Data Collection in Food and Beverage is often challenging. SCADA and Automation are a huge part of the industry because of the regulation inherent to an industry revolving around what we consume every day. OnPing is a platform to build solutions for the biggests obstacles faced in Food and Beverage data operations.
Traditional automation systems are designed to silo or trap important information in local systems. We commonly see data silos in between factories in the same company. In fact, data silos often exist between lines operating in a signle factory! OnPing can connect these systems and create an environment with free-flowing channels to move data where it needs to be, when it needs to be there – while also managing access to that information.
Establishing Connections
Any one system may look fine independently. However, disconnected systems will – by design – always create difficultlly and inefficiency when communicating critical information. People patch these obvious gaps with hot fixes like email, manuall report inputs, or good old fashioned walk-talkie communications – but these solutions create the same problems the system was insulated for in the first place.
These isolated SCADA systems were designed with good intentions, but they fail to provide the basic functionality anyone would want from a data system in the first place – access to data! The real challenge then is collecting data and getting it to a place where it can be useful.
What is an Automation Platform?
The OnPing platform uniquely situated to improve upon legacy systems. It offers a platformed approach to automation systems with tools to tackle each element of the automation cycle. Bring data in, keep clean historical accountings of the data asset, transform raw streams into meaningful information, and rapidly communicate intelligent, mission critical information across an organization in one common environment.
One of the big things about the OnPing platform is that it can be distrubited piece meal to fill the gaps in an active system. Already have a great data ingestion program? Excellent! Log data, or use OnPing as a place to transform it into actionable information.
OnPing enables communication across devices and facilities without relying on ‘McGyver-ing’ solutions. The “fill in the gaps” approach to data ingestion and automation management means you don’t need to spend huge amounts of money on upgrades. Instead, Users can work towards getting more value out of the available equipment.
Experiment, Build, and Grow
OnPing makes it easy to proceed experimentally and prove value as you expand. Gather information to view performance on equipment. Compare information across your best performing line and worst performing lines. Develop process improvents, and test them at small scale. Show value and repeat!
If a new process is highly successful, standardize the configuration across any number of devices (regardless of their geographical locations) with over-the-air application deployments in a single click. OnPing enables data systems to become as adaptable as you are to meeting market demands and regulatory requirements.
Onboard Our Technical Expertise
Our application specialists can help you create performance metrics across factories and lines that are source agnostic and linkable on the fly.
Here are some common metrics built in OnPing:
- Machine Alarm Tracking
- System Availability
- Machine Performance
- System Quality
Having a second set of competent eyes on a project can make all the difference. OnPing provides access to consultation with our cabable systems architects, engineers, and developers to help ensure you are looking for the right information in your system.
Machine Alarm Tracking
Alarm system design is no picnic. There many different alarms coming in through many through many channels for many reasons all the time. OnPing can combine and track those alarms in one interface and associate them with crucial date to understand what is happening at the time.
In fact you don’t even have to know what you would want to know, you can add it later! OnPing is an adaptive solution, so your system can be adjusted as you go to optimize performance and information gathering to your exact needs – no guesswork involved.
Our Alarm enviroment is full scale. Set Call Orders, configure alarm messages, set Parameters for Alarms, and anything else you might need from one easy to use environment. If you have event-based information that you want to see – but it doesn’t rise to the level of requiring an actual Alarm call out – OnPing has a built in Alert system to manage these smaller notification needs. Use OnPing to see the information you want when you need it.
System Availability
Build out schedules in OnPing to understand when your systems are being utilized. Track runtime vs theoretical runtime, and adjust estimates on the fly. Understanding ‘when’ and ‘how often’ lines are running compared to what ‘should’ be happening is critical to understanding operations as a whole. In OnPing, these are basic insights.
This information removes guess work from equations such as:
- “How much does it cost to make this product?”
- “Where is our line of profitability?”
- “Do we need to upgrade this line?”
If you don’t know how/when your equipment is running, then you’re in the dark about how much production cost. OnPing can help shine a light on what your availability really looks like so you can make decision that matter with information that makes sense.
Machine Performance
As machines wear out, it is often the case that companies are basing the yield of a machine on numbers they can’t hit any more. OnPing can make it easy to track how many actual units are going through a machine compared to projected.
System Quality
Knockouts for metal detection, visual inspection systems, and even hand entered data can be combined together to give your lines quality scores. It doesn’t matter how fast you go if what you have at the end is no good.
OnPing’s ability to provide a consistent interface across legacy equipment and multiple platforms makes it ideal for companies looking to understand their operations at a lot of different levels at once.
