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It isn't just in Jim Brown's head, Wonderware really is industrial strength software that's fun to use. You can read about the legendary Wonderware stories from Gary Wilkinson's posts.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Wonderware, industrial strength software that's fun to use
It isn't just in Jim Brown's head, Wonderware really is industrial strength software that's fun to use. You can read about the legendary Wonderware stories from Gary Wilkinson's posts.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
New Belgium Brewing: Finding more time to bottle as customer demand grows
The operations management team at New Belgium Brewing took a close look at its bottling lines and realized that they were producing 150,000 cases each week on lines that were capable of producing 294,000 cases.
“After ramping up the work week of our bottling line, we were disappointed to find that brewery was producing only about half of the product the line was truly capable of producing. That’s when we realized it was time to look at how to rectify this situation, so we called on Apex and their team of software engineers to help determine next steps in achieving full production capabilities.”
Joe Herrick
Packaging Systems Manager
New Belgium Brewing
The folks at New Belgium Brewing found out that valuable packaging time was being lost during both scheduled and unscheduled downtimes and the management team realized it was time to implement a solution that would improve performance.
“We had been using the paper-based system for a long time around here, but with the product volumes our staff was now faced with managing, this system could no longer cut it. With the various changes in beer mixes and packaging options, the chance of error when maintaining these records manually significantly increased the chance for human error. It was time to step up to the next level of automation so that we could accurately manage scheduled and unscheduled downtimes.”
New Belgium decided to implement a performance solution using the Wonderware Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software with the help of system integrator, Apex Manufacturing Solutions.
More on this in my next post.
Please visit the following links if you want to know more about the Wonderware solution at New Belgium Brewing:
“After ramping up the work week of our bottling line, we were disappointed to find that brewery was producing only about half of the product the line was truly capable of producing. That’s when we realized it was time to look at how to rectify this situation, so we called on Apex and their team of software engineers to help determine next steps in achieving full production capabilities.”
Joe Herrick
Packaging Systems Manager
New Belgium Brewing
The folks at New Belgium Brewing found out that valuable packaging time was being lost during both scheduled and unscheduled downtimes and the management team realized it was time to implement a solution that would improve performance.
“We had been using the paper-based system for a long time around here, but with the product volumes our staff was now faced with managing, this system could no longer cut it. With the various changes in beer mixes and packaging options, the chance of error when maintaining these records manually significantly increased the chance for human error. It was time to step up to the next level of automation so that we could accurately manage scheduled and unscheduled downtimes.”
New Belgium decided to implement a performance solution using the Wonderware Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software with the help of system integrator, Apex Manufacturing Solutions.
More on this in my next post.
More information
Please visit the following links if you want to know more about the Wonderware solution at New Belgium Brewing:
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Why did New Belgium Brewing decide to use Wonderware MES Performance Software?
To answer that question, you need to understand the goals and challenges that they faced. Here is a condensed summary.
More on this tomorrow. In the meantime, please visit the following links:
Kampai!
Jay
Goals:
- To increase the company’s ability to fully take advantage of manufacturing capabilities
- To achieve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and produce a quality product; manage production efficiency; and ensure production line availability through scheduled downtimes, package changes, and scheduled maintenance activities.
- To operate the brewery at full production capacity and double case production
Challenges:
- The brewery lacked real-time information on unscheduled downtimes at various equipment areas which caused production slowdowns
- Production staff were continually reacting to unscheduled downtime at equipment areas
- Management needed to address gaps in methods and processes to drive improvements
- The bottling operation lacked the ability to predict capabilities to effectively commit brewery staff to specific production goals
More information
More on this tomorrow. In the meantime, please visit the following links:
Jay
Monday, August 25, 2014
New Belgium Brewing - 3rd largest craft brewer in the USA, Wonderware user
What started out as a beer brewing hobby fueled by a passion for great tasting craft brews, has turned into one of America’s best multi-million dollar success stories. Producing some of the world’s most popular craft brews, including Fat Tire and a multitude of other popular IPA, Pilsner, wheat beers and ales, has the folks at New Belgium Brewing Co. tapping into the world’s demand for great tasting American craft brews.
