Increasing productiveness and decreasing the costs of glass factories by implementing a hardware and software complex with built-in artificial intelligence "Conveyor 2.0" (invention "System and method for monitoring the parameters of glass production")
An important feature of glass production is that it is an unstoppable production. After the glass furnace is started, the production conveyor operates without stopping for 10-12 years. Technological sections of the glass production conveyor consist of equipment made by different manufacturers combined into a single conveyor line. Automatic process control systems, software and interfaces provided by equipment manufacturers operate locally within the framework of their technological task, not allowing to “see the whole picture” along the entire production line and, accordingly, it doesn’t allow effectively managing the entire production cycle of operations in their interprocess communication. Losses due to unscheduled downtime of production lines, production of defective products together with the “human factor” lead to a large amount of unnecessary expenses and, as a consequence, lost profits. "Conveyor 2.0" combines autonomously controlled sections of conveyor production into a single system without replacing the existing equipment, using current automated process control systems, complementing their functionality. The "Conveyor 2.0" system covers the entire production line of the conveyor, from loading of the batch to packaging of the finished products (batch house, glass furnaces, glass forming machines, inspection equipment, packaging). The project is a catalyst that helps the enterprises to move from a simply automated level to the "smart production" level of the "factory of the future". Objectives of the system (project) implementation: 1. increase in productiveness (increase in the number of manufacturing of good products) on the existing fleet of production equipment; 2. increase in the packed to melt ratio (PTM) by at least 5-7% of the current level and decrease in the unit costs of manufacturing good products by 10-15%, which is achieved through the following indicators: • Increase of the hot end efficiency • Increase of the cold end efficiency (increase of the number of packed good products) • improving product quality, reducing the amount of defective products by reducing the “reaction time” between the cold and the hot end of the conveyor; • optimal production planning through smart planning using statistics on the productiveness of each article in relation to a specific line. Articles are distributed among those lines where they are produced with maximum speed and efficiency (PTM); • reducing specific energy costs per one unit of produced product. 3.creation of a unified management system for factory performance indicators; 4.improvement of the quality (completeness, accuracy, reliability, timeliness, concurrency) of information on the efficiency of the production process organization; 5.speed-up of the time for collecting and processing primary source information for the purposes of operational production management in real time.
New Industry And Energy
Manufacturing management and optimization
The implementation of the system at a factory period is 8 months and consists of three consecutive stages: 1. Survey (audit) of production workhouses, collection and analysis of documentation on equipment and software of the automated process control system-2 months. 2. Development of the implementation project: communication line layout schemes, installation locations of Data Processing Units and Machine Vision Cameras, development of modules for reading data from the automated process control system software-3 months. 3. Communication lines installation, installation of Data Processing Units and Machine Vision Cameras, connection to the automated process control system software-3 months
Russia: Novosibirsk region (industrial operation), Tomsk region (industrial operation), Nizhny Novgorod region (implementation stage), Saratov region (implementation stage), Vladimir region (factory audit completed - stage 1 of system implementation). India: Telangana state, Hyderabad city, Gujarat state, Surat city (factory audit completed - stage 1 of system implementation).
"Conveyor 2.0" has a number of functional and technological advantages compared to solutions presented on the world market from European companies: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama - https://youniverse.tiama.com), SIL 4.0. (Vertech - https://vertech.eu). A comparison of the main characteristics is attached. Key Characteristics: 1. Integration into the equipment system of all types and manufacturers starting from the batch house to the packaging of finished products: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): No; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): No; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 2. Using of technical vision cameras and artificial intelligence to count products at different conveyor sections instead of optical and infrared sensors: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): No; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): No; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 3. Automatic calculation of production efficiency indicators from cuts to packaging: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): Yes; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): Yes; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 4. Analytical report on the work of the IS machine: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): No; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): No; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 5. Connection between the hot and the cold ends of the conveyor with measuring of employees reaction time: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): No; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): No; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 6. Optimal planning unit: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): No; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): No; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 7. Specialized hardware part of the system which provides complete and continuous data collection from all production sections: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): No; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): No; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 8. Messages about target events: stop of the IS machine, stop of the section, exceeding the critical threshold of defects on the inspection machine, decrease in the level of glass melt in the furnace, etc.: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): Yes; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): Yes; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 9. Database for parameters and operating modes of technological equipment at each moment of time: IS machine events, IS machine section angle settings, furnace operation parameters, etc.: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): No; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): No; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 10. Unit for the gob weight control: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): Yes; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): Yes; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 11. Unit for mold tracking, control of mold operation time and lubrication statistics: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): partly; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): partly; Conveyor 2.0: Yes. 12. Unit for pallets tracking and control over the shipments: IQ track / Intelligence (Tiama): partly; SIL 4.0. (Vertech): partly; Conveyor 2.0: Yes.
1. Prize winner of the Rospatent competition "Successful Patent of 2022". 2. Certificate of honor issued by Glass Union of Russia "For high achievements in improving the management of glass container production” 3.Publishing of the article in the leading Russian glass production and processing magazine “Glass Russia” - Application of tax benefits when purchasing domestic information and telecommunication technologies in glass production. 4. Publication on the Glass Union of Russia portal - https://steklosouz.ru/news/effektivnoe_proizvodstvo_tarnogo_stekla_s_cifrovymi_tehnologiyami_ooo_glassteh_/ All supporting documents and articles are attached to the application as part of other materials.
Intellectual property: 1. System and method for monitoring glass production parameters. Patent for invention No. 2 744 294. 2. System and method for monitoring production parameters. Territory: China - International Filing No.: PCT/RU2021/050137, Chinese Filing Number: 202180004839.0. 3. SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING PRODUCTION PARAMETERS OF GLASS PRODUCTS. Territory: INDIA, INDIAN PATENT APPLICATION NUMBER 202217003973. 4. SISTEMA E MÉTODO PARA MONITORAR PARÂMETROS DE PRODUÇÃO DE PRODUTOS DE VIDRO. Territory: Brasil - International Filing No.: PCT/RU2021/050137. All of the above mentioned materials are attached to the application as part of other materials.
