Confirmed Speakers

Topic: IIoT’s impact on the molding factory of the future

 

Smart, connected products are having an impact on our everyday lives. People are interacting with devices such as phones, watches, thermostats, cars and appliances in ways they only dreamed of even a decade ago. The pace of change is astounding and it is now moving quickly into the industrial space. Called the IIoT [Industrial Internet of Things] or Industry 4.0, these new technologies are working their way into every piece of equipment in your factory. The question on everyone’s mind is, “How can these devices make me more profitable?” Bilateral communications between equipment, enhanced intelligence, predictive maintenance, remote monitoring and process optimization innovation examples will show how “smart” equipment could create new value for plastics processors.

 

Biography

 

Bruce Catoen has more than 30 years of plastics industry experience and currently is the chief technology officer of Milacron. He is responsible for driving global product development, innovation and intellectual property for all Milacron business units, including injection, extrusion, blow molding, hot runners, mold bases, components and semi-synthetic fluids. Bruce is passionate about improving overall equipment efficiency and developing solutions that advance the environmentally responsible use of plastics. He is the named inventor on 135 patents worldwide and is author of the book “Selecting injection molds, weighing cost versus productivity”. Bruce has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

 

Implementing and executing smart manufacturing can offer manufacturers extensive benefits that help save money and maximize profits. However, establishing trust and confidence in smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 can be challenging for technology companies. Research has shown that many manufacturers are exploring the safest and most effective way to implement Industry 4.0, but leaders hesitate to purchase solutions without proven results and guaranteed security protections. This presentation will examine the perceived barriers to starting an IoT initiative and explore how to overcome challenges by effectively addressing concerns related to security, deployment and cost.

 

 

RRAMAC Connected Systems is a "Software as a Service" (SaaS) company that provides remote monitoring, analytics and mobile apps for industrial equipment. Prior to joining RRAMAC, Tom Craven was the operator interface product manager at GE Intelligent Platforms. His 20 years at GE-IP included both technical and commercial roles with a broad range of factory floor hardware and software products.
Tom has worked with large end users who have massive amounts of information at their disposal, and with smaller facilities and OEMs who have little if any visibility into their equipment. With RRAMAC, he is helping OEMs and smaller end users leverage the Industrial Internet of Things in order to have critical information at their fingertips that can help them increase productivity and reduce costs.

 

The pervasiveness and increasing interconnectivity between instrumented devices is opening the door for enterprise transformation across the entire value chain—from design, marketing, sales and supply chain, to manufacturing and service. Traditional programmable systems are designed to handle specific scenarios and data sets. But IoT data doesn’t play by traditional rules. Images, videos, sound and machine-to-machine data all come together through the IoT. This is then combined with sources such as social media, weather reports and enterprise data, which provide additional context and relevancy that sharpens the value of insights.
Cognitive systems can give meaning to unstructured and dark data by understanding it, reasoning with it and continuously learning from it at scale. Cognitive systems can mine not only the immense amounts of data that advanced analytic systems can, but also the unlimited varieties of data—through pattern recognition and natural language processing—that up to now only the human brain has been able to decipher. This session explores how manufacturing and supply chain can benefit from cognitive systems and help companies take things well past predictive and prescriptive operations.  

 

 

Krish Dharma is director of industry solution sales for IBM's U.S. Industrial Market and currently is focused on the automotive, aerospace and defense industries. He has a 33-year track record driving innovation and change in the electronics Industry in manufacturing, supply chain operations, information technology, and enterprise business transformation to enable profitable revenue growth. He has held several senior-level management positions in supply chain and operations, and has worked across a broad spectrum of electronics companies, including semiconductors, contract manufacturers and consumer electronics. Most recently, Krish was vice president of supply chain management at GlobalFoundries, a $5 billion semiconductor foundry.

 

One now can use modern technology in a “smart production facility” to help enable the documented production of components. We will review some examples to show how Industry 4.0 can be applied from an ordering concept to a finished part, with the required documentation for each step. Furthermore, we’ll review how a mass-produced part can be individually treated at various production steps, also with full documentation. 

 

 

JJuergen Giesow has plastics degree from the Technical College in Troisdorf, Germany, and a Ph.D. in general engineering. He started in plastics at a packaging company in 1984 with a three-year apprentice program to become a plastics technician. In 1992 he returned to college to get his engineering degree in Troisdorf. In 1996 Juergen came to the United States on a temporary basis, and two years later moved permanently to the U.S.
Juergen moved to California in 2002 to become the regional manager for Arburg there. In 2015 he returned to Connecticut and is now responsible for engineering and technology at Arburg Inc.’s headquarters in Rocky Hill, Conn.

