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ProTech by Pro Mach™ is a cloud based Asset Management Tool that Drives Packaging Line Productivity Globally through a Suite of
Remote Solution Applications
By Mark Ruberg, Vice President, Pro Mach Business Process
ProTech’s remote solutions technology provides remote monitoring and remote service capabilities from all Pro Mach brands
ProTech by Pro Mach™ is a new suite of remote solutions available from all of the
more than 20 Pro Mach brands. ProTech provides packaging operations with secure
remote machine monitoring for overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) reporting, remote
service and tech support, and customized
condition monitoring. ProTech’s Downtime
Tracking app sends alerts and Pareto
reports that facilitate documented OEE
productivity increases and continuous
improvement.
ProTech enables small, medium,
and large organizations to maximize uptime and throughput. This ensures that capital
investments in Pro Mach branded solutions are optimized over the service life of the
packaging machine and/or complete integrated packaging line.
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The security and redundancy engineered into the ProTech cloud-based solution
is comparable to that used by the world’s leading financial institutions. Building on this
secure foundation, Pro Mach engineers created a smart services infrastructure that is
optimized for the packaging industry, both with individual machines and integrated lines.
ProTech is only available from Pro Mach brands but is capable of connecting to other
machines to allow customers to maximize productivity of their entire facility.
Remote monitoring for higher machine uptime
Sensors, servos, motors, drives, pneumatic valves, actuators, and other
components feature a level of embedded microprocessor intelligence that was only
speculated about a few short years ago. The amount of operational data within these
components is immense. While some of the world’s largest consumer brands
companies have the wherewithal to develop data gathering and analytics initiatives to
take advantage of this massive amount of data, most organizations, especially today
with smaller support teams, simply do not have the resources for comparable
development.
ProTech brings a world-class remote solutions suite availability to companies of
all sizes. ProTech utilizes secure point-to-point internet connectivity to deliver
component and system data to dedicated, redundant cloud-based servers. This data is
collected in real time, analyzed, and
presented back to the packaging
operation as OEE dashboards that are
available via external monitors, HMIs,
PCs, smart phones, and tablets.
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These dashboards – detailed graphs and charts – display operating conditions
occurring on the machine hour by hour. This information provides Pareto reports that
can drive six sigma continuous improvement initiatives. ProTech remote monitoring
levels the playing field between small to medium sized companies and larger ones in
terms of providing all sizes of organizations
with the ability to optimize machine
performance based on OEE data. ProTech
reporting drives continuous improvement
for greater utilization and competitiveness
of the packaging line.
As simple as connecting an Ethernet cable
ProTech provides “out-of-the-box” reports, administration tools, and analytics
that allow customers to start a remote solutions program in days with minimal impact on
their internal resources. Application development tools exist if a customer wants to
customize their installation. ProTech engineers will provide customization as well, if
desired.
This is all accomplished for the operation through the simple process of running
an Ethernet cable to the embedded ProTech communications device. A ProTech router
is installed in plants where there are multiple ProTech enabled machines. ProTech
hardware can be retroactively embedded in the machines of Pro Mach brands or in
virtually any modern machine. This means that small and medium sized packaging
operations can have line-wide OEE data without diverting internal resources to build this
analysis and reporting system from scratch.
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Remote service and tech support
Remote Service, where an OEM’s technician logs on to the machine via the
Internet to diagnose and fix a problem, has been available for years. One of the major
hurdles to the widespread adoption of remote support has been the question of secure
connectivity. With packaging machines from dozens of companies within a plant all with
different remote access protocols, IT departments, concerned with the integrity of their
corporate systems, simply found it expedient to issue a blanket rejection of access to
outside suppliers through the corporate firewall. Technology evolves. With the growing
appreciation of the power of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), big data, Industry
4.0, and the maturing of cloud-based computing – all developments based on the
connectivity of smart devices – that attitude of interconnection rejection by the IT
department is changing for systems that
can pass close examination.
To date, when ProTech has been
presented to a company involved in
packaging – small, medium, or large – and
the cloud-based security protocols fully
explained, IT representatives in the meeting
have expressed no objection to allowing
connection to a ProTech enabled machine,
thereby unleashing significant productivity
gains.
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Remote tech support has the potential to reduce service times when a machine
is down from days, in the case when a technician has to be dispatched to the packaging
line, to a matter of hours or minutes. Pro Mach’s Engineering Council estimates that
more than half of onsite service calls have the potential to be handled remotely. When
onsite service is required, the service technician arrives at the customer’s facility better
prepared due to the diagnostic knowledge supplied from ProTech. This results in faster
resolution of the issues.
Remote tech support can also help with downloading software updates, machine
audits, optimizing material usage, and a host of other issues that impact quality, cost,
and productivity as determined by the customer through the administration tools built
into ProTech.
Apps aren’t just for mobile phones and tablets – ProTech offers condition monitoring apps Suppose a packaging machine
utilizes compressed air, one of the most
expensive sources of energy in a plant.
That plant can request a ProTech
application to monitor the condition of the
pneumatic system and alert personnel
when a costly leak occurs. This app could
pay for itself very quickly as even minor leaks can lead to thousands of dollars of
wasted cost over the course of a year.
