Industry 4.0 solutions for mobile machines

The industrial world is moving steadily towards Industry 4.0 and embracing the technologies that will define this era – a move which, in effect, means increased connectedness between machines and the harnessing of data analytics to enhance operational efficiencies.

While there is a lot of literature on the topic of industry 4.0 – or the fourth industrial revolution – papers have tended to focus on the general implications for industries and their fixed equipment.

However, it is also prudent to examine the implications this new era will have for automated and mobile machines.

This paper discusses some examples from ifm’s customers where mobile machine operators across different industries are using industry 4.0 technologies to reduce operational risks, optimise operations and improve the life of their equipment.

Download the white paper below to find out more.

“New” modular safety relay myPNOZ® – the world’s first batch size 1 safety relay, create your safety.

With the intuitive online tool myPNOZ Creator, users can assemble “their” myPNOZ: it’s delivered pre-assembled, set up and tested and so is a completely individualised system, ready to install. No programming knowledge is required to use myPNOZ Creator, as the logic links for the safety functions are defined on myPNOZ via the modules that are selected and the sequence in which they are plugged in. As such the automation company Pilz has developed a digital, universal concept for its new modular safety relay myPNOZ, from selection through to order: with myPNOZ Pilz can offer safe solutions that are built in accordance with customers’ specific individual batch size 1 requirements.

Spelling out safety across the supply chain

Coates Hire is one of Australia’s largest equipment solutions providers with over 150 facilities across the country and hundreds of types of equipment.

The company has created two safety guides, for truck drivers and load restraint protocols, to promote and embed safe processes across its network of machinery transportation partners.

To read more about Coates Hire’s safety guides, download the resource below:

 

Not just a gas: Why generating nitrogen onsite makes good business sense

Nitrogen gas has numerous applications in food and beverage industries. Primarily, it is used to preserve or prevent product from spoiling from oxidisation. It has applications that range from food packaging and storage, to wine, beer and fruit juice production. While widely used, many food and beverage businesses rely on the delivery of bottled nitrogen gas as their source. This white paper examines the applications of nitrogen gas in Australian food and beverage operations and the business case for generating nitrogen onsite.

To download the whitepaper, please fill out the form below:

Supply chain management and resilience in 2021 – The Playbook

With COVID-19 impacting our entire supply chain in Australia, now more than ever are manufacturers and those in the wholesale trade asking – what next.

The team at Wiise worked with industry Business Consultants, IT Managers and CFO’s as well as supply chain experts from KPMG Australia to look at what businesses need to do today and tomorrow when planning for 2021.

With over 25 pages of insights, you’ll:

— Hear from experts from KPMG Australia and other businesses
— Understand where you can cut costs and make savings
— Learn how to adapt your operating model for change
— Find out what similar businesses have been doing to pivot

Here’s a quick snapshot of some of the findings in this playbook. Download the full report for much more.

Invest in tech now to stay in the game

We get it. As a small or medium business, you’re probably looking for ways to cut your spend right now. But the right tech can streamline your processes, increase your productivity, and end up saving you a great deal of money. Not to mention making it through the crisis with a functioning business.

There are multiple cloud-based options out there, and these days, they’re much more in reach of small and medium supply chain businesses. And as remote work is becoming more common, cloud-based tech ensures all your systems and data can be available anywhere, at any time.

Use your data goldmine to plan effectively

Data-driven insights are essential for supply chains. You need good data analytics to understand who your customers are, what their buying behaviours are, and what that demand profile looks like. That way you can get a deep understanding of those changes in demand. You can manage your supply and keep it lean. And you can create a quality business and contingency plan.

Automate time-consuming processes

We’ve all heard the term, but what does it mean? Automation is simply making a process or operation happen automatically. In this case, with the use of technology or electronic process. Order processing, invoices, providing customer updates… these are tedious, time consuming processes that can be automated to free up your staff.

Review your expenses, save where you can

Look at your regular expenses. Reducing your outgoings can help your cash flow immediately. Start with payments — if money coming in is slowing down, you’ll need to find ways to cut costs now. There may be hidden costs, so getting a detailed look at your costs is important.

Use your insights for better business planning

For businesses with manual processes, getting decent reporting and insights can take a long time. And by the time you get the data, it’s outdated. In today’s landscape, something changes every single day. So, your goal is to have a clear insight into your business in real time, so you make sensible contingency plans.

Get better visibility in the cloud

If you’re running your business from software in the cloud, anyone in your business can access their dashboard from anywhere to see what’s happening. They can see where things need to change and where bottlenecks are occurring.

Make your supply chain more responsive to be more successful

Survival of supply chain businesses in today’s strange world is no longer just about improving your performance and efficiency. Download our free Supply Chain playbook to find out how to combine improved resilience, adaptability and visibility to achieve success and stay the course.

To download the whitepaper, please fill out the form below:

How to champion a new manufacturing ERP

The timing has never been more urgent for small and medium-sized manufacturers and job shops to embrace transformative technologies, including best-of-breed enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions.