 

Industry 4.0 is a common term that has been discussed intensively in recent years. The fourth revolution of production raises hopes and expectations for manufacturers and producers alike. However, such discussions frequently fail to differentiate between what is fiction and what is already reality, as well as how future developments and innovations can be categorized within a framework. This presentation provides a four-stage framework for the flexible packaging industry called Packaging 4.0. Using this framework, two case studies show how the value chain for stretch and barrier film solutions can be transformed, thereby creating benefits for consumers, producers and equipment manufacturer. Starting with the purpose of flexible packaging, learn how this step-by-step approach can add value to your final packaging solutions.

 

 

Sebastian Hünnefeld studied management and engineering at the University of Bremen, Germany, and first connected with Windmöller & Hölscher as a student while writing his thesis called “Improvement of Assembly Procedures for Extrusion Lines.” Finishing his studies during the 2009 financial crisis, Sebastian began his career working for the media giant Bertelsmann, where he spent two years before joining the extrusion engineering department at W&H headquarters in Germany. His involvement in several successful blown film projects in North America created the opportunity for him to join the W&H U.S.-based sales force in April 2014. He currently holds the position of product manager for blown film extrusion. 

 

State-of-the-art technology and connectivity offer possibilities like never before. ENGEL offers and develops solutions for and together with injection molders that implement the concept of Industry 4.0. The smart factory takes advantage using available data and interconnectivity to enable new levels of flexibility and productivity. Understanding the different aspects of this vision helps identify the most beneficial approach for each individual situation or challenge. The injection molding machine on its own can be a smart machine – using intelligent software to drastically reduce reject numbers, achieve higher part quality or reduce energy and maintenance costs. Connecting the individual machines opens the door for smart production with real-time information, monitoring, scheduling and workflow optimization. Smart service also makes access to service easy. Why not take it a step further and use condition monitoring to solve problems before they can occur? Let us take you on a journey into the future that is already here.

 

 

Joachim Kragl graduated from the TGM College for Polymer Engineering & Processing in Vienna, Austria, in 1992. Upon graduation, he immediately began working as an applications engineer in the processing department of ENGEL Austria. In 1999, he transferred to ENGEL’s research and development department.

Joachim moved to Guelph, Ontario, to join ENGEL Canada in October 2000 and assumed his current role as director of advanced melding systems and processing for ENGEL Machinery Inc. in July 2009.

 

In the world of the Industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0, there are a lot questions about how plants can bring their operations to the next level. Many factors need to be considered when making the transition to smart manufacturing, whether it involves working with legacy equipment, edge computing or new protocols.  In this presentation, we’ll look at industry trends and best practices and offer some guidance on the following:

 

 

Daniel Liu has more than 11 years of experience in industrial automation systems. He began working for Brea, California-based Moxa in 2006, and is currently responsible for regional sales development and strategy for the embedded computing market. Daniel has a proven track record in implementing Industrial IoT eco-systems and solution architectures for major corporations, including Northrop Grumman and National Oilwell Varco.

 

So-called “smart factories” are now a real possibility. Many innovations have been realized over the years, but perhaps none as interesting and valuable as Industry 4.0 and Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS). The ability to achieve complete connectivity along with the need to stay in touch have driven innovation to a point that now allows nearly all equipment to speak to each other. The capability to have full internal communication of equipment coupled to the injection molding machine with nearly instant access to streaming data through the Internet may have truly created the next generation of smart factories. The innovations provided by 4.0 connectivity along with CMS, a system that combines technical sensing components with predictive diagnostic analysis, allow factory monitoring at local and global levels.
In this presentation, we will review the integration of all injection molding components using 4.0 connectivity. This includes a complete automation system along with all the peripherals – and the connection of these cells to a Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). We will also review Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS) and how they will affect the future of plastics production. The strategy of condition monitoring is a permanent surveillance of the actual condition of the injection molding machine components with the goal of optimizing, and subsequently, keeping the availability and efficiency at an optimal level, thus reducing their life cycle costs.

 

 

Jim Mitchell is the national sales manager of the Injection Machinery Division for Wittmann Battenfeld Inc. in Torrington, Conn. He has 30+ years of plastics Industry experience in manufacturing, global sales and executive management. Jim is a graduate of the College of Southern Idaho and a U.S. Navy veteran. His career in plastics began with Tupperware in 1984 and includes 12 years of injection molding process engineering with captive and custom molders. He operated a representative organization for three years prior to his 15-year career with Sumitomo-Demag. He joined Wittmann Battenfeld in 2015, serving as regional sales manager prior to assuming his current position.

 

The increase in abundance of smart gadgetry is propelling us into the fourth industrial revolution. Advancements in computational power and networking technology will allow interoperability between once separate systems in manufacturing. This presentation will explore the technology we have today and how it can be applied to create a smart plastics compounding plant.

 

 

Alex Utracki is director of process technology for Coperion’s Compounding & Extrusion Division. His team is responsible for the execution of twin-screw extrusion trials in Coperion’s new process lab in Pitman, N.J., as well as providing training, process development and technical support for customers. He has spent the last seven years in various process development roles in the compounding industry and holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering.