Smart Manufacturing Descends On Tobacco Industry

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One may adore, loathe, or just ignore buzz words like “industry 4.0”, “the internet of things”, or “smart computerization”, but one thing is for certain: the wheels are turning and the future is unstoppable. Tobacco Asia reviews two remarkable software suites that will help tobacco manufacturers to jump on the merry bandwagon.

By Thomas Schmid

In 2013, the German government introduced “Industry 4.0” as one of its industrial development initiatives. The term describes the fourth industrial revolution, the adoption of “smart computerization and interconnectedness” for machinery in assembly plants and factories for the sake of better overall automation and thus improved productivity, efficiency, integration, connectivity, and data collection. The buzz word also has been making its rounds in tobacco industry circles lately, where cost and resource-efficient manufacturing has always played a significant, if not to say crucial, role.

A number of software companies around the world have since embraced the “Industry 4.0” moniker, too, and developed sophisticated “all-in-one” system suits for greatly enhanced scheduling, controlling, and monitoring of manufacturing processes, as well as machinery maintenance, spare part management, and a host of other indispensable tasks; all at the hand of one’s fingertips.

Tobacco Asia has taken a closer look at two of these ingenious all-round management platforms, one launched by a Chinese company, the other offered by a software developer in Germany.

VRII Smart Factory Platform: The Future is Now!

Founded in 2003 with more than 300 staff, Shenzhen Hualong Xunda Information Technology Ltd. (Xunda) supplies intelligent control and management solutions and information technology software primarily to the tobacco industry.

“In fact, 90% of our customers are from that industry sector, like tobacco machinery companies and cigarette manufacturers,” said Xunda’s chairwoman, Li-hua Hu. With China and South Korea as her company’s current key markets, she named Yunnan Red Cloud & Red River Group, Hunan CTIC, Shanghai Tobacco Machinery, as well as Korea’s KT&G among her customers. Recently the company has also been strongly increasing its efforts to push into other markets by showcasing its ambitious VRII smart factory platform. The platform is the result of many years of research and development starting back in 2005 when Xunda released its IPC automatic control system and HMI and data collection system as basic function modules. This was followed over the next few years by a range of further module blocks that in their entirety eventually would form the almost futuristic VRII smart factory platform as it is offered today.

Smart Manufacturing Descends On Tobacco Industry

images courtesy of Shenzhen Hualongxunda Information Technology Co. Ltd.

Smart Manufacturing Descends On Tobacco Industry

VRII malfunction display, the machine components glowing in red show where a problem has either occurred or is imminent.

A Mind-boggling Collection of Functionalities

The system’s backbone is the enormously broadly designed and extraordinarily versatile VRII MES (manufacturing execution system) module block.

“It is a production information management system that integrates industrialization and information technology, providing enterprises with product data management, statistical process control, production process management, quality management, equipment management, material management, kanban management, report management, underlying data integration analysis, and several other key management tasks for production planning, implementation, problem tracking, error prevention, and others, all of which together help increase production transparency and improve production efficiency,” elaborated the company’s c.e.o. Xiao-Ang Long.

More Module Blocks for Expanded Features

Xunda’s proprietary MES soon was supplemented by two more module blocks, the VRII data acquisition system and the VRII plant lifecycle management system, each of which impart their very own set of sub-modules to accomplish a variety of relevant tasks. Following suit was the module block VRII 3D virtual simulation system, which starting in 2009 was further enhanced through the integration of VR (virtual reality) visual technology.

“VR technology is today primarily used in industrial design,” said Long. “But we deploy VR in an actual product manufacturing setting. The VRII platform is the very first factory management system in the world to do so. The difference between regular camera monitoring and VR monitoring is that camera monitoring is associated with slow response times and no forewarnings in case of problems. But VR technology can anticipate impending issues and appropriate action can be taken with very short response times.” He was certain that VR-based factory management systems are going to become a matter of course in the future.

Mobile Operation and Equipment Control

Finally, in 2015, the VRII smart factory platform received its - for the time being – last enhancement through the integration of mobile technology, which allows for remote operation, controlling, and monitoring of almost all its modules from practically any location via laptop computer, table computer, and even smartphone. But pretty much parallel to the VRII smart factory platform, Xunda also developed the VRII intelligent equipment control platform and the VRII intelligent service operation and maintenance platform. While both are meant to serve as optional add-ons to the VRII factory management platform, either of them can of course also be deployed as a stand-alone system, depending on the respective customer’s requirements.

Take Your Pick!

In any case, it is to be understood that all sub-modules bundled into each of these three system suits can be selected freely. In other words: Customers are not required to purchase the full system but may pick which particular modules they need for their plant or enterprise.

