Advantech > Case Studies > Cutting-Edge Asset Management Solutions for Maximized Efficiency

Cutting-Edge Asset Management Solutions for Maximized Efficiency

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Europe

Country

Italy

Product

WebAccess/SCADA

Tech Stack

HTML5

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements
Energy Saving

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing
Maintenance

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance
Energy Management System
Remote Control

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

The customer is an Italian manufacturer of transmissions, engines, drivelines, and fasteners. They operate in a highly competitive global marketplace, where major auto parts manufacturers require that their production lines exploit every available technological innovation to ensure that they maximize their value and efficiency. Their auto production lines are highly complex; they rely on the seamless coordination of a complex chain of robotic arms, sensors, and other instruments. The customer sought to develop a company-wide optimization program aimed at enhancing the asset management and energy consumption of their existing machinery and infrastructure.

The Challenge

The Italian manufacturer of transmissions, engines, drivelines, and fasteners sought to develop a company-wide optimization program aimed at enhancing the asset management and energy consumption of their existing machinery and infrastructure. The goal was to improve the condition monitoring process and manage overall equipment effectiveness. The company required an open technology solution for data acquisition and monitoring that could support a range of different equipment and machines without replacing any existing hardware. The system also needed to be user-friendly for operators, with an easy-to-use and intuitive dashboard that could be viewed on a range of devices including smartphones and tablets.

The Solution

Advantech’s WebAccess/SCADA, combined with the Infor EAM platform, provided the foundation for the overall solution. WebAccess/SCADA is a browser-based software package used for supervisory control and data acquisition. The software facilitates intelligent analytics via the user-friendly HTML5-based dashboard. Users can quickly and easily create customized information pages by using widgets that show analysis charts and diagrams. WebAccess/SCADA technology made the integration of the entire system possible, allowing for the acquisition and monitoring of energy consumption and production data from each piece of equipment, including data for the aforementioned physical parameters in addition to data on the compressor room, electricity consumption, cooling system, pumps, and so on.

Operational Impact

The company was able to enjoy substantial energy savings.
The company was able to implement regular production stoppages every 6 months for ordinary maintenance and repairs.
The company gained the necessary knowledge to replace worn parts in advance before breakage, thus preventing costly unscheduled stoppages and thereby further enhancing production line efficiency.
The system lowered production waste while also making remote control of some machines (e.g., compressors) possible.

Quantitative Benefit

The system improved the company’s overall performance by 4%–5% without any replacement of existing machinery.
The system delivered an excellent return on investment; in fact, the system proved to be so beneficial that it was estimated that it would pay for itself within just one year.