Yonder (formerly ROC) is educating the process operator of the future with their own soft drink line in Tilburg. So you read it right with this soft drink line you can actually make soft drinks and they do plenty of that such as our own AnyBerry soda on this picture.
Within Campione 2, Yonder, together with the Datafabriek and AnyWare, connected the process line of the future to the AnyWare Asset Management platform. This way, the line can be monitored 24/7 wherever you are and intelligence can be applied from the cloud to make the line function better and be informed in time in case of disruptions.
But how exactly did we approach this? We connected the PLCs used in the soft-drink line to a gateway running our own piece of software. The unique thing about connecting these PLCs is that we used bidirectional communication. So you can now build logic into the cloud that also executes certain actuators on the PLCs without having to log in to the HMI of the PLC. So this actually allows the factory to be remotely adjusted or made smarter without anyone having to go into the factory.
The data factory has made sure that the PLCs are prepared to share data and receive commands in the right way. Of course, it is also important in this project that the local PLCs always still decide which command they can or cannot execute. Of course, you don’t want a tank flooding somewhere because someone gives the wrong command.
With this plant, the process operators of the future will be trained but, of course, many more use cases can be imagined. For example, from now on, smart maintenance can be done on this line by using the data from the PLCs and alarms can be set on irregularities in the process. A pump that suddenly consumes slightly more energy is immediately reported to the technical department, which will pick up the ticket and fix the problem before the line comes to a standstill. Periodic maintenance can also be scheduled in the AnyWare cloud and together this ensures better performance of the production line which, of course, we can measure again.
How complicated was it to integrate this line with our cloud? After the PLCs are programmed correctly, it is a matter of plug and play, of course we set up the cloud so it is ready to use immediately and we train people to use the web and mobile apps. So the entire implementation within a production line can be done in weeks instead of months. Want to know how we do it?
Factory sensor readings in a graph
Setting up commands via the cloud
HMI in the cloud with data overlay of the PLC’s
HMI in the cloud with data overlay of the PLC’s
