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DVR Module for Troubleshooting and Continuous Improvement
Effective mass production manufacturing operations involve both monitoring of production processes and continual improvement. ECS Solutions, Inc (ECS) has developed an innovative, powerful tool to help their clients develop peace of mind that their products are being manufactured accurately and efficiently while providing a platform to easily improve future interactions. The Process DVR tool satisfies the modern expectation that anything that can be observed visually should be recorded and easily viewed later. When used effectively, the result is truly optimized production control where the best-trained operators deliver accurate results with the least possible waste.
Data Historian capabilities have been built into many vendors’ SCADA systems for a long time. Astute process engineers can call up trending information that illustrates the states and conditions within an automated system, the multitude of lines crisscrossing an HMI terminal in a way their trained eyes can discern. This is an excellent tool by itself, provided that an operation has personnel who are trained to read and interpret the cryptic information that is returned from a standalone Historian. ECS believed that this was conceptually sound but that a more manageable solution would help to bring wider benefits to their processing clients.
The initial requirement that their team established when creating Process DVR was to address the user-friendliness of Ignition’s Data Historian. Beginning in 2016, ECS initially sought to provide an easier route to the stored process signals data. Building upon the basic functionality, they looked to enhance the signals information by adding actual system screen conditions to the stored (and retrieved) technical information. Their solution is Process DVR, which runs innocuously in the background of an Ignition Vision-based SCADA system. This application directly couples process signal information to the system HMI screens which were accessed and used during manufacturing operations so that a comprehensive operational snapshot is returned upon request.
Without requiring significant training in computers or engineering, a user can watch real time playback of their HMI exactly as it would have been at any time in question where the product is running. Using intuitive operator controls that mimic the functions of an old-style VCR or modern digital video controller, a user can glide through a historical window and observe the stored process signals, which screens were active, and which screen buttons were actuated at any time. This includes not only the base screens but also any prompts, alarms, or other popups that a user might see, buttons they may select, and entries that they make.
At its base functionality, Process DVR helps manufacturers identify anomalies in their operations. A leading midwestern sauce manufacturer routinely noticed a lower production out of specific equipment following a clean-in-place (CIP) operation. Using Process DVR, this client realized that operators could maneuver around a critical pop-up screen which then allowed product near the beginning of the production batch to be sent to drain until a subsequent automated step reversed the flow. Historian screens could illustrate the results of operators’ actions, but the Process DVR functionality clearly illustrated the screens that were active and exactly which actions were being taken which created the problem. The fix for this was simple and quickly implemented once it was identified.
Advanced manufacturers take this concept a step further by using Process DVR’s capabilities to tune their operations. Another food manufacturer and longtime ECS client realized that they had one specific cooking platform on their cook deck that routinely finished batches sooner than adjacent areas. Base Historian signal review showed nothing different than what was done on other equipment, but a full review of the Process DVR system revealed that one of their more experienced operators for this area had discovered some ways to accelerate a few steps. The operator regularly placed the system into manual mode at various times and adjusted the operation to incorporate additional steps simultaneous to the planned automatic tasks. Over the course of a full batch, this saved multiple minutes in multiple stages with the result being overall higher efficiency. Once the sequence was observed it was simple to incorporate this into the overall control for each of the adjacent areas and for use by every operator in the department.
Best-in-class users of the Process DVR tool leverage this functionality to train their operators and supervisors in their most critical processing areas. Simple illustrations of what to do…or what not to do can be embedded into initial and ongoing training. Missteps in manufacturing operations that might have been loops of Q&A coupled with assumptions in the past are now used as concrete examples of how to perform the required operations best.
The Process DVR system can be incorporated into any ECS-supplied Ignition SCADA system. The relatively low cost to implement this value-add solution to an ECS-supplied Ignition solution will likely pay back many times over again within the first year of operations. ECS’ deep process control history and their information-rich SCADA systems coupled with the innovative Process DVR tool undoubtedly provide the most comprehensive solution for the modern process manufacturer.
Posted In: Bakery Industry, Beverage Industry, Chemical Industry, Clean in Place, Digitalization, Distilleries, Food Industry, Inductive Automation, Life Science Industry, SCADA