Machine Utilisation System for Pet Healthcare Manufacturer

bm logoBob Martin is the UK’s leading brand name for pet healthcare. The company was founded in 1892 in Southport, England where Robert (Bob) Martin manufactured vitamin and mineral powders after he recognised the need to supplement dogs diets. 

In order to improve the accuracy of the utilisation information available on four manufacturing machines the company has invested in a PlantRun system that links directly to the machines to track each time a product is manufactured.

manufacturing display boardThe system makes it easy to see how much running or stopped time each machine has had per shift, and how many products have been made. In addition, by recording the shift information into a database, reports can be generated that show the total amount of running time and down time over longer periods of time, for example, over the past month.

An asset interface panel is located in the production area where it can be conveniently connected to pulse signals from all four machines. The panel connects to an industrial PlantRun PC server located in a production office. 

The system is configured to offer a range of management faculties available at the PlantRun PC including;
  • Shift Manager to define shift patterns through a calendar
  • Shift based recording and reporting of total run time, stopped time, and number of products made
  • Historic recording and trending to show the current and historic running states
  • An overall plant status display gives a plan diagram of the production area with monitored machines shows all summary information for all machines, using colour to highlight running or stopped machines. Displayed on screen alongside each of the monitored machines is the time that it has spent in its current state i.e. how long it has been running or stopped for, the time running or stopped in the current shift, and the products manufactured in the current shift.
The system was supplied with pre-configured software and hardware and training included.

Installation, which is designed to be straight forward, was undertaken by Bob Martin staff, reducing their costs and minimising any disturbance to production.
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