Give the people what they want - more great tasting beer. To ensure its discerning beer loving fans receive only the highest quality beverage, New Belgium implemented a series of manufacturing automation initiatives over the last five years to streamline and improve its brewing and bottling facility in northern Colorado.
“New Belgium’s brewing operations were rapidly reaching capacity, and we needed to identify both efficiencies and inefficiencies in our bottling lines so the brewery could maintain its operating schedule. With such a rapid growth of our business year after year, and sometimes at a pretty fast clip, this was a good problem to have, but still a problem we needed to address.
Joe Herrick
Packaging Systems Manager
New Belgium Brewing
For more information about the products that was used in the New Belgium Brewing solution that was created with the help of system itegrator Apex Manufacturing Solutions, please visit the following links:
Throughout this week (and probably the next), I will be featuring the MES implementation at New Belgium Brewing.
Cheers!
Jay
So how does a company maintain its position as the nation’s third largest craft brewery and eighth largest overall brewery in the U.S. since 2012?
Give the people what they want - more great tasting beer. To ensure its discerning beer loving fans receive only the highest quality beverage, New Belgium implemented a series of manufacturing automation initiatives over the last five years to streamline and improve its brewing and bottling facility in northern Colorado.
“New Belgium’s brewing operations were rapidly reaching capacity, and we needed to identify both efficiencies and inefficiencies in our bottling lines so the brewery could maintain its operating schedule. With such a rapid growth of our business year after year, and sometimes at a pretty fast clip, this was a good problem to have, but still a problem we needed to address.
Joe Herrick
Packaging Systems Manager
New Belgium Brewing
More information
For more information about the products that was used in the New Belgium Brewing solution that was created with the help of system itegrator Apex Manufacturing Solutions, please visit the following links:
Cheers!
Jay
Thursday, August 21, 2014
The Wonderware Y2K Ad
The copy says "Everything grinds to a halt in eight hundred and sixteen days" so I'm suspecting the ad came out around October 7, 1997.
Am I right? Yes, of course - it's in the fine print. See below.
The years leading up to the year 2000, those were fun times, if you were an automation engineer.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Read the Eskom Success Story
"Wonderware software provides our engineering and management teams with access to usable data that before was not readily available. We can now make decisions in real-time on our electricity generation capabilities, enabling Eskom to continue to improve the quality of life of more than 50 million people."
John Viljoen, Corporate Consultant for Generation Business Eskom Holdings Ltd.
More information
For more information about the products used here, please visit the following links:
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
The Right Solution for the Right Application at Eskom
Eskom bears the enormous responsibility of providing electricity to the African
sub-continent. From homes, to businesses, to industry, Eskom’s network of power
plants required an integrated, reliable software solution to ensure its
facilities are operating at peak performance and that it enables access to critical
plant data to anyone, anywhere at any time.
With the implementation of the Wonderware solution, Eskom now has the tools to understand and control its vast and complex network of power generation facilities -- improving the quality of life of the millions of people who rely on the power the company provides each day.
“The drive for increased reliability and efficiency of operations requires having better plant information accessible in real time. Wonderware software provides our engineering and management teams with access to useable data that before was not readily available. We can now make decisions in real-time on our electricity generation capabilities, enabling Eskom to continue to improve the quality of life of more than 50 million people.”
John Viljoen, Corporate Consultant for Generation Business Eskom Holdings Ltd.
For more information about the products used here, please visit the following links:
With the implementation of the Wonderware solution, Eskom now has the tools to understand and control its vast and complex network of power generation facilities -- improving the quality of life of the millions of people who rely on the power the company provides each day.
“The drive for increased reliability and efficiency of operations requires having better plant information accessible in real time. Wonderware software provides our engineering and management teams with access to useable data that before was not readily available. We can now make decisions in real-time on our electricity generation capabilities, enabling Eskom to continue to improve the quality of life of more than 50 million people.”
John Viljoen, Corporate Consultant for Generation Business Eskom Holdings Ltd.
More information
For more information about the products used here, please visit the following links:
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