Extrusion International 5-2016

Extrusion International 5/2016

Winfactory 4.0

This is not a new version of the historic Winfactory,

which Piovan launched in 2008 as the first remote

factory monitoring and control instrument. This

new application is already ready for Industrie 4.0,

the group of protocols and technologies, being im-

plemented, that constitutes the core of the fourth

industrial revolution: the digital manufacturing.

Industrie 4.0: control and optimisation

of production processes

Industrie 4.0 has been created from a strategic German go-

vernment project for the technological evolution and optimisa-

tion of industrial processes, aimed at implementing a detailed

system that allows for maximum production efficiency, the best

use of energy and the highest possible goods customisation

even in a mass production context thanks to the adoption of

four basic principles that are implemented in the Smart Factory:

• Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS): guaranteed interoperability

thanks to a global network created by businesses that include

machinery, logistics, structures and operators that are intercon-

nected and continuously dialogue through the Internet of Things

(IoT) and the Internet of People (IoP).

• Integration of data to the context: using information systems

able to aggregate the raw data received directly from the ma-

chines during the production process in the full context, ever

more timely needs can be fulfilled.

• Digital Interconnection during the entire process: from the end

user to the manufacturer and vice versa, the process engineering

allows for the customisation of the product through the system

that independently collects the information needed to perform

the required task.

• Decentralisation of decisions: thanks to the integration of their

components and their connection, the CPS are able to perform

their tasks autonomously notwithstanding exceptions, interfe-

rences or continent needs.

Piovan supervision software

for the Smart Factory

Winfactory 4.0:

the fourth industrial revolution according to Piovan

The integration between the production, distribution and infor-

mation structures of the manufacturing industry is the key Smart

Factory concept. Piovan has implemented this with the evolu-

tion of its process control and management software based on

the Industrie 4.0 guidelines, creating communication networks

with an exchange capacity well ahead of schedule (2020) to

allow for connections between the various parts of the techno-

logical ecosystem.

Ready to communicate

Winfactory 4.0 uses OPC - UA (Open Platform Communication

- Unified Architecture), the protocol selected by Industrie 4.0 be-

fore issuing the Smart Factory specifications: developed by the

OPC Foundation in 2015, it defines the communication rules

and data exchange between the various entities that make up

the system.

Thanks to the use of this protocol, Winfactory 4.0 makes it pos-

sible to supervise and ensure dialogue between Piovan machines

and machines of other manufacturers (OEM). There is no longer

the need for an interface that “translates” the data provided by

each device into a common format: the information exchange

becomes immediate and the various systems can interact inde-

pendently. A similar communication platform allows access and

use of the software on tablets and smartphones, despite the

complexity of the technological challenge that Piovan under-