Overall equipment effectiveness is one of those tried-and-true metrics that many may think of having passed its prime amid the array of analytics possible with today’s more advanced analysis technologies. However, the reality is that OEE remains one of the core metrics to determine the effectiveness of a production process.
At Pack Expo 2023, Emerson showcased this reality in a demonstration of its Floor to Cloud portfolio of technologies. This group of Emerson technologies includes Aventics pneumatics, Branson power supplies, Movicon SCADA/HMI, and PACEdge and PACSystems controllers and software.
Mark Densley, Emerson’s director of business development, factory automation, demonstrated the open architecture of the Floor to Cloud system by showing how multiple different sensors can be connected to collect, monitor and display plant floor data via Movicon in a dashboard. The dashboard depicting compressed air consumption, for example, enables users to see trends related to connected production processes to determine if there are any consumption issues, such as a leakage.
The data in this demonstration at Pack Expo was stored in PACEdge device in the display, but Densley noted that those data points could be transmitted to a historian in the cloud or on premises. “Floor to Cloud is a really flexible, very open approach to how we can help customers get data from various sensors or existing pieces of equipment,” he said.
Based on the wide collection of data enabled by Emerson’s Floor to Cloud system, users have the data required to “build a really accurate level of OEE calculation for a piece of equipment or the facility overall,” said Densley.
In addition to core metrics such as OEE, Densley noted that many Emerson customers are monitoring energy use and consumables used in their production processes as part of their corporate sustainability initiatives. “Here again with Floor to Cloud we can provide insights into what is going on with those consumables. For example, if there is extra usage of compressed air, water or natural gas,” he said.
For the sustainability portion of the demonstration, the data displayed in the Floor to Cloud system was live data from Emerson’s Laatzen, Germany, facility. “This shows how we use our tools internally at Emerson to track our own sustainability goals,” he added.
See Mark Densley demonstrate Emerson’s Floor to Cloud technologies at Pack Expo 2023 in the video below.
