Remote Multivendor Digital Packaging Machine Services at the 27th Annual ARC Industry Forum

The New division SEA Smart Service Link has increased customer satisfaction enabling higher packaging equipment performance and functionality while creating new revenues for Sealed Air.

At the 27th Annual ARC Industry Forum SealedAir's Wayne Workman, principal engineer, gave an informative presentation describing how they created Remote Multivendor Digital Packaging Machine Services named SmartService-Link. This is great example of efficiently creating value for customers leveraging knowledgeable partners and standards including edge computing, OPC UA, PackML, MQTT, cloud analytics and Amazon Web services. Edge computing is added to packing machines manufacture by SealedAir Corporation and other manufacturers normalizing data based on the PackML ISA as TR88.00.02 standard and OPC UA data and tag models. This approach means communications with any machine, regardless of manufacturer, use common industrial messaging based on standards.SealedAir serves customers in 120 countries/territories, boasts $5.6 billion in 2022 sales and has approximately 16,300 employees. Sealed Air manufacturers packaging materials including bubble wrap, packaging machines and designs automated systems used in a wide range of industries. The company also offers equipment services and with the addition of SEE Smart Service Link. Watch the Sealed Air Video.

Wayne Workman described taking advantage of Red Lion's industrial communications knowledge and using their FlexEdge DA50N Secure Edge Networking Gateway. The Red Lion's FlexEdge DA50N Secure Edge Networking Gateway is used to connect with any type of packaging machine controls and maps existing field data points to standard PackML and OPC UA naming conventions. The unit connects to multiple brand PLC controllers and other machine devices simultaneously. The unique data tags from each piece of equipment is converted and normalized in the gateway to PackML and OPC UA naming conventions making data the same from every unit. He described how this simplified and streamlined communications with each of the machines saving a significant amount of programming and engineering time. The gateway sends data to AWS (Amazon Web Services) using the MQTT protocol transporting the common Pack ML and OPC UA data tag structure via built-in OPC UA Client/Server.The FlexEdge provides communications ports and drivers to support business ethernet, Internet and a wide range of interfaces and drivers for industrial controllers. Equipment types connected include robotics, conveying systems, cartooning machines, form fill machines, autoloaders, shrink tunnels and automatic conveyor systems. Wayne Workman noted that the gateway can simultaneously interface to up to 10 devices and gave examples including Omron, Siemens, Mitsubishi, Allen-Bradley/Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Video Jet Printers, Ignition! SCADA and industrial computers. The FlexEdge is an example of an industrial grade edge computing device with a wide operating temperature range and industrial certifications including UL Class 1, Div. II and ATEX/IECEx approvals for reliable operations.

The data is ingested into AWS and Sealed Air's data science team at the customer solution center monitor, analyze data and proactively contact customers advising them of issues and how continue and increase productivity of the machine. The equipment experts can recognize issues before they become a problem apparent to machine operators. Sealed Air experts can do remote troubleshooting analyzing and advising customers.

In addition, customers are provided with dashboards to monitor machines including performance of their equipment and data that can be used for monitoring, process control and predictive actions that drive improved efficiency and performance against user custom KPIs.

The New division SEA Smart Service Link has increased customer satisfaction enabling higher packaging equipment performance and functionality while creating new revenues for Sealed Air. To date, this has been deployed in three countries with more than 50 machines connected and 75 new machine connection scheduled for 2023.

Bill Lydon brings more than 10 years of writing and editing expertise to Automation.com, plus more than 25 years of experience designing and applying technology in the automation and controls industry. Lydon started his career as a designer of computer-based machine tool controls; in other positions, he applied programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and process control technology. Working at a large company, Lydon served a two-year stint as part of a five-person task group, that designed a new generation building automation system including controllers, networking and supervisory & control software. He also designed software for chiller and boiler plant optimization. Bill was product manager for a multimillion-dollar controls and automation product line and later cofounder and president of an industrial control software company.

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