Problem:
Finished bottled products are weighed for fill accuracy. Products that are unacceptable are expelled from the line into a refuse bin automatically. The plant manager determined a 0.34% scrap rate was unacceptable. Due to distance between operators, adjustments on the filling line were taking too long to make.
Solution:
Given that LED Displays were placed in strategic locations within the control room, the employees were able to see changing trends in filling rates in real-time. By proactively making adjustments relevant to the trend based on reject rates, the filling lines lowered their scrap rates from 0.34% to less than 0.25%.
Data Source:
Fill levels, rates and rejects are collected via the line PLC. The data is monitored on a PLC, logged and analyzed. Actual reject data is sent to the displays in real-time along with commands to control display colors for certain reject levels.
ROI:
Savings were calculated to be approximately $500/day after installation. System costs were paid for in less than 10 days.