Extrusion International 5-2016

29 / 84

Extrusion International 5/2016 29
Strong history. Bright future.
Maag. Gala. Automatik. RE Scheer. The brands you know
and trust proudly building better solutions for you, together.
To learn more, visit us at our three locations at K-Show: Hall 9, Booth A04 (Main Booth) -
Booth B65 (Innovation Booth) - Booth E37 (Pulverizer and Strand Pelletizer Booth)
took, Winfactory 4.0 allows the utmost flexibility in managing
equipment and processes.
Advanced management of energy use
In parallel with the development of Winfactory 4.0, Piovan crea-
ted a group of integrated functions that allow for the control of
very accurate operative parameters to be used to manage fac-
tory energy sources: knowing how and why they are used for
each individual process based on the production volumes, the ef-
ficiency level of their use is determined. The data volumes ne-
cessary to identify the KPI and best practices to adopt to
optimise energy consumption, just one of the factors that greatly
influences production costs, can be collected quickly from va-
rious factories that are far from one another. This is the Big Data
collection and analysis concept, made sector-specific to meet the
needs of Piovan’s clients.
A bit of history
The supervision software owned by Piovan was launched as
Winfactory in 2008, even though the company began operati-
ons in 1996 to develop and produce remote management soft-
ware for its equipment. Winfactory was the first application of
this type dedicated exclusively to the plastic processing industry:
it has all the internal functions that are used for transformative
companies. The number of installations that Piovan has imple-
mented has gone from 35 in 2008 to nearly 200 a year since
2012. With the new product, the typical Winfactory supervi-
sion functions are accompanied by many others, which can be
added to the basic installation to make up a customised appli-
cation set. Available in 11 languages (with the option to add ot-
hers) with a new customisable graphic interface, barcode reader,
touchscreen support, email notification function in case of
alarms and log reporting, Winfactory 4.0 is an extremely evolved
instrument for the careful and efficient management of the en-
tire production process.
Winfactory 4.0: configurations
Based on the type of industrial processing, Winfactory 4.0 can
be configured in several ways. Piovan developed different mo-
dules to manage each situation, from the production of PET to
flexible film preforms or preforms for specific sectors like the
medical and automotive industries with a completely customi-
sable setup for each aspect based on the particular type of pro-
cess. The Energy configuration is not specific for the plastic
sector but is focused on monitoring the use of energy based on
the type of industry and can be integrated in all superior confi-
gurations. The possibilities of Winfactory are further extended by
a series of optional and on-demand functions and services like,
for example, tracking, OPC-UA Server, remote assistance, line
power, formula, production and necessary material reordering
management. The system itself automatically manages the use
of the lines based on what and how much must be produced,
for example, by selecting to maintain the lowest possible critical
level. For example, producing a lot with a certain formula is more
convenient if it can be done at a factory that was already used
for the same type of mix since the there are fewer interventions
necessary to clean the machines. With the installation of the
OPC-UA protocol, both the basic and additional Winfactory 4.0
features can be made available on the machines, systems and
automation devices not produced by Piovan and can interface
directly with the management system at the individual plant as
well as the company network. In this way, information can be
shared between the various systems and data can be collected
to optimise the processes, creating the Smart Factory of the
fourth industrial revolution.
Thanks to the evolution of the production systems for Industrie
4.0, an instrument like Piovan’s new Winfactory 4.0 will allow
for the optimisation of all processes, the qualitative improve-
ment of production and evolution towards more efficient ma-
nufacturing in the use of global energy resources.