SICK’s Filling Level Monitoring digital service helps ensure trouble-free packaging process

When the magazine of carton blanks runs empty, the packaging process is interrupted. The same occurs when the adhesive runs out, or there is suddenly no more film available for wrapping products or securing the load. The Filling Level Monitoring digital service from SICK provides the answer to this. The solution detects, reports and visualizes the fill level of packaging materials and other resources in packaging machines, aggregates the data, and makes it available for access at all times and everywhere via a cloud service. In this way, the Filling Level Monitoring digital service ensures a trouble-free packaging process with no refilling stops – and opens up opportunities for optimizing production processes across systems and packaging lines.

The Filling Level Monitoring digital service enables the fill level of cardboard packaging, liquids or granulates in not only a standalone machine but also in a linked packaging line or even an entire machine park to be monitored in a clear and time-saving manner. Sensors in the machines detect the fill level of the magazines present and report this to the digital service. This in turn aggregates the data and displays it in a simple and clear representation on a dashboard. The data can also be concurrently viewed via a browser capable device at any location. When critical fill levels are reached, these can be reported to the machine operator via one or more freely configurable alarm signals, for example acoustically and by vibrations on a smart watch or a mobile end device. This automatic notification service ensures the materials are topped up in a timely manner and downtimes of the packaging machine can be reliably avoided.

Usable across systems and packaging lines via a cloud service

The Filling Level Monitoring digital service not only ensures that a sufficient stock of cardboard packaging, liquids or granulatesare available at all times and therefore trouble-free packaging processes – but also allows the production processes across all systems and packaging lines to be optimized via a cloud service. For this purpose, the sensor data are aggregated and processed into machine manufacturer agnostic information that allows a transparent display and analysis of the load on the production lines or even locations, and thereby, for example, indicate unused machine capacities. This allows the operator to optimize the load on his packaging machines and also efficiently avoid capacity peaks. It is also possible to add customized services and analyses to Filling Level Monitoring. This enables the digital service to be tailored to the particular packaging machines and processes, and also its functionally to be extended at a later time if necessary.

Digital services turn sensor data into value-adding information

Digital services such as Filling Level Monitoring illustrate just how useful traditional sensor data can be for digitalized machine and plant construction. By combining smart sensors with intelligent services, it is possible to record events in a holistic manner, display processes transparently, and thereby to improve productivity.

For more information, please visit http://www.sick.com.