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ProTech by Pro Mach™ is a cloud based Asset Management Tool that Drives Packaging Line Productivity Globally through a Suite of

Remote Solution Applications

By Mark Ruberg, Vice President, Pro Mach Business Process

ProTech’s remote solutions technology provides remote monitoring and remote service capabilities from all Pro Mach brands

ProTech by Pro Mach™ is a new suite of remote solutions available from all of the

more than 20 Pro Mach brands. ProTech provides packaging operations with secure

remote machine monitoring for overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) reporting, remote

service and tech support, and customized

condition monitoring. ProTech’s Downtime

Tracking app sends alerts and Pareto

reports that facilitate documented OEE

productivity increases and continuous

improvement.

ProTech enables small, medium,

and large organizations to maximize uptime and throughput. This ensures that capital

investments in Pro Mach branded solutions are optimized over the service life of the

packaging machine and/or complete integrated packaging line.

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The security and redundancy engineered into the ProTech cloud-based solution

is comparable to that used by the world’s leading financial institutions. Building on this

secure foundation, Pro Mach engineers created a smart services infrastructure that is

optimized for the packaging industry, both with individual machines and integrated lines.

ProTech is only available from Pro Mach brands but is capable of connecting to other

machines to allow customers to maximize productivity of their entire facility.

Remote monitoring for higher machine uptime

Sensors, servos, motors, drives, pneumatic valves, actuators, and other

components feature a level of embedded microprocessor intelligence that was only

speculated about a few short years ago. The amount of operational data within these

components is immense. While some of the world’s largest consumer brands

companies have the wherewithal to develop data gathering and analytics initiatives to

take advantage of this massive amount of data, most organizations, especially today

with smaller support teams, simply do not have the resources for comparable

development.

ProTech brings a world-class remote solutions suite availability to companies of

all sizes. ProTech utilizes secure point-to-point internet connectivity to deliver

component and system data to dedicated, redundant cloud-based servers. This data is

collected in real time, analyzed, and

presented back to the packaging

operation as OEE dashboards that are

available via external monitors, HMIs,

PCs, smart phones, and tablets.

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These dashboards – detailed graphs and charts – display operating conditions

occurring on the machine hour by hour. This information provides Pareto reports that

can drive six sigma continuous improvement initiatives. ProTech remote monitoring

levels the playing field between small to medium sized companies and larger ones in

terms of providing all sizes of organizations

with the ability to optimize machine

performance based on OEE data. ProTech

reporting drives continuous improvement

for greater utilization and competitiveness

of the packaging line.

As simple as connecting an Ethernet cable

ProTech provides “out-of-the-box” reports, administration tools, and analytics

that allow customers to start a remote solutions program in days with minimal impact on

their internal resources. Application development tools exist if a customer wants to

customize their installation. ProTech engineers will provide customization as well, if

desired.

This is all accomplished for the operation through the simple process of running

an Ethernet cable to the embedded ProTech communications device. A ProTech router

is installed in plants where there are multiple ProTech enabled machines. ProTech

hardware can be retroactively embedded in the machines of Pro Mach brands or in

virtually any modern machine. This means that small and medium sized packaging

operations can have line-wide OEE data without diverting internal resources to build this

analysis and reporting system from scratch.

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Remote service and tech support

Remote Service, where an OEM’s technician logs on to the machine via the

Internet to diagnose and fix a problem, has been available for years. One of the major

hurdles to the widespread adoption of remote support has been the question of secure

connectivity. With packaging machines from dozens of companies within a plant all with

different remote access protocols, IT departments, concerned with the integrity of their

corporate systems, simply found it expedient to issue a blanket rejection of access to

outside suppliers through the corporate firewall. Technology evolves. With the growing

appreciation of the power of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), big data, Industry

4.0, and the maturing of cloud-based computing – all developments based on the

connectivity of smart devices – that attitude of interconnection rejection by the IT

department is changing for systems that

can pass close examination.

To date, when ProTech has been

presented to a company involved in

packaging – small, medium, or large – and

the cloud-based security protocols fully

explained, IT representatives in the meeting

have expressed no objection to allowing

connection to a ProTech enabled machine,

thereby unleashing significant productivity

gains.

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Remote tech support has the potential to reduce service times when a machine

is down from days, in the case when a technician has to be dispatched to the packaging

line, to a matter of hours or minutes. Pro Mach’s Engineering Council estimates that

more than half of onsite service calls have the potential to be handled remotely. When

onsite service is required, the service technician arrives at the customer’s facility better

prepared due to the diagnostic knowledge supplied from ProTech. This results in faster

resolution of the issues.

Remote tech support can also help with downloading software updates, machine

audits, optimizing material usage, and a host of other issues that impact quality, cost,

and productivity as determined by the customer through the administration tools built

into ProTech.

Apps aren’t just for mobile phones and tablets – ProTech offers condition monitoring apps Suppose a packaging machine

utilizes compressed air, one of the most

expensive sources of energy in a plant.

That plant can request a ProTech

application to monitor the condition of the

pneumatic system and alert personnel

when a costly leak occurs. This app could

pay for itself very quickly as even minor leaks can lead to thousands of dollars of

wasted cost over the course of a year.

