NO ERROR
“We have been gradually automating with PYRESCOM's help for seven years” explains a Production Manager in Southern France, working for the European leader in Hygienic Products. For this considerable site (seven production lines , 35M long, producing 24 hours a day all types of Diapers) the problem was to minimize as far as possible the most common incidents linked to reference changes on the machines. “Severe errors were caused due to the difficulty of managing too many parameters at a time” claims the production manager. “These problems are very expensive and that hits the high productivity levels required in our undustry”. Hence, we simplified the process. PYRESCOM’s MMI (Man Machine Interface) was redesigned, with deliberate restrictions, simplified to achieve the main advantages; highly reliable and highly effective “Communication has been easier, even though it still leads to more complex processes. Tedius tasks, such as meter readings have been removed. Our staff appreciated it and were left to concentrate on more important tasks.”

AUTOMATION
Each production line is now equipped with a PYRESCOM terminal. Its functions: data acquisition and machine control. “The TERMOD provides a real link between production means and our IT. Communication protocols which coexist on the same terminal allow it to simultaneously control a barcode printer for packaging, the rate of a web press and to exchange information with our servers” The IT systems, based on SAP, also allows production management in real time or asynchronously. “Information is transferred regularly to our central system. This is done off-line so that the network is not overloaded”. Real time processing is kept for special events such as an alert or a reference change. “At any time, we have the ability to know the exact state of affairs on the factory floor: production rate on each machine, production statistics, open orders, stand-bys on incidents historical…”