Komax is helping its customers to get more out of their machines with production analysis. Is that really necessary?

CS: Anyone who produces on Komax machines counts on reliability, quality, speed – in short: high productivity and cost-effectiveness. But we repeatedly find that our customers could get more out of their machines with an optimized operating concept. Typically, the main focus here is maximizing operation, logistics, process organization, maintenance, etc. This is where we start with our production analysis.

Is production analysis always required? Komax Connect provides important information in real time for targeted productivity maximization on each machine.

CS: Komax Connect is an enormously powerful tool. If we can access it at a customer’s site, we receive information on quality, production time, performance and events. This means that we can support the customer remotely or prepare for a production analysis on site in a targeted way. But we can only see what’s happening in and around the workplace on site. This often provides key information. A production analysis is also the only way for us to determine the OEE.

OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness. Why is it so important?

SB: It is the most important key figure for successfully measuring and optimizing production. It takes into account the factors availability, performance and quality, helping companies to identify and eliminate losses in production and to increase the value creation of the machine.

Now let’s move on to production analysis. How do you prepare for this?

SB: The more information we receive in advance, the more effectively we can prepare. We are interested in the company itself, as well as the machinery, the personnel organization, the measures for further training, maintenance concepts, quality monitoring, the material to be processed and much more. When we are ready, we travel to the customer as a team of two. The analysis usually takes two to three days, and on each of these days we focus on a specific machine, where we want to gain insights for the entire fleet.

Why are two specialists required for the production analysis?

SB: One person sits next to the machine and records every event, no matter how small, with a tool developed by Komax. During this process, we consistently avoid interfering with or disrupting production. The second person focuses on the surroundings, especially the personnel. How does material preparation work? How is maintenance organized? How does the material reach the machine? Is there a wait time for specific things? We note all this down minute by minute.

Are the customer and his Komax representative also involved?

SB: Yes, of course! The customer’s decision-makers and managers are always present, as is our local representative. This is often helpful for translating things into the local language. Our representative can take this opportunity to gain valuable experience and thus continuously improve their services to the customer. At the end of the analysis day, we all come together for a verbal preliminary analysis and the customer receives initial information on how they could contribute to maximization.

Which factors affect productivity the most?

SB: The issue is very often sub-optimal parameters for the machine speed. If malfunctions occur frequently – for example, due to insufficient tool maintenance or material fluctuations – the operator usually decreases the speed until the machine runs stably. These values are saved in the machine. The operator often forgets that higher speeds would be possible for the follow-up order.

What solutions does Komax offer for this?

SB: We offer tailored training for this, where set up personal learn to fine-tune parameters so that they can achieve the maximum possible speed of the machine. Another solution is to send predefined settings to the machine together with each article or job.

What kind of information regarding delays is obtained from observing the environment?

SB: Sometimes there is a lack of material due to insufficient staff for replenishment, or because the transport routes are too long or too narrow. Then we also look at how quickly help is requested in the event of an interruption and how quickly help is on hand to minimize machine downtime.

What happens next after the analysis?

SB: We create the report as soon as we return, send it to everyone involved and then discuss it in a web workshop. We create the action plan and measures together with the customer and our representative. After implementation, we repeat the same analysis including the workshop and compare the results. This allows us to assess which measures we want to apply to the entire machine fleet.

How much of an increase in productivity can the customer usually expect?

SB: It varies. For some projects, we were above 20 %. But even a few percent per machine can achieve a lot if the findings can be applied to several machines.

Do analyses like these also result in measures for Komax?

CS: Definitely! Our support teams are constantly in touch with our customers and their staff in many respects. Valuable experience and customer requirements flow directly into development and production at Komax. Our support specialists have direct access to these departments, so they can influence future machines, maintenance schedules, spare parts management and much more. Our complete package is unique because our machines are surrounded completely by services and expert knowledge.

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