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Allpax, a Pro Mach business that manufactures retorts and retort-room

automation systems, has already developed a ProTech app for condition monitoring of

energy and water usage in the retort room. Orion, the Pro Mach stretch and pallet

wrapping business, has developed a load tracking app that monitors how much stretch

wrap is used per pallet. Too little stretch wrap for a specific pallet recipe sends an alert

that the pallet load may be unstable; while

too much stretch wrap used sends an alert to

readjust for optimum material usage. The

custom development and availability of a

suite of ProTech condition monitoring apps

ensures that the organizations environment

will be best served.

The importance of one baseline solution across more than 20 Pro Mach brands

In 2013, the Pro Mach Engineering Council, the interdivisional group of engineers

charged with ensuring best engineering practices, took up the question of remote

solutions. An internal survey across Pro Mach businesses revealed that there were

more than a half dozen active and unique efforts to develop remote services capabilities

and not one of those was identical. Not only was this duplication of effort an inefficient

use of engineering resources, but also no single business had the resources to devote

to the development of a robust, scalable, industry-leading solution. Furthermore, in

multi-machine integrated systems, unrelated solutions would simply be ineffective. Mark

Anderson, Pro Mach President and CEO, recognized that the development of one

company-wide solution would provide the most elegant outcome. He committed

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sufficient company resources to assure that an optimal solution was achieved. It has

been achieved with ProTech, and will continue to evolve with today’s rapid technology

advances.

The Pro Mach strategy was to work with a technology partner with a track record

of success in smart services and remote solutions. The ideal partner would provide the

foundation for a secure cloud-based solution. Council members also wanted to find a

partner with expertise in packaging and automation. A subcommittee study project was

launched and a number of potential partners were invited in for presentations followed

by feedback on detailed technical questions, product demonstrations, and references.

ei3 from Mountvale, N.J., consistently came out on top

in the various evaluation criteria. ei3, founded in 1999, has

become an authority of secure cloud-based computing and

smart services. They have experience in the packaging

industry with past projects involving the leaders in automation

control and others in packaging machine design and construction. The company is a

member of OMAC Packaging Workgroup, an organization with the mission to maximize

the business value of packaging machinery by improving automation guidelines and

standards. ei3 also belongs to The Sustainable Packaging Coalition.

Significantly, ei3 agreed to provide Pro Mach with exclusivity to its technology in

the packaging industry. Exclusivity gives Pro Mach a competitive advantage and serves

to protect the significant investment Pro Mach is making in smart service. Pro Mach and

ei3 began joint development work in mid-2014 and by 2015 had a number of

installations at early adopter sites in the United States and Latin America. By mid-2015,

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there was a growing familiarity within the Pro Mach engineering and sales community,

as well as distributors and customers, about the advantages of ProTech technology. At

Pack Expo Las Vegas 2015, the company formally introduced ProTech to the packaging

machinery marketplace.

ProTech is the latest innovation of the ProCustomer® initiative at Pro Mach

At Pack Expo in 2009, Pro

Mach launched its ProCustomer®

program focused on providing the

highest level of customer service and aftermarket support in the packaging industry.

The press release announcing the program stated:

ProCustomer is the assurance that all customer service, technical support, training, product upgrades, and parts programs provided by Pro Mach divisions adhere to consistent standards of excellence. These standards are based on in-depth customer research and industry best practices. All Pro Mach divisions deliver service and support that meets or exceeds 13 key attributes for reactive, interactive, and proactive care, with an emphasis on improving packaging line productivity. Pro Mach senior management believes the support requirements of customers for world-class productivity and highest overall equipment efficiency (OEE) will only become more varied and extensive over time… “Adhering to best practices will ensure that customers have the support to maintain peak productivity,” said Mark Anderson, President and CEO, Pro Mach, Inc. “Importantly, ProCustomer is designed to be flexible with individual goals suited to the needs of each customer. ProCustomer is the latest in a series of strategic initiatives, which include operations excellence, product excellence, customer service excellence, and distribution excellence.”

The company’s stated goals for service made six years ago remain part of the

organization’s culture. ProTech adheres point by point with the statement “reactive,

interactive, and proactive care, with an emphasis on improving packaging line

productivity.” Reactive in this instance equates to remote service and tech support; and

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interactive and proactive equate to remote monitoring for OEE. Customized condition-

monitoring apps illustrate Mark Anderson’s objective to design ProCustomer “to be

flexible with individual goals suited to the needs of each customer.”

The ProTech initiative is the latest investment in the company’s strategic mission

to earn the trust of customers for new and repeat business through its commitment to

maintain machines at peak performance year after year. ProCustomer and ProTech

allow Pro Mach’s professional technicians to protect the customer’s machine investment

anywhere around the globe.

For more Information on ProTech by Pro Mach, speak with the sales teams at

any Pro Mach business or visit www.ProTechbyProMach.com. A complete list of Pro

Mach brands with details on their areas of expertise can be found at

www.ProMachBrands.com.

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About Pro Mach

Pro Mach is a leading provider of integrated packaging and processing products and solutions for food, beverage, consumer goods, pharmaceutical, and other diverse companies. Through its brands, Pro Mach provides product packaging and processing equipment, PMMI certified training, installation, parts, and service in Bottling & Capping, Primary Packaging, Flexible Packaging, Material Handling, Labeling & Coding, and End of Line.

Pro Mach has a diverse customer base, from Fortune 500 companies to smaller, privately held businesses worldwide, which depend on reliable, flexible, technologically advanced equipment and integrated solutions. Pro Mach is headquartered near Cincinnati, Ohio, with manufacturing facilities and offices throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. For more information about Pro Mach, visit www.ProMachInc.com.