Improving line efficiency

Published: 1-May-2007

New line monitoring and trending software has helped one of Europe's major pharmaceutical manufacturers increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) on its packaging lines. Rockwell Automation explains how

New line monitoring and trending software has helped one of Europe's major pharmaceutical manufacturers increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) on its packaging lines. Rockwell Automation explains how

When a major European pharmaceutical manufacturer wanted to refine its production line it turned to Rockwell Automation to assist in implementing a new line monitoring and OEE solution to capitalise on line information to improve efficiency throughout its packaging process.

Because the manufacturer's current production management system had come to the end of its natural life, the organisation decided to improve cost-efficiency in the packaging of its drug products (such as injectables and ointments) and to "future-proof" the life of its ongoing information structure. The pharmaceutical giant made the decision to upgrade its system with newer, more flexible technology and to increase its benefits through applying OEE methodology.

The OEE approach starts with the ideal line performance scenario; by documenting the optimum performance level of each element of the line supply, packaging process and output, multiplied by the optimum line run time the 100% standard for overall effectiveness can be calculated. By setting the upper efficiency standard, all performance metrics can for measured against this benchmark to drive increased efficiency.

The project was designed to cover up to four of the manufacturer's lines with several more planned. The type of equipment being used included systems for ointment heating, tube filling, cartonning, controlled dispensing, labelling and bundle packing. The pharmaceutical manufacturer runs a 24/7 operation and has to handle frequent product changes.

The historic production management system directly connected to the production line and did not deliver the trend analysis required to improve efficiency and ultimately output. The pharmaceutical company identified the need for real time information on events at any point along the packaging line, as well as the need for a buffer between the actual production floor and the Line Monitoring and OEE solution to generate end-to-end line trend information, allowing view and data analysis on both current and historical data.

By defining the data acquisition methods throughout the packaging line, Rockwell Automation was able to integrate raw data into a single information interface presenting OEE calculations by output, throughput and by each machine across process and product.

The automation specialist was able to demonstrate the ease with which the RS PMX software package can integrate the manufacturing execution system (MES) with the data historian to harness this dataflow. The standard functionality of the RS PMX MES addressed the majority of the local requirements, which delivered optimised cost of ownership for the pharmaceutical company by avoiding the need to develop a bespoke data analysis tool to provide the analysis required to adapt the packaging line.

The integrated data solution deployed enabled raw data throughout the packaging line to be acquired from the automation system and viewed in a real-time context via the centralised historian database repository. Analysis of the raw data delivered insight and understanding of how the packaging line was actually running, rather than how it was perceived to be performing, enabling faster, better informed decision making.

incident resolution

The OEE environment enables the packaging line to be brought back to running status more quickly by utilising a pre-defined list of reasons for the stoppage at the data acquisition stage. In this case, the line operator assigns the reason for either a long or short stoppage from the list, which is automatically updated in the system to present a real-time view of line operation and efficiency. Classifying the reason for line stoppage through the operative rather than relying on data from sensors inside the machine, for example, enables more accurate and timely data to be recorded.

With a true information picture recorded against a set of pre-defined variables, it becomes possible to run analysers over the data history to identify trends in common breakdown points, the length of the stoppage and most importantly the causes of the downtime. The implications for output and overall efficiency can also be easily calculated against the OEE standard for each line stoppage, enabling management to prioritise fault resolution to deliver the greatest efficiency improvement in the shortest timescale.

Once longer line stoppage issues have been resolved, short stoppages can also be addressed through OEE. Although less significant for output efficiency in isolation, a number of short line downtime incidents over the course of a day can accumulate to result in a significant reduction in efficiency. Classification of line data through the RS PMX solution within OEE methodology is the key to eliminating efficiency losses through regular, small line stoppages as well as longer downtime periods. Over time, this approach delivers significant operational cost reductions for the business.

business benefits

Introducing OEE metrics enabled the European pharmaceutical manufacturer to standardise its measurement of packaging line performance, batch by batch and between packaging sites both domestic and international.

With the production site handling the full portfolio of pharmaceutical products manufactured in Europe, the company was able to improve packaging efficiency to make the greatest possible contribution to improving the total cost of ownership for its secondary automation solutions.

The head of the company's Industrial Performance Group commented: "Adopting an OEE approach has transformed our ability to deal with line stoppage issues and improve the contribution of our packaging facility to company-wide performance. By recording and analysing line data more effectively we have been able to align our priorities for restoring operations to those delivering the greatest business and production benefit. The RS PMX solution from Rockwell Automation has been simple to extend to fit into our existing architecture and the quality and timeliness of the output data produced has a direct bearing on the OEE of our entire packaging facility."

Weigh and dispense, the first stage in the secondary production process and packaging, the final stage in this cycle are both delivered in this manufacturing environment by Rockwell Automation in addition to an employee training management solution based on RS PMX.

Jamy Michel, global account manager at Rockwell's Life Sciences division said: "This pharmaceutical manufacturer is one of the world leaders and we are very pleased to have implemented such a flexible information-centric solution to underpin the strategic packaging function. Rockwell Automation's Life Sciences solutions were selected for the critical weigh and dispense and packaging production stages due to the strength of our products compared to competing offers, which reflects our unique understanding of the demands of the manufacturing and packaging needs in life sciences industries."

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