Beyond increasing simplification and useability by non-scientists, another essential goal for data analytics is becoming more affordable for more users.
For instance, most U.S. foundries are still small- to midsized, family- and privately owned companies with less capital to invest, so many still rely on manual data entry and Excel spreadsheets. Conversely, this situation also means a few foundries, such as 50,000-square-foot Ferroloy Inc. in Wichita, Kan., can gain and/or maintain a competitive edge by upgrading to newer SCADA and analytics software. The company manufactures ductile iron and gray-iron castings, and reports it needed to find an alternative to its highly manual data collection processes, which were riddled with inaccurate and unused data.
Ferroloy adds it wanted to improve throughput and quality, while reducing unplanned downtime, as well as implement lean manufacturing practices to drive behavioral changes, Consequently, it hired a new process engineer, enlisted system integrator Artek Integrated Solutions, a system integrator in Folsom. Calif., adopted Ignition web-based SCADA software from Inductive Automation, and designed device visualizations using Ignition’s Perspective module.
“We're trying to digitalize an aged process, and gain better visibility to unlock latent potential within the process,” said Clint VenJohn, process engineer at Ferroloy.
Seek and solve wider radius of problems
Previously, Ferroloy mostly used its available data to solve individual problems, rather than support company-wide initiatives. To create a SCADA system beneficial to operators, as well as upper management, Artek built and configure a MySQL database on Ferroloy’s servers, which was then connected to Ignition’s Tag Historian module, as a centralized repository for maximizing data collection and analytics. This combination created a single source of truth that any user could reference.
“The goal with the Ferroloy project was to digitally transform their disconnected foundry that relied heavily on manual data gathering on paper through more efficient data collection and analysis,” says Jerry Eppler, co-founder and CEO at Artek.
Ferroloy sought to increase its capacity by 25-30%, reduce scrap by 30-35%, but still avoid distracting its operators pouring 2,700 °F, molten iron (Figure 1). Ignition helped Ferroloy progress toward its goals by identifying methods for improving efficiency, backed by quantitative data. “With Ignition, we can see more or less up-to-the-minute production data, while before we’d lag behind by a week or so,” explains VenJohn. “We can identify trends and shift reports almost in real time, which are huge improvements that let us identify and react to problems more quickly.”
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Combining incoming data sources
Similarly, Ignition’s device drivers help Ferroloy reach its patchwork of different PLCs and other devices that don’t communicate with them, and connect despite the foundry’s inherently dusty environment that’s typically harsh on electronics. It also using Ignition to reach smart TV monitors that display KPI dashboards for quick reference above the foundry’s six production lines.
“One of Ferroloy’s main problems was the data they were gathering on the plant-floor was siloed from their Hitachi equipment by its software. If you needed that information, you had to walk there to get it,” adds Jim LePratt, design service engineer at Artek. “Ignition brought the siloed data from their Hitachi and Heraeus equipment directly into screens that could be used on the plant-floor for verification that the product was good at the point it was being used.”
Likewise, Ignition and its Mitsubishi driver software linked to Ferroloy’s Sinto molding machines with Mitsubishi PLCs. This allows their production data to be fed back to B&L’s off-premises Odyssey enterprise resource planning (ERP) software-as-a-service (SaaS) via an application program interface (API) and sync routines. They monitor Odyssey for changes in real-time, and alert Ignition and its users. The driver supports the supplier’s proprietary Mitsubishi Electric Sequence Control (MELSEC) protocol over TCP networking. This establishes a direct connection between the PLCs and ERP system, eliminating the need for added software, and reducing project costs by freeing operators from manually inputting data.
Integrating Ignition and Odyssey also helps with time limits in Ferroloy’s iron casting process. Its HMIs show what’s happening on the six pour lines and their oncoming molds, and synchronizes them with related ERP data. This lets operators know what’s being poured when they tap the furnace and put the molten iron into the ladle, which is crucial because the iron is only usable for 10 minutes once a new ladle is started.
“Ignition is already expanding into other areas of the plant. They're working on integrating their quality assurance (QA) lab with Ignition, and we're getting spectrometer data into Ignition, too,” adds Eppler. “We're also starting to work on getting some of the grinding room data into Ignition, and even working on dashboards for the break room.”
