IOT News

Background and Challenges:
Composite machines are crucial equipment in the packaging and printing industry, used to bond two or more layers of the same or different materials together with an adhesive.

 Typically, one layer is printed material, and the other is a material that has undergone high-temperature or sterilization treatment for direct contact with packaged goods. Currently, manufacturing is undergoing a transition from traditional production modes to intelligent production. Although composite machines have achieved automated production, their management systems still require upgrades to meet increasingly refined and efficient production demands. However, enterprises face numerous challenges in this process:

1. Data Silos: Traditional PLC control systems often operate independently, making information interchange between devices difficult and leading to "data silos."
2. Inefficient Processes: Manual inspections and record-keeping are time-consuming and labor-intensive, while data lacks centralized analysis tools.
3. High Maintenance Costs: Equipment failures are difficult to detect and address promptly, resulting in increased downtime and repair expenses.

These issues severely constrain enterprise production efficiency and management levels.

 Therefore, constructing an efficient and reliable PLC composite machine data acquisition and remote monitoring system is of utmost importance.

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In response, WideIOT (formerly known as Wutongbolian) provides a PLC composite machine data acquisition and remote monitoring system solution based on industrial smart gateways.

Solution Overview

 By connecting WideIOT's industrial smart gateways to the composite machine's PLC controller, protocol parsing and data acquisition are performed. Data is then uploaded to cloud platforms or upper computers using various methods such as 5G, 4G, Wi-Fi, or Ethernet, enabling remote monitoring of equipment operational status and automatic alerting. This allows for timely management and control measures to be taken, maintaining the safety and stability of production operations and avoiding additional losses due to fault-related downtime.

Implemented Functions:

1. The gateway can interface with various PLC interfaces and communication protocols, acquiring real-time equipment status, process parameters, and other data, converting them into standard data formats accessible by subsequent systems.
2. Leveraging edge computing capabilities, preliminary data analysis and preprocessing are conducted to reduce unnecessary data traffic, improve transmission efficiency, and alleviate the operational pressure on cloud or local servers.
3. The monitoring platform enables configuration monitoring of process states such as unwinding, feeding, coating, composite rolls, and rewinding rolls, presenting key indicators and trend changes through intuitive charts and dashboards.
4. Users can view equipment status anytime, anywhere via PC or mobile devices and receive alert notifications through methods such as WeChat, SMS, or email, enabling rapid positioning, diagnosis, and response.
5. A standardized operation and maintenance management mechanism is established to detect and address minor abnormalities promptly, preventing downtime and work stoppages, while also forming an audit mechanism for maintenance management to enhance work efficiency.

Advantages and Value:

1. Enhanced Operational Efficiency: Achieves 24/7 monitoring of PLC composite machines, significantly reducing the need for manual intervention.
2. Reduced Operation and Maintenance Costs: Proactively alerts potential issues, avoiding costly repairs resulting from sudden failures.
3. Promoted Decision Optimization: Relies on rich historical data and analysis results to provide strong support for management decision-making.