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INDUSTRY 4.0/IIOT


Tim Foreman, research and development manager, OMRON


retail customers. Most of the projects so far have


sensors we were monitoring seemed not to be working. When we asked the customer to check, there was a broken connector. We also identified some programming issues, including a logic mistake that was replicated in many machines on site, which they were then able to fix. They saved tens of thousands of euros in scrapped product and reduced downtime by 50%, which translated to an additional four hours of production time per month. In another application example, we are


establish what was happening versus what should have been happening. We then developed an experiment to pinpoint the root causes. This enabled us to identify and resolve about ten issues. The one that sticks in my mind involved a sensor malfunction: one of the


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currently working with a food industry customer to improve seal integrity. By applying an AI approach to the sealing operation, we will increase the shelf life by several days and minimise the occurrence of faulty seals, thereby eliminating the risk of a complete product batch being rejected by


deployed Omron's AI Controller - the world’s first AI solution that operates ‘at the edge’ (with the hardware based on the Sysmac NY5 IPC and the NX7 CPU). This controller recognises patterns based on process data collected directly on the production line. It is integrated into our Sysmac factory control platform, which means it can be used in the machine directly, to prevent efficiency losses. With examples like these and with AI


being such a hot topic in the media, it would be easy to assume that every manufacturing business is on board with AI, when this really isn’t the case. Examples of AI in use on the factory are few and far between and projects are heavily reliant on the expertise of the technology provider. In another ten years it will be a different story. Tools will develop that make AI far more accessible and user- friendly, enabling manufacturers to take ownership of AI and run with it.


OMRON www.industrial.omron.co.uk/en/home


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  


 


    NOVEMBER 2022 | PROCESS & CONTROL 41


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