"We network all our machines - despite different ages, sizes and functions"

Avoiding unplanned downtime is what it's all about for many companies. Flestic, a manufacturer of plastic packaging from Dronten in the Netherlands, implemented Werma's SmartMONITOR for this purpose. With it, Flestic was able to optimize its production in just a few weeks.

Flestic's history began over forty years ago in a farmer's barn with a few custom-made plastic models. Today Flestic produces intelligent plastic packaging solutions for industries as diverse as food, cosmetics, automotive, household and care industries with the help of 80 employees. In addition to bottles, jars and closures, the production range includes custom plastic packaging for numerous industries. In its production process, Flestic relies on modern, standardized and highly flexible machinery. The company now has 40 extrusion blow molding machines, 35 of which were developed and built in-house. The problem was that they could not determine exact figures for capacity utilization, order status or productivity. Reliability engineer Bas van Nes explains: "We wanted accurate, reliable metrics and and to be able to see when a machine starts and stops, or what the reason for that stop was. This was a gray area until now."

Smart and simple

Initially, the engineer created his own pulse of the machine insight. "From this I could build a database and extract information, but over time that wasn't professional enough," he said. So the company went looking and came across an article on a new machine data acquisition (MDE) system.

The SmartMONITOR system described in it immediately excited van Nes: "What a clever and at the same time simple principle: a signal light that is supplemented by a corresponding module and then immediately transmits all the machine's data to a central database. I was immediately convinced. Our general manager was also very enthusiastic, because this way we would be able to see every start and stop of the machines - on the one hand on the screen, but also on the machine itself. I contacted WERMA and barely two days later the free test box arrived with everything we needed."

Anything but uniform

Meanwhile, Flestic has been using the simple, radio-controlled system for just over a year now ‘'SmartMONITOR' from WERMA. The intelligent signal tower network offers a simple, cost-effective and retrofit alternative to the usual complex MDE systems. With SmartMONITOR, faults and unproductive times can be detected, analyzed and documented more quickly. This reduces response times, avoids downtime and increases productivity. "Our machines are of different construction years. We were excited to see how easy it is to connect the different types of machines with Werma's SmartMONITOR. We have about 40 machines of different sizes in the plant, so the signal towers were initially at different heights. Thanks to the smart accessories, we were able to set them all at a uniform height. That way, the machinery looks sleek and uncluttered. We can immediately see where there are malfunctions or a breakdown, and then respond and anticipate (without any delay) immediately." 

Reliable figures at last 

The three-level signal columns visually indicate the status of each machine and relay that information to the SmartMONITOR software. "That provides information about the process stability of the machines," says van Nes. "Of course, we discuss the values every morning during our meeting in production. We were very surprised when we realized that it is often not technical problems that lead to the downtime or failures, but rather that downtimes are due to organizational reasons." van Nes sees further advantages in the system's flexibility: "We move our machines from time to time. Thanks to SmartMONITOR, I don't have to pull additional cables because the signal tower is already mounted on the machine. This saves me a lot of work and, of course, money." Management also works with the data obtained from the WERMA database. "In this way, the entire company benefits from this system. Just great!" concludes van Nes. 

"Soon it will also flash in the cafeteria" 

Flestic is completely satisfied with WERMA's simple and smart MDE system. When asked what the next step is, van Nes replied, "We want to further analyze the data and refine our data." In addition, the company plans to install a signal light in the canteen. "That should immediately inform our employees of a possible machine shutdown. This is the only way they can react immediately. We are going to equip about 30 more machines with this great system. After all, you are not limited to production machines, we can network almost any machine with this system, such as chillers, compressors ... I still see a lot of possibilities."