Industrial IoT as a catalyst for innovation at Paneltim

Paneltim’s priority is measuring cycle times. “The injection moulding process forms the basis of our production. Knowing how long each injection moulding cycle takes allows us to identify and eliminate inefficiencies in the process,” explains Seurynck. Measuring these cycle times did, however, present some challenges. Paneltim works with many different machines, and connecting to and reading the PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) of these machines was not always straightforward. After some trial and error of their own, Paneltim turned to Savaco for the capture and visualisation of data from their production machines.

A partner who thinks along with us

"We were already working with Savaco on our IT infrastructure. At one point, we got talking about the difficulties we were experiencing in monitoring our cycle times. The people at Savaco immediately understood our problems, for example regarding reading data from PLCs. They suggested using the industrial automation software Kepware in combination with OPC Router middleware. That was an instant hit,” Seurynck recalls. "It’s great to work with a partner who thinks along with us and pushes us forward, without taking the project entirely into their own hands. Thanks to the IIoT tools Savaco provided us with, it became feasible to read data from many more PLCs much more quickly. We wouldn’t have dared to think about that before. It helps us work more efficiently, which is good for our productivity and ultimately leads to greater customer satisfaction.”

Today, Paneltim mainly measures cycle times in production. “That was our initial objective, and thanks to Savaco, we have succeeded brilliantly,” Seurynck added. And the company already has plans to make better use of production data and other machine data. “Of all the panels we manufacture, 50% are made from 100% recycled raw materials. As these have different specifications to new materials, it becomes all the more important to monitor and optimise our production processes. In this way, thanks to Savaco’s advice, we will also be able to achieve our sustainability objectives, which are very high on our agenda,” concludes Seurynck.