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Allpax, a Pro Mach business that manufactures retorts and retort-room
automation systems, has already developed a ProTech app for condition monitoring of
energy and water usage in the retort room. Orion, the Pro Mach stretch and pallet
wrapping business, has developed a load tracking app that monitors how much stretch
wrap is used per pallet. Too little stretch wrap for a specific pallet recipe sends an alert
that the pallet load may be unstable; while
too much stretch wrap used sends an alert to
readjust for optimum material usage. The
custom development and availability of a
suite of ProTech condition monitoring apps
ensures that the organizations environment
will be best served.
The importance of one baseline solution across more than 20 Pro Mach brands
In 2013, the Pro Mach Engineering Council, the interdivisional group of engineers
charged with ensuring best engineering practices, took up the question of remote
solutions. An internal survey across Pro Mach businesses revealed that there were
more than a half dozen active and unique efforts to develop remote services capabilities
and not one of those was identical. Not only was this duplication of effort an inefficient
use of engineering resources, but also no single business had the resources to devote
to the development of a robust, scalable, industry-leading solution. Furthermore, in
multi-machine integrated systems, unrelated solutions would simply be ineffective. Mark
Anderson, Pro Mach President and CEO, recognized that the development of one
company-wide solution would provide the most elegant outcome. He committed
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sufficient company resources to assure that an optimal solution was achieved. It has
been achieved with ProTech, and will continue to evolve with today’s rapid technology
advances.
The Pro Mach strategy was to work with a technology partner with a track record
of success in smart services and remote solutions. The ideal partner would provide the
foundation for a secure cloud-based solution. Council members also wanted to find a
partner with expertise in packaging and automation. A subcommittee study project was
launched and a number of potential partners were invited in for presentations followed
by feedback on detailed technical questions, product demonstrations, and references.
ei3 from Mountvale, N.J., consistently came out on top
in the various evaluation criteria. ei3, founded in 1999, has
become an authority of secure cloud-based computing and
smart services. They have experience in the packaging
industry with past projects involving the leaders in automation
control and others in packaging machine design and construction. The company is a
member of OMAC Packaging Workgroup, an organization with the mission to maximize
the business value of packaging machinery by improving automation guidelines and
standards. ei3 also belongs to The Sustainable Packaging Coalition.
Significantly, ei3 agreed to provide Pro Mach with exclusivity to its technology in
the packaging industry. Exclusivity gives Pro Mach a competitive advantage and serves
to protect the significant investment Pro Mach is making in smart service. Pro Mach and
ei3 began joint development work in mid-2014 and by 2015 had a number of
installations at early adopter sites in the United States and Latin America. By mid-2015,
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there was a growing familiarity within the Pro Mach engineering and sales community,
as well as distributors and customers, about the advantages of ProTech technology. At
Pack Expo Las Vegas 2015, the company formally introduced ProTech to the packaging
machinery marketplace.
ProTech is the latest innovation of the ProCustomer® initiative at Pro Mach
At Pack Expo in 2009, Pro
Mach launched its ProCustomer®
program focused on providing the
highest level of customer service and aftermarket support in the packaging industry.
The press release announcing the program stated:
ProCustomer is the assurance that all customer service, technical support, training, product upgrades, and parts programs provided by Pro Mach divisions adhere to consistent standards of excellence. These standards are based on in-depth customer research and industry best practices. All Pro Mach divisions deliver service and support that meets or exceeds 13 key attributes for reactive, interactive, and proactive care, with an emphasis on improving packaging line productivity. Pro Mach senior management believes the support requirements of customers for world-class productivity and highest overall equipment efficiency (OEE) will only become more varied and extensive over time… “Adhering to best practices will ensure that customers have the support to maintain peak productivity,” said Mark Anderson, President and CEO, Pro Mach, Inc. “Importantly, ProCustomer is designed to be flexible with individual goals suited to the needs of each customer. ProCustomer is the latest in a series of strategic initiatives, which include operations excellence, product excellence, customer service excellence, and distribution excellence.”
The company’s stated goals for service made six years ago remain part of the
organization’s culture. ProTech adheres point by point with the statement “reactive,
interactive, and proactive care, with an emphasis on improving packaging line
productivity.” Reactive in this instance equates to remote service and tech support; and
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interactive and proactive equate to remote monitoring for OEE. Customized condition-
monitoring apps illustrate Mark Anderson’s objective to design ProCustomer “to be
flexible with individual goals suited to the needs of each customer.”
The ProTech initiative is the latest investment in the company’s strategic mission
to earn the trust of customers for new and repeat business through its commitment to
maintain machines at peak performance year after year. ProCustomer and ProTech
allow Pro Mach’s professional technicians to protect the customer’s machine investment
anywhere around the globe.
For more Information on ProTech by Pro Mach, speak with the sales teams at
any Pro Mach business or visit www.ProTechbyProMach.com. A complete list of Pro
Mach brands with details on their areas of expertise can be found at
www.ProMachBrands.com.
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About Pro Mach
Pro Mach is a leading provider of integrated packaging and processing products and solutions for food, beverage, consumer goods, pharmaceutical, and other diverse companies. Through its brands, Pro Mach provides product packaging and processing equipment, PMMI certified training, installation, parts, and service in Bottling & Capping, Primary Packaging, Flexible Packaging, Material Handling, Labeling & Coding, and End of Line.
Pro Mach has a diverse customer base, from Fortune 500 companies to smaller, privately held businesses worldwide, which depend on reliable, flexible, technologically advanced equipment and integrated solutions. Pro Mach is headquartered near Cincinnati, Ohio, with manufacturing facilities and offices throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. For more information about Pro Mach, visit www.ProMachInc.com.