Digital tools yield practical results

The CoroPlus Machining Insights platform gives better visibility to CNC machine tools and machining processes and provides the tools needed to analyze, identify, and eliminate common sources of downtime and inefficiency.

Situation

Big data and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) grant employees easier and more centralized control and access to data. But do these technologies improve the working culture on the shop floor? That question was put to the test by OSI Precision, Saint-Georges, Que., when it was looking to install software to help with its Industry 4.0 roll-out.

The company uses machine tools from different manufacturers, including DMG MORI, Mazak, Correa, and Parpas; some are older machines and some newer. This presented additional connectivity challenges. Furthermore, each machine is very costly to run, so the control option that OSI decided upon would have a real impact on financial gains.

“We had up to 15 criteria. They included that the control and monitoring system had to be versatile, configurable, and easily adapt to all our different types of machines. We also needed it to integrate with our other digital systems, databases, and so on, and also required an easy-to-use interface for our operators,” explained Hubert Breton, operational efficiency and digital technology manager at OSI Precision.

OSI Precision is a general engineering manufacturer of complex parts and already had a long-running relationship with Sandvik Coromant, Mississauga, Ont., and uses the tooling manufacturer’s products in several of its CNC lathes and in a milling machine on its shop floor.

This time, OSI wanted to take this partnership in a new direction—machine monitoring. The company wanted to connect nine CNC machines on the shop floor, but also consolidate the control and performance analysis for all of these machines quickly and securely. The company also needed this connection to benefit its cultural shift toward Industry 4.0.

OSI began its research into this type of software in 2019 before signing an agreement with Sandvik Coromant. Sandvik Coromant started gathering data from the company’s machines and started an initial pilot project.

“Before choosing Sandvik Coromant, we took a few months to properly research all the tools available, and to select the right partner for this project,” said Breton.

Resolution

In the end, OSI opted for Sandvik Coromant’s CoroPlus Machining Insights platform, a modern cloud-based machine monitoring technology.

“We have worked with Sandvik Coromant for our cutting tools for many years,” said Breton. “The support from the company and from our contact person there has been very good over the years.”

Bijal Patel, global strategic account manager at Sandvik Coromant, worked closely with OSI Precision on the project.

The parameters and data managed by the operators relate to tool and part changes, breakages, and machine failures. The data yielded by machine monitoring proves especially helpful in finding the true causes of machine stoppages.

“Having data is really the first step in deriving the best performance and profitability from these machines, and to be able to measure this ourselves,” said Patel.

It is a good fit because OSI Precision also is intrigued by Sandvik Coromant’s plans to further develop the CoroPlus Machining Insights platform in the future, and Sandvik was fully aware of the importance OSI’s working culture.

“We really liked what we saw there, including the ability to integrate with the machine tools themselves. This was also a big factor in our decision,” said Breton.

OSI Precision agreed to become an early adopter of this software. Not only does the platform give the company greater visibility of their CNC machine tools and machining processes, it also provides the tools needed to analyze, identify, and eliminate common sources of downtime and inefficiency.

“Machining Insights automates the processes of data collection and analysis,” said Patel. “The software’s end goal, to provide machine shops with complete transparency about how their machine tools are being utilized, seemed to perfectly suit OSI Precision’s Industry 4.0 digital shift—and to offer a solution that could be easily adopted by their workforce.”

The parameters and data managed by the operators relate to tool and part changes, breakages, and machine failures. The data yielded by the machine monitoring software proves especially helpful to find the true causes of machine stoppages.

“I think it all boils down to how people treat one another, and that includes through the use of data, data management and sharing, and better reporting. And, therefore, better communication within the plant,” said Patel.

OSI Precision first implemented the system in the pilot project phase with three machine operators running the equipment after internal training, which Breton supervised. The second part of training was a lot more hands-on, covering how the system can be controlled from an iPad.

“The implementation was very important to ensure that everyone got on board and worked towards the same goal,” said Breton. “It was vital to involve people directly in the project rather than develop it in a silo away from everyone.”

For the pilot project, OSI’s workers had to get accustomed to using all new software. According to Patel, the platform is easy to get up and running and to use, with a simple login and menu interface. The platform also is highly customizable, whether it is accessed from operator channels on iPads or from dashboards.

The new technology has made OSI’s operators more efficient and is helping to change the working culture for the better.

“In fact, OSI has customized dashboards with all the information that we thought was pertinent, as a modified version of the supplied interface,” said Breton.

“Through remote iPad access, operators can not only see the current state of machines, but also how they have performed since the day they were connected. The operators can access empirical data about every part ever produced, every tool used, every shift they ever worked, and even how operators impact operations,” said Patel.

Nevertheless, there was some trepidation from OSI’s operators at the beginning of the project because this new system would measure performance and activities.

“It was really important that people realized that it is not a surveillance system. Instead, Machining Insights fuels our continuous improvements to be more competitive so that everyone can be better at their job, and uses data to drive those improvement efforts. We’re very careful in how we share our data internally, so everyone is on board with the fact that this is to fuel continuous improvement efforts. Customized reporting was crucial for this,” said Breton.

With Sandvik Coromant’s support, the company was soon able to demonstrate the advantages of the new, digitalized approach in a way that made sense—specifically, being able to demonstrate the advantages of the system through data. Before long, OSI’s operators were fully on board with the new project.

One challenge arose when OSI Precision had to work with vendors of different machines to install adapters that translate each machine’s data to make it compatible with the new monitoring platform. All signals and data from the machines are translated into one machine language and then put together for analysis.

“For the first adapters, Sandvik Coromant was present at the plant, which was very helpful for the hands-on installation by the machine manufacturers. There was also a compatibility issue with one of the adapters, but Sandvik Coromant was able to quickly solve the problem online by connecting us with the right people,” said Breton.

In fact, 95 per cent of the support for the project was offered remotely. OSI and Sandvik Coromant communicated regularly through Zoom and TeamViewer meetings, and the installation and configuration of the machine monitoring system also was performed remotely.

OSI Precision plans to use data from the pilot project for future improvements and to roll the system out to the rest of its 15 to 20 operators.

According to Breton, the pilot project was a success.

Operators can not only see the current state of machines, but also how they have performed since the day they were connected.

“We have worked well together so far, and the system has been really easy to use. We have also been able to integrate this data with other software using the Sandvik Coromant Application Programming Interface (API), with which we had excellent support from Germany. The system has never broken down and nothing has ever been offline. It has been super reliable so far and our operators have been using it 90 per cent of the time, as expected,” said Breton.

Going forward, OSI Precision predicts that the system will prove how competitive it can be and how fast the company delivers complex and bespoke machined components to customers.

“Moreover, the new technology has made OSI’s operators more efficient. We are on the right track to changing our working culture for the better,” said Breton.

Images courtesy of Sandvik Coromant.

OSI Precision, osiprecision.ca

Sandvik Coromant, www.sandvik.coromant.com