Moving from Industry 4.0 to Packaging 4.0
Industry 4.0 is a vision that machines and systems independently monitor all of the important process and system states, share information with each other and optimize the production processes throughout the entire process chain. Industrial Revolution 1.0 to 3.0 took the industrial advancements through mechanized processes, mass production and production automation. TodayIndustry 4.0 pursuits product innovation, increased collaboration, operational process enhancement and cyber-physical production.
However, the road to completely implementing this vision is along-term evolution for packaging manufacturer companies recently started their digital transformation. This is why it is important to specifically defineIndustry 4.0 for packaging companies: Packaging 4.0.
Packaging industry is one of the multi-disciplined interactive B2B2C sectors whose outputs predominantly affect both business results of the supplied industries and the consumers’ lives. This is why quality, flexibility, cost and time is extraordinarily important when compared to other sectors. Packaging4.0 refers to intelligent machines with integrated processes and intuitive operation and targets to achieve flexibility, speed, quality and cost efficiency at the same time. The new industrial approach of Packaging 4.0 allows packaging manufacturer compaies to answer new strategic trends of:
· Convergence of applications for initiating new advancements
· Greater business focus on energy efficiency and sustainability
· Greater presence of mobility and web-based information systems
Data comes first? But how to enable it?
Applying Packaging 4.0 can bring many benefits like better data management, improved efficiency and advanced live planning. But while benefits Packaging 4.0 is clear, replacing a traditional production line with a new generation smart one enabling smooth transition toPackaging 4.0 may not be an option for packaging companies when their large scales and margin constraints considered. Although smart packaging production lines allow seamless exchange of data between the equipment and the control systems, older devices are only capable of giving primitive 1-0 data indicating only ifit is on or off.
So, the very initial prerequisite of adopting Packaging 4.0 is capturing data output of the production line on a healthy electronic platform. Small technical advancements applied to existing equipment like conversion of analog information into digital form, integration of sensors to gather operating data, implementation of communication modules to transfer data, or connecting all machines on an higher level analytical software enable start of Packaging 4.0 transformation. These upgrades can enable definition of production phases, identification of stops and downtimes, live data collection from the systems and instantaneous sharing of the collected data for analysis.
Analyzing the data for faster decision making
Once the basic data capture process is place, it is then possible to start analyzing the data to see how efficient the line is running and, often, to identify potential bottlenecks in the process that would allow further improvements to efficiency. It will also be possible to monitor device condition, permitting preventative maintenance type functionality.
The strategic platform of Packaging 4.0. enables manufacturing integration, intelligence and plant connectivity. Implementation of the upgrades and advancements in the production line for Packaging 4.0 harmonizes the production despite the variations in the inputs. Live data enables diagnosis and analysis of the deviations in the outputs instantly, making it possible to interfere the production on time.
The increasing intelligence of the machines through the integrated automation and intelligent operation increase the level of control over the machine which leverages flexibility, cost efficiency and quality of the production. Packaging 4.0 is evolving with the advancements in the technology and digitization.
