OPTIMA nonwovens focuses on Smart Services at IDEA 2019

IDEA is the most important trade show for  Optima Nonwovens  in 2019. In line with this, the company will present a multitude of new ideas and solutions to help machine users overcome their everyday challenges: rising labor costs, more complex packaging processes, and changing market demands. Visitors to the trade show can discover how the OPAL line management software, a cobot and augmented reality can help with this at several stations. With the aid of three characters, the company will demonstrate typical applications for these new technologies. The courage to develop new, digital solutions is also underlined by the trade show's slogan: “Your Production of the Future: Smart. Efficient. Flexible.”
 
“Our three characters – Tom, an operations manager, Lisa, a plant manager, and Carl, a machine operator, will demonstrate the daily challenges in the production of paper hygiene products before the eyes of the visitors,” says Oliver Rebstock, managing director at Optima Nonwovens. These include the increasing complexity of packaging processes, an ever faster time to market, and varying market demands. “Not only do the machines, markets, and packaging processes change, but so too do the people who stand in front of the machine,” adds Rebstock. If you look at it from the point of view of Tom, Lisa, and Carl, they have very different requirements and thus there is a demand for customized solutions by Optima. “The Smart Services complement the already existing Optima services,” explains Rebstock. Some of Optima’s strengths include a well-developed network of subsidiaries that offer local support, reliable spare parts delivery, and on-site inspections by Optima experts.

Operations managers are interested in having a comprehensive overview of production, in order to quickly identify weak points and to use human resources in an appropriate way. Therefore, Optima Nonwovens will present the OPAL line management software at IDEA. The system records performance indicators such as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and leads to an increase in production quality and transparency, productivity, less machine downtime, and the best use of production capacities. This information can be presented worldwide on any imaginable output device.

Plant managers are confronted with rising labor costs and have to adjust their production quickly and flexibly to new market demands. Optima is supporting them using a cobot, a robot which can operate in the machine’s surrounding area. Visitors will also be introduced to an extended modularity concept that enables production to respond flexibly to new requirements, making investment in machines long-term and future-proof.

Total Care Asset Management (TCAM) addresses machine operators’ needs. Flexible consumer behavior requires small lot sizes and frequent format changes. With TCAM, which belongs to the Optima smart services, they receive the right information at the right time on the right output device to avoid any errors. Information about machine status can be displayed in the same way as maintenance manuals and training materials, for example, using augmented reality glasses. The augmented reality glasses can show useful digital information about the real environment of the wearer. In addition, the system can be used for remote support. Service employees at Optima can switch to the customer’s augmented reality glasses live and help them to change format parts. Another positive effect is that new employees can be trained more quickly, the error rate falls, and therefore downtimes also fall. These measures raise productivity for Optima’s customers.
 
Optima Nonwovens at IDEA 2019: March 26-28, 2019, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, Booth No. 1050