User: Shell Oil Products U.S., Houston, TX
Application: Bottling lines for lubricants that operate at 550 bottles/min.
Information collected: Data are collected on machine status and motions of each component on each machine. This is done for each of 10 pieces of major equipment per line from depalletizer to palletizer. Tracks uptime and downtime, case counts, overall production rates, trending, and efficiency.
Benefits: Users know machine status and availability in real time, and track uptime and downtime automatically. (Before, downtime was tracked manually using stopwatches and logged on paper). The technology helps
troubleshoot equipment. Operators know at a glance the status of the entire line. Color indicators alert operators to downward trending so they can take corrective action before downstream operator knows there is a problem.
Technology: Rockwell Automation’s Data Highway network, RSView HMI/SCADA Software, and SLC 5/04 programmable logic
controllers.
How it works: Each machine’s PLC communicates to a central supervisory PLC via Data Highway. RSView downloads data from the main PLC, which operates in conjunction with line’s automated control system.
Who uses data: Primarily production, packaging, and maintenance.
Networks: Rockwell’s Data Highway.
Quote: “When done manually, you never get true downtime data. It’s always skewed, and the stopwatches took away from the operators’ productivity. Now we get true data in real time.” —Ord Limbrick, plant engineer.
