The decision-making can shift to lower-cost operators because they're making fewer decisions--and more low-level ones--as more functions get automated. This is by no means the case everywhere, but it's yet another cost-cutting trend. That's what I've heard, anyway.
I guess that shouldn't be surprising, Ann. This could be part of the trend of replacing the baby-boomer engineers at plants. As the boomers retire, I hear they are being replaced by younger workers who have less automation and control experience, but more computer experience, which is mostly appropriate given the changing nature of automation. And of course they would be lower-cost workers simply because of their youth and inexperience.
Interesting, Rob. I hadn't connected the dots between the baby boomer retiring trend and younger workers with the cost-cutting trend of using less expensive operators instead of engineers on the factory floor. I'm not sure they're the same thing. First, the engineer vs operator trend is usually described as being due to improved HMI, as we were originally discussing. Plus, isn't the first trend occurring mostly within engineering?
Yes, Ann, I was under the impression the shift from baby boomers to younger workers is still within the community of engineering. But maybe not. Maybe they're replacing the boomer engineers with non-engineers. I would make an interesting article.
The overlap between these two trends -- baby boomer retirement and lower-skilled operators taking over plant functions -- may be opportunisitic. If the baby boomers are retiring, it's a good time to switch from an engineer to an operator.
The new thing here is the standardization of HMIs screens to a common look and feel. OEM machinery builders, apart from the packaging industry, might resist this just because the operator interface is a clear part of the value added of the machine. It will be interesting to see how widely this is adopted, especially adding the functionality of changing system parameters directly from the HMI (versus using the automation vendor's computer tools). Overall, the operator interface is going through a significant transformation with lower cost, much more capable hardware and now also touchscreens joining in. Should be interesting to see how it develops toward becoming more of a "Dashboard" for machines.
Ann, I think the trend here is younger, less technically educated operators rather than engineers being replaced by younger engineers. With the level of automation in some plants, even fewer operators are required. This movement is toward integrating training resources (ready access to documentation, training videos and more) from the HMI itself. That enables more self-teaching, and innovative use of machine animations which can "show" how to perform a maintenance task, for example, versus reading a series of steps. This type of animation using 3D models is still expensive to develop but doesn't seem beyond reach in the not-too-distant future. Some automation vendors are moving in this direction but getting photo-realistics 3D animation is still in the future. Great to see how things are moving ahead in this area.
Al, that was my understanding, that better trained, and costlier, engineers were being replaced gradually by less technical operators, regardless of age.
We can expect more progress on this topic in 2013. Even though the concept of standardizing machine user interfaces seems straightforward and easy, it really is an area that defies standardization. Especially in a packaging line, individual cells and operations have distinctly different needs. So it will be interesting to keep an eye on the work of the OMAC Packaging Workgroup this year.
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