Connection of production machines of a medium-sized manufacturer to the Industry 4.0 OEE solution of BITS for monitoring and optimization of production

The task in this project was to monitor and control the production machines of a manufacturer of cooling solutions in the food(easy2cool) and pharmaceutical(Licopharm) industries with the help of an OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) solution in order to optimize quality, capacity utilization and costs.

BITS Ltd.

The tasks of BITS were the IT conception, the individual development of OEE functions and evaluations, as well as the individual connection of the production machines. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a key figure that describes the availability of equipment in relation to production time. The project was carried out on the basis of BITS’ MVP approach with the aim of being able to launch the first version as quickly as possible.

The OEE solution from BITS

“By connecting our production machines to BITS’ OEE solution, we are able to optimize our production processes in terms of quality, yield, costs and downtimes. Thanks to BITS’ agile MVP process model, we were able to implement the project in a very short time, even though we had additional individual requirements. We look forward to continuously expanding the system.”

1634803060201Marco Knobloch, Managing Director of easy2cool GmbH and Licopharm OHG

Challenge

One of the challenges was to realize a quick proof of concept which, if the test is successful, can be further developed into a finished, future-proof solution. At the same time, the production machines had to be made Internet-capable to enable their continuous monitoring. Another challenge was to be able to monitor several machines simultaneously at several terminals or from mobile end devices of different user groups.

  • Connecting production machines to the Internet (IoT)

  • User interaction via local terminals and mobile devices

  • Real-time monitoring, with alarm generation and escalation processes

  • Future-proof proof of concept (MVP) in the shortest possible time

Realization

The solution was implemented on the basis of loosely coupled components, including a backend for storing and real-time evaluation of machine data, alarm generation and escalation control, a responsive front-end application for user interaction for multiple user roles, and adapters for receiving individual machine data.

BITS took on all IT roles during implementation, from conception to project management and individual development to operation of the finished solution. Continuous further development is also carried out by BITS.

  • First realization using the MVP approach of BITS (Proof of Concept)

  • Backend based on Java Spring Boot and an SQL database

  • Responsive web frontend based on Angular and PrimeNG

  • Communication via REST, websockets and file transfer

  • Creation of individual machine interfaces based on Siemens SIMATIC IOT2050, among others

  • First realization using the MVP approach of BITS (Proof of Concept)

  • Backend based on Java Spring Boot and an SQL database

  • Responsive web frontend based on Angular and PrimeNG

  • Communication via REST, websockets and file transfer

  • Creation of individual machine interfaces based on Siemens SIMATIC IOT2050, among others

The agile process model of BITS

The implementation of the project was based on the agile process model MVP by BITS and enabled a GoLive 6 weeks after the idea and target definition.

Agiles Vorgehensmodell MVP by BITS 1

Projektrollen im Überblick

BITS experts took on the following roles in this project.

  • IT-Consulting / Consulting

  • IT project management

  • IT quality assurance

  • Infrastructure / Operation

  • Fullstack development

  • Embedded development

  • Product Owner

  • DevOps