Manufacturers are constantly striving to optimize production operations through the use of new technology. Streamlined operations pave the way to greater profitability and growth, industry leadership, and competitive advantage. In an economy rife with consolidation and downsizing, optimized manufacturing operations can quickly determine a company''s success.
One company utilizing technology to optimize production is tesa tape, inc. Working with ei³ Corporation, a provider of hosted applications that maximize manufacturing productivity, tesa tape upgraded its process line equipment, and deployed a system to monitor, report, alert, and store data from key process line metrics. The upgrades also utilized ei³''s 24-hour, 365-day online engineering expertise.
As a result of these optimizations, championed by Michael Marvin, plant manager of tesa tape''s Middletown, NY facility, tesa not only increased its manufacturing productivity, reliability, profitability, and efficiency, but also reduced downtime, and improved environmental compliance. These benefits enabled tesa to achieve 97% service delivery, while reaping $1 million a year in cost savings from reduced downtime alone.
Process Line Challenges
As a global leader in the manufacture and supply of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes for industrial and commercial applications, tesa tape was challenged to keep costs down, and to maintain a high level of service delivery to customers like Home Depot.
Many factors made these objectives difficult to achieve. The reliability of tesa''s process line equipment needed to improve. tesa could not detect process line problems in real-time. It was also difficult for tesa to track and maintain up-to-date process line settings and machine performance history. The inability to spot waning functionality in advance of equipment failure was also a major challenge for tesa prior to working with ei³.
"When manufacturing cost-competitive products like masking tape, eliminating pennies per roll in production costs can make all the difference in terms of profitability," said Michael Marvin. "The use of ei³''s services, coupled with our new process line equipment, gives our Middletown manufacturing operations a unique competitive advantage."
Technology Solution
The first step in the optimization process was to modernize tesa''s process lines with new Allen-Bradley PLC 5 controls and digital drives. After the more reliable and efficient equipment was installed, ei³ established a connection to monitor over 100 different process line metrics, giving tesa maximum visibility into its machinery components and process controls. Viewed from a PC or wireless device, ei³''s SiteWatch productivity tool displays real-time parameters such as tension point, line speed, waste, and temperature, from anywhere in the world.
"ei³''s productivity tools are easy to use, universally accessible and graphically detailed," said Marvin. "Complex statistics are organized into detail-rich charts, graphs, and reports, providing engineers with a snapshot of process line performance when time is limited, and a detailed analysis upon closer inspection."
ei³''s SiteWatch service monitors key process parameters from the moment raw products are introduced to the line. As the raw paper substrate moves down the line to be coated and later dried, ei3 monitors tension point, line speed, temperature, thickness, etc. to ensure that product is meeting tesa''s stringent quality specifications.
"ei³ provides real-time monitoring, data analysis and problem-resolution of virtually every process parameter, from the application of our sophisticated coating technology to the precise climate created in the process line''s inert ovens," said Marvin. "Close monitoring of setpoints not only allows our engineers to perform preventative maintenance to avoid failure, but it also allows them to keep the line running at optimum capacity."
Competitive Advantages
In the commodity manufacturing business, maintaining a competitive advantage is essential. The ability to identify and resolve process line problems quickly and easily gives tesa engineers more time to pursue proactive, revenue-generating projects, rather than spending tedious hours trying to solve simple, cost-consuming problems.
As with any manufacturing facility, downtime is a costly occurrence. For tesa, ei³''s process-and-controls-specific engineering expertise, which is delivered as an ei³ service called SiteTeam, has eliminated two hours of manufacturing downtime per day. Available 24-hours a day, 365-days a year, ei³''s professional engineering support staff enables rapid process recovery through an online approach to problem solving.
"SiteTeam is highly effective in resolving process line problems because it combines the skills of our engineers with the unique perspective and engineering expertise of ei³''s professionals," said Marvin.
tesa also needed a safe, centralized, and universally accessible place to store its most recent process line settings. By using ei³''s SiteSave service to store its system software and machine settings, tesa engineers are able to make and save setting adjustments to a single data location in real-time to ensure that the process line is running the most current settings.
"SiteSave not only introduces an efficient means of keeping software and machine settings up to date, but it also ensures that this data is backed up off-site to protect against electrical failure, disaster, or system lockup," said Marvin.
Because tesa is required to recover 80% of the toluene it produces, ei³''s monitoring and recording services accurately document re-use of this key masking tape ingredient in a central data location. ei³''s services have significantly shortened what was previously a very labor intensive process.
The Upshot
As a result of achieving 97% service delivery, tesa has transformed itself from a high-capacity manufacturer to a just-in-time plant. "Our equipment has become so reliable that the need to check the status of our process lines has changed from necessity to good measure," said Marvin, further explaining the impact ei³''s services have had on tesa''s business.
As a plant that has transformed the way in which it produces 80 million square meters of masking tape per year, tesa''s Middletown, NY operations have become a model of efficiency and productivity, and produced a profit center for the company.
"Modernization of our process line equipment and deployment of ei³''s productivity tools has enabled us to dramatically improve every aspect of our masking tape manufacturing process," said Marvin. "We have reduced scrap materials and downtime, improved safety and compliance monitoring, and established just-in-time service delivery. Our relationship with ei³ has also enabled us to establish more ambitious goals for our North American manufacturing operations. ei³ addresses the needs of our customers, suppliers, employees and target markets. This gives us a strong platform upon which to achieve our sales growth and profitability goals."