Prepare for Your Future with Smart Manufacturing

Unlock Valuable Production Weighing Data and Insights to Drive Efficiency and Productivity

mins

4 Nov, 2024

Connect all production weighing scales and sensors to automation and business systems concurrently with a single device. Eliminate the hassle and added complexity of additional edge devices, gateways, and drivers required to connect and collect limited data from legacy devices. Easily upgrade electronics or scales to boost automated weighing system performance and provide the right contextualized data to the IT business systems that help you keep operations running smoothly and efficiently.

Automation system integration with certified automation interfaces to PROFINET and EtherNet/IP networks takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Device drivers, sample programming code, engineering notes, and integration videos are available free of charge. Simultaneously connect the embedded OPC UA server across the same Ethernet connection to eliminate additional wiring, switches, and server requirements, bringing the scale data directly to your IT business systems. Documentation and how-to videos, including connection parameters and node lists for device identification, weight and scale commands, condition monitoring, and Smart5™ smart alarms, are available free of charge to simplify the integration process.

Stay on Top of Production with Condition Monitoring

Continuous monitoring of sensor or scale condition is an effective way to prove a system is delivering proper measurement results – especially when an operator is not present. This information is cyclically transmitted in real time to your automation system. This means that, for example, if a cable breaks and causes a sensor to fail, an alarm is generated indicating that immediate action is required. This prevents weighing errors that could contribute to Out-of-Specification (OoS) results or poor-quality products. Weighing status indicators provide additional context to help inform an automation system that the scale or sensors are active and connected, in a condition ready to weigh, and that the data can be trusted. Further details are available to ensure weight values are stable, whether the scale is in net or gross mode, and the weighing unit of measure is easily confirmed. Measurement errors due to unstable weight, capturing the wrong weight value, or using the wrong units of measure can largely be eliminated.

Condition monitoring information is also available via OPC UA, enabling IT systems to collect, analyze, and even make recommendations for process improvement. Tracking the most critical conditions leading to severe alarms can also contribute to overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) calculations, downtime tracking, and root cause analysis. Connection to computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) can even trigger repair orders if a sensor needs replacement due to damage.

METTLER TOLEDO‘s Smart5™ alarm system offers instant process visibility. It follows the global industry standard NAMUR NE107, which uses four standard alarm categories and adds a fifth state indicating the absence of alarms on the weighing indicator, allowing operators to easily see that the system is currently operating within specifications.

Smart5 alarms are delivered cyclically with every measurement and contain status bits for each standard alarm category for alignment with the alarm software in the automation system. The status group details the exact nature of the alarm to correct the root cause before disrupting production, sacrificing quality, or damaging the system.

Alarm priority, description, and action are made available via OPC UA for easy alignment with IT system functions, including scheduling maintenance, triggering repair orders, general analysis, OEE reporting, and downtime tracking.

Red Alarms

Red Alarms indicate the weight value cannot be trusted, and the weighing process must stop immediately to apply corrective action before quality issues arise.

Orange Alarms

Orange Alarms indicate failure is imminent, and a technician must be dispatched within a few weeks to avoid unplanned downtime or negative impacts on product quality. This can be useful as a CMMS scheduling trigger.

Yellow Alarms

Yellow Alarms indicate that an incorrect sequence of events has been performed, the system is operating outside of specification, or an out-of-tolerance measurement has been defined. A sudden change in error frequency can indicate production issues that may impact performance metrics if not resolved.

Blue Alarms

Blue Alarms indicate that the weighing device must undergo routine testing or be calibrated to maintain production accuracy and precision. This information can be used for CMMS scheduling, in addition to asset and quality management systems (AMS/QMS).

Smart Manufacturing Also Includes Operators

Your operators become more efficient in their manual weighing operations via user-friendly HMIs that capture and transfer important data to your MES, ERP, or QMS systems. In addition, these devices support a wide variety of barcode scanners, RFID inputs, and other peripherals for critical production data. Your workflows can be further optimized with optional applications, such as formulation and counting.

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Stay on Top of Production with Condition Monitoring