“We can design an individual solution for every customer so they can realize the optimal intelligent and efficient management system that suits them best,” said chairwoman Hu.

Full Compatibility and an Extensive 3D Library

Furthermore, VRII modules can be configured to be completely compatible with system components from other suppliers, according to Hu. As for interface language functionality, the chairwoman assured the system can be programmed in practically any language desired by the customer.

Depending on the sub-modules purchased, the VRII system modules also come with an integrated 3D model library of machinery and spare parts that exactly mirrors the factory floor. This allows operators or technical staff a real-time look into any equipment’s internal workings. If problems are identified by the system, for example, an impending component failure, the respective part will glow in bright alert-red, helping personnel to immediately and accurately pinpoint the issue and decide on a solution within a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

“And if new machinery or new parts or components are added, new 3D models can be rendered and fed into the data bank as needed,” said Long, keeping it up-to-date and reliable.

Up and Running within 10 Months

Depending on the module complexity of the VRII system as required by the customer, it typically takes between 8-10 months from development until the system is fully operational.

“We dispatch our own technicians to set up the system, configure, calibrate, and test it, and we also train the customer’s technical personnel,” said Hu. Thereafter, the company provides 1-2 years of complimentary maintenance service, depending on the contractual terms negotiated. And while this after-sales service support is normally provided remotely, Long assured that “in case of a system version upgrade, it will be carried out in in accordance with what has been agreed in the contract,” even if this might mean sending another technician team.

Xavo AG: Proudly Serving the Tobacco Industry

Headquartered in the southern German town of Bayreuth, Xavo AG was established in 2000 as an IT services company but developed into a software product company after 2012. Right from its start, the firm enjoyed strong ties with the tobacco industry, as two of its founders were former senior managers in the tobacco manufacturing business.

“So quite naturally, the tobacco industry today still makes up about half of Xavo’s customer portfolio,” explained the company’s sales consultant, Andreas Weber. “And as our company is growing faster than the market, we would like to keep that proportion and even expand our market share within the tobacco industry, especially under the aspect that we see an increasing need for intelligent software solutions like the ones we provide,” Weber added that among Xavo’s current customers are companies like British American Tobacco, JT International, and others. “We currently do not sell in Asia. But this might change in the future as the region is obviously an important market.”

XPS: A Common Core to Build On

Yet with all the “Industry 4.0” hype already engulfing the tobacco industry, that time might actually arrive sooner than Weber presently anticipates, especially since the introduction of his company’s XPS (Xavo plant scheduling) system, which has the significant advantage that all of its app functions (or modules) are built on top of a common product core. This differentiates XPS from the products of most competitors, where the tasks of planning/scheduling and execution typically are split up into two separate systems.

“The problem area is the integration,” said Weber. “To integrate different MES, APS, S&OP software translates into an extensive and expensive project and still only may deliver mediocre results.” This is no issue with XPS, which provides fully, seamlessly, and reliably integrated planning/scheduling and execution functionalities and thus can indeed be classified as a genuine “all-in-one” factory management system. “That, of course, doesn’t mean that XPS is intended to be operated by a single individual or only a small group of people. The opposite is actually true: We believe that XPS should be used by everybody in planning and production,” he noted.

Staff Collaboration and Unbridled Versatility

“The system is configurable in such a way that it provides optimal support for individuals with different roles and encourages and supports their collaboration,” said Weber. To facilitate this ingenious human interaction, XPS can run on many different operating platforms, including smartphones and other mobile devices, as its architecture is web-based. To further illustrate the versatility of the XPS, Weber explained that while the suit’s MES functionality followed the ISA S95 standard relatively closely, its planning functionality was not limited by categories like APS and S&OP.

“The system provides integrated planning features from short-term to mid-term all the way up to long-term,” said Weber. “It manages planning orders, and in the case of production orders it typically also manages the monthly, weekly and real-time horizons, which effectively means that personnel can react to events or changes during the same single work shift.”

Innovation Value More Important Than Price

Weber acknowledged that Xavo was facing strong competition in the market for MES and APS solutions from other companies in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. But he reiterated once again that with XPS his company was offering a system that combined production planning/scheduling and production execution in one single system and in a unique way that fosters the collaboration between operators, planners, and managers, ultimately leading to better business results. This is why Xavo was not competing on price but practical value.

“For us, it is not a question of who is cheaper or more expensive, but the product’s practical value must always come first and thus justify the price we ask in order to be able to continue to innovate our product,” said Weber. Companies who compete solely on price, he concluded, typically didn’t drive innovation and operated “safely” within the established boundaries of well-understood market forces. Weber might have had a point there because in the end, a sophisticated factory management product like XPS will pay for itself anyway in (almost) no time.