Norderstedt, April 24, 2017 – At the Hannover Messe from April 24th to 28th, Lufthansa Industry Solutions and sensor producer Balluff show how to facilitate predictive maintenance for tools. The new Smart Mold-ID system collects data from sensors on injection molding equipment, transfers them to the cloud, and visualizes them on a mobile terminal.
The background to this is that tools wear out with increasing use and therefore have to be serviced regularly. The inspection rhythm in this case often depends on the practical experience of individual employees. Hence tools are frequently given no maintenance at all until the parts being produced no longer meet the required quality standards, or when the tool fails to work properly.
In order to enable condition-based maintenance – that is, predictive maintenance – of tools and thus increase the transparency of the production process, Lufthansa Industry Solutions has collaborated with Balluff to develop Smart Mold-ID. This stand-alone system lets operators of injection molding machines better monitor their production. During the injection molding process, sensors record such process parameters as temperature, flow, and pressure, and transfer these data to be saved in the cloud.
More transparency in handling tools
The tools are clearly identified by RFID tags mounted on them. These tags contain information on the time of last servicing, duration of the production cycle, and the number of production cycles. As soon as the sensor data exceed certain defined limits, the system sends push notifications to the mobile terminal of the relevant employees. They can then take action before the tool gets damaged.
This gives customers improved transparency with regard to the parameters in the production process and in the long term the data so collected can be used to optimize the maintenance process of the injection molding tools. This in turn enhances the productivity and economic efficiency of the equipment.
Lufthansa Industry Solutions will be a guest at the Balluff booth (hall 9, booth F53) at the Hannover Messe from April 24th to 28th, 2017.
About Lufthansa Industry Solutions
Lufthansa Industry Solutions is a service provider for IT consulting and system integration. This Lufthansa subsidiary helps its clients with the digital transformation of their companies. Its customer base includes companies both within and outside the Lufthansa Group, as well as more than 200 companies in various lines of business. The company is based in Norderstedt and employs more than 1,300 members of staff at several branch offices in Germany, Switzerland and the USA.