Automation specialist Grenzebach is working toward a goal of implementing self-adjusting production parameters for glass and plasterboard production facilities, to support operators. Using Emulate3D™, it tests the software and provides a virtual environment in which to develop new products.
Glass production is very sensitive to parameter changes, so Grenzebach looked for a way to optimally configure its production machines and then help its customers by keeping these parameters in check automatically.
A Rockwell Automation solution was installed, which included:
- Emulate3D virtual testing and simulation software
- The risks associated with R&D and prototyping are significantly lowered
- Plant can be analyzed and optimized in a virtual environment before any fabrication commences
- Virtual Reality tools can be used for sales, design verification and operation
- Operational data can be fed back into the virtual prototypes to further enhance and streamline future development
- Operators can configure the machines for new orders more easily
- Production data and AI will be used to optimize processes in real time
- Digital twins can be coupled to PLCs from multiple vendors to perform digital testing during development
- Virtualization allows companies to react more quickly and efficiently to market changes
All machine builders want their customers to be able to operate machinery with as much efficiency and productivity as possible, from the outset. This means keeping start-up and changeover times short. Transferring this work to a digital space allows machinery to be set up for each new series more quickly, and this alone can increase the number of items that can be produced. Grenzebach, an automation specialist headquartered in Hamlar, Asbach-Bäumenheim, Bavaria, has set out to make this possible.
Challenge
Grenzebach is a globally active equipment builder for the glass and building materials industry. Since the 1960s, it has been manufacturing machinery for flat glass production, and is one of the innovators of this process.
Glass is produced in a very demanding, continuous process, which is so sensitive that even small fluctuations in parameters can drastically affect the quality of the final product. For this reason, Grenzebach aims to supply its customers with optimally configured machinery that self-adjusts whenever possible. Using Emulate3D™ from Rockwell Automation, Grenzebach tests, trains, and validates AI systems, effectively putting them into operation, virtually.
“As an equipment builder for float glass, one of the things we want to do is support our customers in being able to configure the machinery they purchase from us for new orders more quickly. To ensure that control parameters quickly take on optimum values during start-up and are continuously readjusted during ongoing production, we are working on a data-based service. We are using Emulate3D for development, among other resources, and are supported by experts from the University of Augsburg and SimPlan,” says Daniel Roßkopf, Data Scientist at Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH. As Germany’s leading simulation service provider, SimPlan AG is on hand to provide training and support. The University of Augsburg helps with data modeling and is supporting the creation of a model in the cooling area, in particular.
Solution
Emulate3D opens up new possibilities for Grenzebach to use data and AI in a meaningful way. “Basically, Emulate3D has all the capabilities to simulate a planned plant in a 3D model and to put it into operation virtually. Through virtualization, equipment builders like Grenzebach significantly reduce risk when developing concepts or prototypes for new machinery, or new solutions for existing machinery. By using Emulate3D, a plant in development no longer needs to be built physically – saving money. And because the plant can be represented in virtual reality, the concept can be discussed very effectively internally or during the sales process,” says Michael Maurer, Team Leader & Solution Consultant at Rockwell Automation. At Grenzebach, the plan is to use virtual testing to address questions in the future, even before the first plant components are manufactured. This benefits all those involved.
Result
In line with the great potential of visual and physical representations of plants, Grenzebach also envisions several services following commissioning, that they can offer with the help of Emulate3D and artificial intelligence. In this, Grenzebach is collaborating with the University of Augsburg to incorporate real data collected during operation into the virtual models of plants, to expand the range of planning and quality assurance services offered to customers.
“We have been researching how to use data to optimize production for some time now. Soon there will be many more applications. Together with Grenzebach, we are already implementing the first projects,” says Ludwig Vogt, a research associate at the Chair of Production Informatics at the University of Augsburg.
With the help of artificial intelligence, several issues are to be addressed in the future. First, the best real production parameters are to be determined and further optimized through simulation. Machine learning is also to be used to determine which production parameters facilitate the identification of impending malfunctions, failures, and deterioration in quality. Based on this, continuous, intelligent monitoring is intended to signal deviations in quality as early as possible. Ultimately, the plant should readjust project parameters itself wherever possible, making work easier for operators. This is what Grenzebach is currently focusing on, and Emulate3D is helping to train the AI.
“We will gradually expand digital services,” announces Grenzebach’s Daniel Roßkopf. “In addition to the interface with Rockwell products, Emulate3D comes with PLC interfaces to other suppliers. This open connectivity is important in production today, because plants are becoming increasingly diverse on the factory floor.” With Emulate3D, individual interfaces can be implemented. Grenzebach will be able to connect digital plant twins to any control system the customer wants, and perform digital testing during development in the near future.
Today and for the future, intensifying global competition is about making production ever more efficient, ensuring quality, and minimizing waste as well as changeover time. Computer simulations open up new approaches. At Grenzebach, it is not only a matter of maintaining a position at the vanguard of the industry; it is to be able to react quickly to market developments. In addition, simulations can be used to measure and decrease energy consumption, improving sustainability and in reaction to increasing energy costs.
Published February 9, 2024
