Process optimization in wood processing

As the legacy system no longer met the requirements, the company Kastamonu Entegre looked for a new way to acquire and analyze data for the wood processing industry. After the test in one production line, the iba system was rolled out further and further and has meanwhile been installed in numerous plants distributed all over the world. Thanks to the collection of all acquired values at headquarters with ibaPDA, ibaAnalyzer and ibaHD-Server, the global player can monitor and compare the plants across borders and centrally and thus make optimizations. This saves time and money. In addition, since data from more than one and a half years is available in the ibaHD-Server, highly precise laboratory models for the various production steps can be created in a short time - about every five minutes. With the help of these "Predict Laboratory Models," the effects of different process parameters on product quality can be predicted and thus optimized. Since this evaluation was very time-consuming for Kastamonu Entegre before using the iba system and results were only available after about three hours, the same product had to be produced for 50 to 60 hours in the past. In the meantime, product changes take place in the plant two to three times a day. This means that products can be better aligned with the corresponding requirements and quality can be increased.

Business Benefits

Central overview
of measurement data from all plants

Improved flexibility
of production

Savings
in time and money

The Technology

The data acquisition within the individual plants is realized with ibaPDA. Here, data recorded directly via Ethernet as well as PLC and bus signals recorded with ibaBM or ibaPADU modules are combined and made available to the operating personnel in ibaAnalyzer. The access can be done directly or remotely, the measured values are also stored in ibaHD-Server. To be able to better compare the processes within the individual sites, the identical characteristic values are calculated in ibaAnalyzer for each plant and then sent to the headquarters. This is where the central monitoring takes place. To create quality prediction models, nine monitoring parameters were defined. Based on historical data and recorded live data from the process, the evaluation takes place, based on which the product properties can be reliably predicted. Due to its success, each new plant of Kastamonu Entegre is usually equipped with the iba system.