Udyog Parivartan
Industry 4.0 in other words can be referred to as data capturing in real time. Now, it depends on you what you want to monitor and capture in real time. Most industries use IoT to monitor production and rejection. This data is used to view in different graphical forms. It means you are using it to monitor and capture the output, which also implies that the company does not trust its staff that they are not manipulating the data in production and rejection. The drawback of monitoring output is that you are capturing the data in real time, which is the outcome, the result, meaning what has to happen has already happened. After this, your team has to analyze what input variable went wrong due to which the output was wrong. This means you have to manually capture the data of input variables again and calculate variations based on which you need to correct those input variables. Even in this, if you have to do breakdown analysis, many manual entries will be required. The team needs to be trained to use IoT software.
We have used IoT in a die casting plant on an HPDC machine to monitor the holding furnace’s real time temperature, monitor each heater’s Amp load, and monitor the power consumption of each holding furnace. By monitoring the holding furnace’s temperature, we can see the metal temperature variation in real time on each holding furnace, which directly impacts our casting quality. By keeping the metal temperature variation as low as possible in real time, we can maintain the casting quality in real time. By checking each heater’s Amp load, we can determine which heater is taking more or less load, indicating when it’s time to change the heater. The holding furnace with a heater taking less load will consume more power, and we can confirm this by looking at the real-time power consumption data of each holding furnace.
This means if we identify such input variables that impact the quality and cost of casting and monitor those variables in real time, then IoT can be used effectively. I always believe that instead of monitoring the output, we should identify the potential input variables and monitor and control them in real time. The output will get captured somewhere in sales or the profit and loss balance sheet.
That means now the failure has happened, what to do next? It means you are working on correction methodology. If you want to work on prevention methodology, then IoT should be used to monitor input variables.
IoT can be used for different graphical presentations. For example, the IoT we have implemented shows the power consumption variation of each of our 12 holding furnaces. It monitors the Amp. load of each heater on every holding furnace, which helps in saving power costs. Real-time metal temperature variation graphical presentation reports help improve casting quality. IoT can be used in the die casting industry to improve casting quality, as we manually monitor and check 9 to 10 key process parameters for process control. The frequency of checking these parameters can vary in each plant, from every 2 hours to once in an 8-hour shift. For close monitoring and control, you can monitor all these parameters in real time. The first advantage is you will not be dependent on any individual to check and note. In most die casting plants, these are only filled for audits or PPAP, and after that, you can forget about analyzing the variation of these process parameters. In how many die casting companies are Cp, Cpk calculated for each process parameter and standard deviation calculated? All this can be done automatically in real time with the help of IoT, and real-time actions can be taken. You can decide the format of daily, weekly, and monthly reports once and receive them automatically in your emails without needing special skilled manpower.
For the holding furnace, we have started monitoring variables like metal temperature, KWH consumption, and each heater’s load in amperes. Yes, we have just started. Moving forward, we will monitor other process parameters through IoT, such as plunger slow velocity, plunger high velocity, intensification pressure, cycle time, etc. We are implementing IoT in phases; we are not implementing IoT for all parameters at once because we don’t want to puzzle the team with IoT. We believe IoT should work for the team, not the team for IoT. Use smart tools smartly. Here, I am sharing some images of what we have implemented in the die casting plant for your reference. But before implementing IoT, you need to believe in process control, not just monitoring sales and production numbers. My advice is to use IoT for monitoring input process variables in the die casting industry, which will be fruitful for any die caster.
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