NPE ’18: Automation, data exchange increasingly relevant to US plastics industry – Milacron

David Haydon

10-May-2018

ORLANDO (ICIS)–The plastics industry is increasing demand for cyber-physical mechanical systems, as well as industrial internet of things (IoT) and cloud computing, US-based plastic processing equipment manufacturer Milacron said on Thursday.

“It has taken off this year like we didn’t expect,” Milacron electrical design engineer Ed Jump said on the sidelines of the National Plastics Exposition (NPE).

Hall noted that Milacron’s platform for IoT connectivity at the booth was hooked up to extrusion, injection and blow-moulding machines, demonstrating connectivity to computers, television displays and smartphones.

Photo by David Haydon

“Connecting any piece of machinery from any OEM (original equipment manufacturer) is available on the platform,” he said.

Hall listed several benefits from using an IoT platform:

-Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
-Data point analytics
-Real-time process monitoring
-Downtime tracking
-Predictive analytics

“Combining data collection with downtime tracking in the same platform, we’re able to get a predictive analytics module,” he said.

Hall also noted that the company addressed cybersecurity issues.

“Through our partner ei3, we have an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 27000 certification, that is the highest data security available currently,” he said.

Milacron uses a private cloud system to store company data, he added, and uses proprietary hardware boxes with a dedicated VPN (virtual private network) to connect machinery to the cloud service, and then into the company’s secured network.

Sponsored by the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), NPE2018: The Plastics Show takes place on 7-11 May in Orlando, Florida.

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