At HMS, we believe that working together creates the best results. That's why we are passionate about partnering with other innovative companies within industrial communication and IIoT. In our "Solution Partner Spotlight" series, we feature one of our Solution Partners. This month, we are pleased to present innius.
innius® is a forerunner in Industrial IoT technology and one of HMS’ valued Solution Partners. Since 2016, users and manufacturers of industrial machinery have been connecting their machines, making their factories smart and reaping the cost benefits of improved productivity, energy efficiency, quality and reduced waste.
innius' powerful software platform for industrial machine manufacturers and industrial machine users supports the digital transformation of manufacturers and users through actionable smart data and smart apps. Machine manufacturers improve their customer experience by offering pro-active customer services such as remote machine monitoring and predictive maintenance. Machine users apply lean manufacturing best practices supported by real-time production data to improve their core production processes.
Retrofitting IoT with innius and HMS
Itho Daalderop, a manufacturer of indoor climate products in The Netherlands, were looking for a smart solution for a common IIoT challenge: connecting old machines up to the IIoT in a cost effective and simple way to use real-time machine data to conduct Condition Based Maintenance in their factory. But how can this be done, without the difficult and costly challenge of replacing old machinery?
By connecting to innius via an Ewon® Flexy from HMS, Itho Daalderop was provided with an IIoT retrofit for older machines, taking their existing factory and bringing it into the digitalized world of manufacturing 4.0. The cost of this solution, when compared to the estimated €200,000 required for a brand-new machine, is minuscule.
“We looked for a company which could open up the data. In the first contact with innius, we asked the question, ‘How can you open up our old machines?’ And, very quickly a good answer was given, ‘We use an Ewon® modem, by which we can get the data from the PLC to the innius cloud,” says Albert van Loon, Production Technology Manager at Itho Daalderop.
The Ewon flexy 205 from HMS is an advanced internet data gateway that allows Machine Builders to monitor and collect vital KPIs for analysis and predictive maintenance. With data logging, alarming, built-in web interface, scripting and enhanced internet connectivity, the Flexy 205 is a modular Internet Gateway for your IoT deployment. It also supports VPN Remote Access for easy troubleshooting of your distant industrial equipment.
Easy and quick implementation for Condition Based Maintenance
With easy and simple implementation consisting of some programming in the PLC, plugging in the Ewon® Flexy and connecting through Wi-Fi, Itho Daalderop was able benefit from a complete, end-to-end IIoT solution and make the most of their data.
With the production data now generated and shown on a dashboard, the maintenance team can quickly detect whether the machine is at fault and for problems to be signaled early on, even before the operator discovers it, allowing Maintenance Engineers to replace leak tester parts during production breaks or evenings, so that the machine doesn’t break down during production. All thanks to the smart IIoT solution created by HMS and innius.
“The data allows me to see how my process is running, how the steps are going, what the working times are, what the Mean Time To Repair might be and thus where bottlenecks, potential improvements are, and for the Maintenance Engineers, the reliability can be monitored,” explains Richard van Gelder, Production Manager at Itho Daalderop.
Reliable partners for the Industrial Internet of Things
All in all, all parties are happy with the collaboration and the experience of working together has been very positive.
“I have experienced innius as a professional team, who gives clear direction, and don’t want to be held up or put off, no, they want to progress and thereby demonstrating their decisiveness. I think that’s a compliment for innius. That’s what we need as a partner,” says Richard van Gelder, Production Manager at Itho Daalderop.
To learn more about innius, visit their website.
Watch the video case study here