Polytron helps a global beverage producer leverage data to find opportunities to increase efficiency without replacing aging equipment. Meet Robin Cobb. He’s a senior project manager for Polytron Inc., a member of the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork™. Polytron is a system integrator that develops packaging and process solutions for the food and beverage industry, and other industries. “We have a smart manufacturing division and an industrial networking and cybersecurity group, which I lead.” he says. One of Robin’s recent client engagements was with a globally recognized beverage producer. The company was looking to improve their OEE numbers (overall equipment effectiveness) but was not in a place where they could replace aging equipment. Watch the short, video Interview with Robin Cobb, PE, PMP covering the OEE case study.

Scoping the Problem

“The first thing we did was an audit,” Robin says. Polytron performed a detailed inventory to better understand what type of data the various pieces of equipment were collecting, and how the data was being stored. From there, “it was all about connectivity,” Robin says. Polytron had to find a way to bring all the data together centrally so they could run algorithms and perform analysis to identify opportunities for efficiencies. That was no easy feat – especially since the company operates globally at a large scale.

“When we started digging into it, we were seeing potential for about a 10% - 15% increase in OEE,” Robin says. “That’s HUGE for the food and beverage industry,” he continues, “and that’s the average number we see.” Robin explains that the expected OEE improvement depends on a customer’s current systems and equipment. “If you have older equipment, there are bigger costs because there's bigger risk. But that's also where you're going to get your bigger bang, bigger payback.”