as translators and facilitators om business to technology realms, and IoT Platform experts were hired to roll up the data of machines into a visualization layer and provide decision making empowerment to ont line supervisors, plant heads and other personnel. Project implementation and outcomes All five NEI factories are currently executing the Industry 4.0 DX initiative, with contingency planning in place to ensure upgrades pose minimal disruption to the implementation of the new systems. The Jaipur factory is already at scale implementation – having been chosen as the first location for full scale deployment based on its existing emphasis on automated operations. The remaining four plants are now targeted to be brought onto the real-time data and application mode in the next eight months. Rockwell’s focus for NEI has been on developing an agnostic solution to bring all machines on the same IIoT platform, which was made more challenging by having a mix of earlier generation
controllers and equipment. Rockwell handled application development services, with management and IT consulting handled internally by NEI team members, as well as the machine connectivity to the OPC layer. Already, the project is achieving success toward specific goals that included driving the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of the factory 2-3% above baselines of 78-80%. As such, the 2-3% goal is a significant stretch in OEE, and it’s being made possible by a more paperless factory; real time shop floor data; decision making empowerment at all levels; and a new workforce culture focused on a proactive, versus reactive, mindset for work and problem-solving. Continuous learning and improvement As this digital transformation continues, the company is researching and developing new use cases around advanced analytics; augmented and mixed reality for shop floor training; collaborative workflows for streamlining information flow and process integration; machine vision for inspection and other
Industry 4.0 innovations. Continuous learning is a priority throughout, with feedback loops for team optimization, technology data architecture adjustments and insights on failure points leveraged for process optimization. Given that any shop floor deployment will have many unknowns, these insights form the learning for future deployments and a ready checkpoint for resolution. As they prioritize use cases for digital transformation, the NEI team constantly assesses factors such as business impact, ease of implementation, organization-wide coverage, number of users impacted, cost of implementation, returns and benefits. And to ensure everyone stays aligned on the roadmap and goals for the transformation, the team maintains a dynamic and a comprehensive execution plan; with the project represented as part of team members’ Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) and Objectives for the year. DW
Rockwell Automation www.rockwellautomation.com
MAGNETIC ENCODERS FOR POSITION FEEDBACK Contactless, no wear and maintenance-free High positioning accuracy and resolution Economical, small, compact designs and custom solutions Flexible ring diameters and measuring lengths
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