Smart works: Success in medical plastics with smart manufacturing

Martin Gadsby, director at Optimal Industrial Automation, advises how a well-designed data management strategy can help producers of medical plastics succeed in smart manufacturing.

The creation of Smart Factories can bring massive competitive benefits to businesses in the medical plastic manufacturing sector. These facilities leverage data generated throughout the manufacturing process to maximise responsiveness on the factory floor and optimise production. To unlock this potential and turn their plants into Smart Factories, medical plastic manufacturers need a knowledge management system to effectively gather, store, visualise and process data. By deploying a digital manufacturing strategy, companies can improve the capacity and productivity without increasing their footprint. 

Identify the right technology

State-of-the-art technology is needed to set up Smart Factories for medical plastic production. Key elements include real-time, in-line and on-line probes, sensors, and spectral instruments to gather information, as well as data mining solutions to generate actionable insight and predictions about processes and operations. In addition, factory and process automation solutions, as well as digital twins (or cyber-physical systems), use the knowledge generated by instrumentation to optimise production and maintenance. 

A Process Analytical Technology (PAT) framework is essential to set-up and interconnect these elements for responsive smart manufacturing applications. This is a quality-driven approach that relies on the relationship between critical process parameters and critical quality attributes of raw and in-process materials to optimise manufacturing activities. 

For example, this type of setup can be used to control hot melt extrusion of polyethylene oxide films by leveraging the multivariate data provided by near-infrared and Raman spectroscopy.

Implementing PAT solutions

The system used to link all the PAT systems together to create a Smart Factory is known as a data or knowledge management platform. In addition to automatically optimising production process, this also acts as a key visualisation tool that helps businesses have an immediate understanding of their processes and product quality predictions.

When embarking on digital transformation projects, medical plastic manufacturers should select an automation specialist that can implement a comprehensive solution that includes, and seamlessly integrates, all the necessary technologies. By doing so, producers can create a truly intelligent, interconnected facility that result in significant reductions in production costs as well as substantial improvements in productivity, product quality and business sustainability.

Turning data into knowledge 

Although it is relatively easy to generate large volumes of production data, medical plastic manufacturers need to identify which datasets should be stored, assessed, and rationalised into actionable knowledge. Without this filtering and analytics process, production facilities could resemble data warehouses, rather than agile, future-oriented plants, preventing businesses from achieving an in-depth process understanding that can enhance their shop floors.

A PAT knowledge management platform, such as synTQ, is essential to this process. Instead of storing all the data from every single device along a production line, businesses can use a PAT knowledge manager to filter production data; for example, to only show key process parameters affecting a product’s quality attributes. This ensures that plant operators can instantly access actionable knowledge, without having to sift through large amounts of information. Historical data can also be profiled by experts, helping with the development of process-related mechanistic knowledge that can then be fed back into the process for further improvements.

This can help manufacturers avoid overprocessing, thus reducing cycle times, energy usage and the risk of polymer thermal degradation, while ensuring the materials are well homogenised. In addition to scrutinising data, the PAT data management platform also plays a crucial role in the delivery of highly automated Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications. To identify the most suitable software, businesses need to consider some key elements, the first being what can the solution communicate with.

Maximise interconnectivity

A fundamental function that a PAT knowledge manager should support for smart manufacturing applications is data fusion. This is a process aimed at associating, correlating, and combining data as well as information from single and multiple sensors or other devices, including spectral instruments. The results of which can produce otherwise unobtainable, real-time, product quality attributes and process characteristics. By utilising this capability, the software can maximise the use of accurate and precise predictive models and offer a key tool for process visualisation. Also, this enables effective manual or automated process control and orchestration across the manufacturing line.

To effectively support the fusion of data and information, the data management platform should connect to all different elements of a PAT system. For example, synTQ can be linked to multiple sensors and analysers on the production line as well as industrial automation devices, such as programmable logic controllers, distributed control systems and supervisory control and data acquisition platforms. In addition, the software interfaces with higher level systems, such as historians, laboratory information management systems, manufacturing execution systems up to business platforms such as enterprise resource planning. Finally, to create a futureproof, IIoT-driven set-up, the synTQ PAT knowledge manager can connect to the Cloud to perform Big Data analytics. 

Conclusions

By turning existing facilities into Smart Factories, medical plastic manufacturers can take advantage of extensive benefits offered by a PAT-enabled process and meet the needs of an increasingly demanding market. In effect, one of the biggest advantages is the substantial optimisation of plant operations, which reduces OPEX while increasing overall productivity and profitability. 

Manufacturers who deploy effective PAT systems for real-time process control and monitoring, obtain an interconnected and responsive manufacturing line that can always maintain optimal process conditions to deliver high-quality products cost-effectively.

When implementing PAT and automation solutions, manufacturers should look for a comprehensive system, where the different technologies are well integrated to ensure effective operations. An advanced knowledge management system, such as synTQ, must be incorporated into a PAT strategy as it is fundamental to enabling the interconnectivity of multiple disparate systems, data fusion and real-time quality predictions, which in turn enables quality-centric real-time control. In addition, the software can streamline and simplify reporting, auditing, and data verification, enhancing quality management strategies and minimising data integrity issues.

To address these aspects and create a Smart Factory, businesses need to find a partner who knows their industry and specialises in automation and PAT. They need to be able to support every stage of a factory automation and PAT implementation project, providing all the necessary tools. By choosing a highly skilled partner, such as Optimal, companies can succeed in the digital transformation of their factories and organisations.