The Challenge
Changeovers in package printing involve intricate processes such as cylinder swaps, ink changes, and critical part cleaning. Despite bold claims by machine builders regarding embedded changeover features, printers often struggled to accurately calculate the time required for these transitions.
Recognizing the critical importance of minimizing changeover time in package printing, the US-based manufacturer of package printing turned to ei3’s comprehensive data collection solutions for monitoring industrial printing machines.
About the Package Printing Manufacturer
In a rapidly evolving landscape where efficiency is paramount, a major US-based manufacturer of package printing sought to optimize its operations by using ei3’s DOWNTIME application.
- US-Based Fortune 500 corporation
- Over 60 production sites worldwide
The Solution
ei3 has a comprehensive library of proven data collection solutions for monitoring both web-fed and sheet-fed industrial printing machines. The running and production status of these machines are recorded in the ei3 cloud using data values from within the existing press control systems. Every major press manufacturer has a PLC controller or computer management system with easily accessible stop codes, including error codes and stop reasons, that are ready for integration into the cloud. These digital signals indicate why the press stopped.
DOWNTIME app from ei3 analyzes these industrial press downtime reasons and maps the individual machine codes into customer-defined downtime reasons in the time tracking database.
MAP THE DOWNTIME REASONS INTO A STANDARD STRUCTURE
Mapping downtime reasons into a standardized structure becomes essential for comparing diverse values from various printing machines. For instance, a web break may have different codes and terminology across different press manufacturers. ei3 streamlines this by mapping all web break events to a common downtime reason, facilitating comparison. Reports generated by DOWNTIME offer insights into Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), enabling machine owners to assess and improve restart processes.
ALLOW OPERATORS TO ADD THEIR KNOWLEDGE
The DOWNTIME app becomes even more powerful with the active involvement of machine operators. Operators contribute valuable insights by adding their own codes and comments through ei3 apps. This allows them to report reasons for stopping the machine, including job changeovers, company meetings, or breaks. The collected data enables machine owners to evaluate changeover times according to various parameters, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Results
5% Reduction in Unplanned Downtime
Achieved a significant milestone of 5% reduction in machine downtime after six months of implementing the DOWNTIME app. Experienced a sustained reduction in downtime, indicating the ongoing effectiveness of the DOWNTIME app in optimizing operational efficiency for package printing.
PDCA Continuous Improvement
Embraced a continuous improvement approach by incorporating the Pareto analysis into the plan, do, check, and act (PDCA) process. Implemented proactive measures, including pre-staging job changeovers and utilizing press-time based Return on Investment (ROI) to prevent web breaks.
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