Market conditions will likely be changing rapidly in the near term, and manufacturing organisations of all sizes will need to improve operational efficiency in order to remain competitive.

You may not have final decision-making authority in your organisation, but you can provide process leadership that can strengthen your business and your career.

In this guide, you will be introduced to general strategies for selling change to senior leadership and then provide a specific action plan for proposing an ERP transition.

To download the whitepaper, please fill out the form below:

How to determine ERP functionality needs

Manufacturers are preparing to enter what will likely become a leaner economy over the next few years and must be structured to operate as productively and efficiently as possible.

To compete in this environment, a 21st century Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution is a necessity, especially for smaller and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

In a crowded ERP solution marketplace cluttered with confusing advertising messages, it takes a methodical approach to match the right solution to your business.

This report by ECI Software Solutions provides a guide for understanding your ERP functionality options and determining your business’ unique needs.

To download the report, please fill out the form below:

Digital transformation: The present and the future of manufacturing businesses

Digital transformation represents a quantum shift in the manufacturing industry for manufacturers of all sizes, both domestically and globally. The ways in which manufacturing organisations use information is rapidly changing, giving rise to new opportunities for business growth through operational improvements, automation,
and customisation of products and services to the needs of customers.

Data storage is becoming inexpensive and more flexible, while advanced analytics and artificial intelligence are enabling businesses to draw actionable insights. Over the next decade, technologies including cloud computing, internet of things (IoT), and advanced robotics will become increasingly connected by a common “digital thread”: The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system which links every phase of the product life cycle quoting and production to distribution, point of sale, and use.

To download the whitepaper, please fill out the form below:

Accurate placement on the can

The new rotary applicator from Geyssel Sondermaschinen GmbH attaches up to 30,000 objects such as drinking straws, spoons or forks to cups, cans or bottles per hour. And it always positions these items so that neither the logo nor the product information is covered – while also ensuring that safety isn’t put at risk despite very high process speeds. While looking for an integrated safety system, Geyssel opted for the safety gate system PSENmlock from Pilz, which features safe interlocking and safeguard locking in a single device. When used in combination with the configurable and reliable safety controller PNOZmulti 2, also from Pilz, this creates a safety solution which is suitable for universal use and also available for other application, packaging and testing machines.

Safety Spotlight magazine: Insights for the Australian industry

The October 2020 edition of Blackwoods’ Safety Spotlight explores topics and solutions that are critical to keeping people safe on the worksite. The magazine features articles from Blackwoods technical safety specialists as well as leading brands in the world of safety.

Work health and safety professional can to delve into topics including:

  • Night and day workwear solutions for every environment.
  • The latest PPE products and innovations to protect from head to hand to toe.
  • Keeping cool on the job in harsh Australian conditions.
  • The best protection for working at heights, and much more.

To download the magazine, please fill out the form below:

ERP selection and implementation toolkit

Whether your company currently uses spreadsheets and you want to implement your first ERP system, or the ERP system you currently have no longer meets your needs, you’re undoubtedly performing your due diligence… downloading brochures and reading article upon article on how to select a (new) system as well as the websites and materials of a number of different vendors.

In this whitepaper by ECI Software Solutions, you’ll learn about what you need to know about ERP selection and implementation and the tools to understand how it applies to your business.

To download the resource, please fill out the form below:

 

Adapt fast or disappear

This resource produced by the SafetyCulture Group aims to inform operational leaders of the trends that ensure survival and drive growth across industries. It will focus on the key areas that will allow businesses to quickly adapt to new operational challenges, and position the business for success in a post-pandemic world.

“Many great operations businesses have been built over the past few centuries by harnessing two powerful market forces: barriers to entry and economies of scale,” says Alistair Venn, chief operating officer, SafetyCulture Group.

“…If shifting external conditions and increased consumer expectations weren’t enough for
businesses to contend with, COVID-19 arrived to throw another spanner in the works by
disrupting workplaces, supply chains, and impacting spending worldwide.”

To download the resource, please fill out the form below:

Spatial awareness: Maximising warehouse efficiency with a safety-first approach

How safe is warehousing in Australia? The surge in online shopping has put increased pressure on manufacturers with warehousing facilities to improve their operational efficiency and maximise storage space.

Australia’s demand for logistics warehousing space has steadily increased over the last decade and will continue to rise in the wake of a pandemic-induced e-commerce boom.

These challenges are further compounded by the need to ensure workplace safety. Preventative occupational health and safety measures are not only required to avoid workplace injury but to allow for adequate social distancing with COVID-19.

This whitepaper discusses the key issues affecting the materials handling industry in the context of current events. Moreover, it proposes a series of safety-first initiatives to help manufacturers optimise their existing warehouse space and increase their ability to move product faster and more effectively to meet customer demand.

To download the whitepaper, please fill out the form below:

[ON-DEMAND WEBINAR] Building resilience in your supply chain with cloud ERP

How have businesses in manufacturing, distribution and warehousing adapted during these times? It starts with the right tech. Recent events have proved the need to have a flexible and adaptable operating model. And investing in technology like cloud ERP can do just that.

