The Digital Evolution of Packaging Machines

Packaging machine vendors are continually looking for ways to innovate and deliver a competitive advantage.  They strive to improve overall operation and efficiency, flexibility and adaptability, safety, interfaces and control, and futureproofing. 

Packaging machines are complex in nature and offer many areas for competitive differentiation.  Vendors need to think beyond the basic operation of the machine and consider the additional needs of the owner for predictive maintenance, reliability, and performance monitoring.  Packaging machines include a great deal of motion control, and the quality of that motion control is key to delivering the most competitive solution.

The future of packaging machinery.

Futureproofing is a key area of value and competitive differentiation.  While most machines are designed for a specific purpose and operate as such, today’s focus on digital transformation brings added pressure to analyze more and more data from our machines.

The support of digital transformation falls into three categories, two being data-centric and one being focused on best-in-class components.  A better machine clearly is dependent upon better components.  Those components may be smarter, may communicate or operate at a higher performance, offer more flexibility or programmability, and/or may offer more data for performance and reliability statistics. Being more data-centric will rely on better controllers and/or better access to data.

Related:The Digital Wave: Revolutionizing Packaging Operations

Elements of digital transformation.

Better components: Improved components such as servo drives and amplifiers, and inverters will deliver better basic operation while also delivering advanced functionality for acceleration, deceleration, vibration dampening, they offer better access to their data (both real-time operational) and lifecycle data. The communications network to components is especially important here and can offer value in two ways: faster communications and additional access to data.

Smarter control: Primarily focusing the controller, typically a programmable logic controller (PLC), can go a long way to make a smarter and more flexible machine.  Controllers can support better user interfaces, deliver on-machine analytics, and support enhanced connectivity as an industrial internet of things (IIoT) data source.  Controllers are also delivering onboard data storage and analytics. They can operate independently and as a part of a larger SCADA environment. Controllers will also take advantage of enhanced communications and improved industrial networks to deliver a competitive advantage.

Greater access to data: If nothing else, machines will benefit from a myriad of data gateway solutions that are on the market, bridging their on-machine data to a broader array of either onsite or cloud-based SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) solutions.  One challenge is that industrial networks are typically isolated from information networks, even within a machine.  The controller (most often a PLC) will act as a bridge between the two networks, which may have different protocols, and will act as a proxy for control component data. This solution, while functional, will have limitations to data access.  Ideally, components on the industrial network will also be available on the information network, albeit with the proper cyber-security. In the past, the deterministic performance requirement of the industrial network has precluded direct access from an information network.  As of 2016, with the enhancement to ethernet networking standards incorporating support for time-sensitive networking (TSN), the industrial network can support both deterministic control communications and general-purpose data traffic.

Ethernet with time-sensitive networking

Ethernet with TSN is a revolutionary communication technology that enables the seamless integration of multiple protocols from both the information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) domains. TSN provides a deterministic, low-latency, and high-bandwidth communication network, making it an ideal choice for packaging machines that require real-time data exchange and control.

TSN ensures that time-critical messages can be scheduled and prioritized, allowing for precise synchronization of machine movements and actions.  This ensures low deterministic performance.

Low-latency communication is supported by Gigabit Ethernet, TSN minimizes the delay between message transmission and reception. This enables fast and responsive machine control.

TSN supports high-speed data transfer in parallel with deterministic traffic to allow for transmission of large amounts of data such as high-resolution images from machine vision systems. Traffic shaping enables the breaking of large messages to intersperse higher-priority network traffic.

One of the key advantages of Ethernet with TSN is its ability to support the coexistence of multiple communication protocols. This enables packaging machines to access and exchange information with other devices and systems on the network, such as:

By incorporating servos and motion control systems along with advanced communication technologies like Ethernet with TSN, packaging machine manufacturers can achieve a competitive advantage in the market. The benefits of these technologies include:

Conclusion

The packaging machine industry is constantly evolving, with vendors striving to innovate and provide a competitive edge. This article has highlighted the importance of enhancing overall operation and efficiency, flexibility and adaptability, safety, interfaces, and control, as well as futureproofing. By incorporating advanced technologies such as servo drives, inverters, and controllers with enhanced communication capabilities, packaging machine manufacturers can achieve a competitive advantage in the market. The integration of Ethernet with TSN enables real-time data exchange and control, facilitating increased productivity, improved flexibility, enhanced quality control, and reduced downtime. As the industry continues to embrace digital transformation, the ability to analyze and utilize data effectively will be crucial for staying ahead in the market.