Home » Realizations » MES – expansion of the production support system and monitoring the effectiveness of the confectionery production line

Food and Beverage industry

MES – expansion of the production support system and monitoring the effectiveness of the confectionery production line

PRO-CONTROL started cooperation with the confectionery manufacturer in 2007 with the modernization of the archiving system for technological parameters. Over the next years, it performed a number of modernizations, including the MES system supporting production.

Purpose and scope of the project: 

  • obtaining information on the basic KPI (effectiveness – OEE) in terms of performance, availability and quality; 
  • getting a preview of the current state (volume and efficiency) of production; 
  • the possibility of reporting the history (volume and efficiency) of production in specified periods; 
  • tracking the operating status of machines; • analysis of downtime causes (reason dictionaries); 
  • minimization of the time spent by employees on entering data. The implementation concerned two full lines consisting of the production part and the packaging room. 

Thanks to automation, the system for recording data on the efficiency of production lines and individual machines was unified.

System description

Performance indicators – OEE

The currently operating monitoring system includes two production lines: L1 and L2, and is based on Wonderware software as well as Allen-Bradley controllers and operator panels. The construction of the system involved determining material flow streams at selected points in four areas of the production line.
The monitored indicators included, for example, parameters such as mass flow measurement, measurement of the operating speed of cutting machines (tacts), measurement of the amount of the resulting chocolate-drenched and non-drenched waste, counting the number of packages, which in total gave about 30 variables recorded on an ongoing basis during production.
These data are collected on individual zones of production lines and converted into the OEE indicator – Resulting Production Efficiency. In addition, the client received an extensive reporting system that allows you to easily analyze the number, downtime and their causes broken down into changes or dates of occurrence, and enables advanced “Data Mining”.

Track & Trace

In the registration system, the so-called “Limited additives” used to produce flavor mass, a product genealogy tracking module was launched. Each ingredient used in production is registered by scanning the label with a code containing all the important information about the manufacturer, expiry dates, production batch number, etc. Additionally, parameters such as weight of the dosed raw material, dosing time, operator code are entered. The results of laboratory tests of the collected samples are also added to each executed production order.

Authorized users have access to an extensive reporting service, including:

  • Measurements – access to all registered sample parameters;
  • Product – a list of production orders, their statuses and raw materials used;
  • Raw material – a list of raw materials and production orders in which they were used; • Stock – a report showing the current stock of raw materials.

Summary

The implemented system allows for quick identification of parameters deviating from the adopted standards and withdrawal of the production batch before packaging. In the case of complaints from consumers, it is easy to identify defective raw materials, identify all products that do not meet the standard and efficiently carry out corrective actions on the market.

Other realizations