Join Wiise success manager, Chris Mackenzie, and solutions achitect from KPMG, Caroline Faulkner as they chat about the impact of COVID on Australia’s supply chain, what businesses need to do to adapt and ways in which Wiise ERP has helped businesses adapt and scale. Plus, tune in to see a live demo of Wiise in action.

In this webinar, you’ll:

  • Find out the challenges facing supply chains
  • The key things you need to think about today
  • The benefits of cloud ERP
  • Ways in which Wiise ERP is helping supply chain businesses
  • How our customers were able to grow, save time and scale with Wiise
  • See a demo of Wiise in action

Whether you’re a manufacturer, distributor, managing inventory or have warehousing, this webinar will take you through ways in which businesses like yours were able to adapt and scale using cloud ERP – so you can too.

To watch the on-demand webinar, please fill out the form below:

Blackwoods – Selecting appropriate impact protection

Impact injury risk is common in many industry sectors, with worker’s hands most likely to suffer the effects of unwanted forcible contact with machinery, tools and other hazards.

The likelihood of injury increases when workers are required to use their hands to manipulate or guide machinery into place, to operate in adverse weather conditions, or where the presence of lubricants, liquids and oils makes gripping tools and other equipment especially difficult.

In any industry sector where there is a risk of crush or impact injury, safety and operations managers should consider the use of gloves that offer suitable impact protection for the tasks being carried out.

To download the resource, please fill out the form below:

Is your manufacturing ERP flexing its muscle?

Modern ERP is all about flexibility. The flexibility to adapt to last-minute changes, bring in the precise levels of inventory you’re going to need, move jobs around to make sure you hit deadlines.

In fact, in this fast moving, globalised and ultra-competitive world, a lack of flexibility in your ERP can put your business at a serious disadvantage. Undermining the efficiencies of your manufacturing shop is just the start. A lack of flexibility slows you down, keeps you out of the loop and gnaws away at profit margins without you even knowing.

This short guide will take you through the six common ways a lack of flexibility in your ERP can impact your profits—and why the new generation of software is the answer.

To download the resource, please fill the form below:

PSENopt II – Safety solution is almost a work of art!

If the safety of machinery is to be optimised, this requires expertise and an in-depth hazard assessment. This helps plant operators to stay on the right path and to avoid unnecessarily long downtimes. In the tank facility of the heating technology specialist Vaillant in Bergheim, the consultancy services of automation specialists Pilz led to an extraordinary – almost artistic – safety solution: to keep the loading and unloading area free of disruptive structures, Pilz embedded the transmitters of the light curtains PSENopt II horizontally in the floor. The receivers are installed on a steel construction above the machine. In this manner, two older production lines could be secured for the coming years and operated in compliance with the standards.

Six ways rugged tablets are changing logistics and materials handling

Tablet devices are increasingly finding their way into all aspects of industry operations:

  • Field services: field data capture, organising work, tracking assets, materials, and equipment
  • Fleet management: tracking, NHVR logbooks and diagnosing vehicles
  • Processing: condition monitoring and operations control
  • Supply chain: inventory logging, tracking, and management

In the hands of workers, tablets are transforming operations by increasing their connectivity and making information more accurate and immediate. The result is reduced costs, faster response to changes, increased flexibility, and better decision making.

But not all tablets are created equal: rugged tablets, designed to keep working even in tough environments, will deliver the reliability, uptime, and compatibility that industrial companies in the logistics, field services, and warehouse management fields need to ensure an effective return on their investment.

To download the white paper, please fill out the form below:

Eight ways ERP will save your manufacturing company

If your company plans to grow, it must take steps early on to lay the foundation for that growth. No step is more important than the decision to select and implement an ERP system.

ERP is not just accounting or materials planning, as some people mistakenly believe. ERP encompasses automated processes that touch every aspect of your business, from managing inventory to order entry, shipping, procurement, quality management, and reporting. In short, ERP helps you become more efficient, ensure regulatory compliance, improve customer service, and effectively utilise your resources.

Read on to learn more ways in which ERP will put your manufacturing company on the road to success.

To download the white paper, please fill out the form below:

Webinar: A no fail recipe to fix bottlenecks in food and beverage manufacturing

As a food and beverage manufacturer, you operate on small batches and at high speed; with short expiry times and tight timelines.  But with the need to be cost competitive, even relatively minor bottlenecks can have a significant impact on productivity.

Your factory may have issues complying to food and beverage regulations. Lack of supply chain visibility may be impacting your ability to control costs. Production might be disrupted by shortages of raw materials. Revenue may be lost due to excessive manufacturing waste.

If any part of the system is under-performing, it artificially limits your productivity and profitability.

Watch this exclusive panel discussion and Q&A session with Mike Wheeler, Editor of Food & Beverage Industry News, Roger Landman Product Operations Manager at SYSPRO, and Sukesh Ned at Turnaround Services Global, a SYSPRO partner, to discuss the topic of: A no fail recipe to fix bottlenecks in food and beverage manufacturing.

To watch the webinar recording, please fill out the form below: