One billion bottles a year on the wall

Wells continues, “Bottom line is that ‘What gets measured gets improved.’ SFIS is the catalyst to make this happen. From a maintenance and engineering perspective, SFIS is the first thing I look at each morning; I monitor it throughout the day, and it is the last thing I check at day’s end.”

Conceptualized by Gallo, and designed and implemented by integrator Saber Engineering (Auburn, Calif.), the SFIS system includes over 20 HMI screens and generates 30 reports for the glass plant production team. It works with an Oracle database to consolidate the data from the plant’s devices, and then transform that real-time data into dynamic text, alarm, and graphic displays.

Production Snap Shot
Information is presented on the terminals located on the lines for a quick, easy-to-view snapshot of production. Operators and managers can view Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as Percent Pack, which displays the number of bottles successfully produced for every 100 attempts; defects, losses, and production quantities by line; and more. The system provides timely notification of defects, so that operators can correct production and boost quality.

BETTER DATA, BETTER QUALITY
By analyzing data from plant floor processes, Gallo engineers were able to redesign the glass molds to prevent defects and decrease cracking.

The SFIS not only monitors and controls production but also acts as a real-time factory floor dashboard. Gallo Glass is collecting so much data now that it would be impossible to manually analyze it. With SFIS, the team can manipulate the data and look at it from a broader perspective to make a real difference in processes.

By analyzing the data from the plant floor processes, the team was able to redesign the glass molds to engineer out defects and decrease cracking. This change has reduced scrap and improved yield. Additionally, the team has perfected wall thickness and distribution –a long-term improvement that affects the amount of liquid that goes into the bottles–using wall thickness run charts. Using the system as an engineering and planning tool, Gallo Glass has been able to make major improvements that have saved the company money and helped increase the quality of products to consumers.

Additionally, the team has made adjustments in the batching and furnace operations through root-cause analysis. A more efficient furnace design has helped the plant use less energy. At the furnace, Gallo Glass uses a special GAS–OXY firing process to burn pure oxygen and significantly reduce nitrous oxide output. The company is the first major user of the process, and makes its own oxygen with an on-site cryogenic oxygen plant.

At an electrostatic precipitator, or scrubber, iFIX software runs on a desktop computer for further operational analysis. This has helped the glass plant reduce emissions by 80%.

After the bottles are formed, automated bottle inspection has helped the plant become more agile if there is an error on a line. The team estimates a 25% decrease in defects through timely net inspection. On the lines, video cameras take pictures of the moving bottles, and the system analyzes for variances in shape or pattern, and light and dark spots. A defect could be a piece of unmelted sand, or could take the form of a bubble or blister, seen as a dark spot.

Another machine inserts a plastic dowel into each bottle to check for free, open and unobstructed bottle necks or, or in the parlance of the industry, a “choked neck.” Inspection also includes checks for cracks or chips at the top of threaded bottles. Another inspection ensures a clean sealing surface, to prevent leakage.

Defects can also make a bottle structurally weak, prone to breaks, chips or cracks. Gallo Glass automatically inspects 100% of the bottles, and follows that with automated random sampling inspection methods and manual inspection. When defects are found, the operator can use the system to adjust machines properly, check calibrations or perform additional tests.

Between production and inspection, Gallo Glass collects more than 2.5 million packets of data per day in the glass plant. The system provides an Internet portal dashboard with global visibility into the information. The thin client system works on dial up for remote connections, and users can also access via Virtual Private Network (VPN) and the Internet.

In addition to production improvements, the data helps the plant maintain its  ISO certification and archive information as part of a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan under the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practices. Operators can document any issues by simply filling out an iFIX screen for a HACCP. Susan Anders, quality manager in charge of HACCP, says, “We have automated the entire HACCP documentation process and can analyze cumulative trends and compliance easily and quickly.”

Head of the Glass
Since implementing the system and refining processes, Gallo Glass has increased both the number and quality of bottles that the team makes. Gallo Glass has achieved industry-leading results worthy of a toast!