GlassTech's digital technology - at the service of efficient container glass production

GlassTech OOO, a resident of the Skolkovo Innovation Centre specialising in the digitalisation of production processes in container glass factories, will take part in the Mir Stekla exhibition for the first time. The company will be presenting software that allows real-time control of all production processes in glass packaging production. Vladimir Zmanovsky, Director of Development at Glass Technologies OOO, spoke in more detail about the latest technology.

- Vladimir, could you tell us about the technologies and services you plan to present at the Mir Stekla exhibition? What are their special features?

- The technology we have created is based on combining autonomously controlled sections of conveyor glass production into a single system, without replacing the existing fleet of equipment, using the current ACS, supplementing their functionality. The technology is unique and is protected by a patent for the invention "System and method of glass production parameters control" №2744294 from 4.03.2021.

The economic effect of the technology is expressed as an increase in total plant capacity due to internal resources of 10% or more. A calculator is available at https://myconveyor.ru/  to provide a preliminary calculation of how much the capacity of a particular glassworks increases, including factors such as improved machine operating hours and increased glass utilisation/output rates.

At the exhibition we will present a boxed product under the brand name "Conveyor 2.0", which consists of the AIS "Conveyor 2.0" software and specialised hardware: a data transfer cabinet for a composite shop, a communication unit with ovens, a communication unit in the operator room, an inspection communication unit, a pallet transportation control unit.
The AIS "Conveyor 2.0" software allows you to control all production processes in real time, build the raw material balance of the enterprise and reduce reaction time.

The raw material balance is maintained in a closed-loop format: from raw material loading in the composite plant to packaging and shipment of the finished product. The data is read directly from the ACS software and synchronised with the accounting systems, thus eliminating the human factor. Machine uptime is increased, downtime is reduced through online monitoring and analysis of downtime types and causes. Total plant throughput is increased using Big Data by intelligent scheduling using line-specific statistics on the performance of each item. Nomenclatures are allocated to those lines where they are produced at maximum cutting speed and efficiency.
Conveyor 2.0 creates a system of objective monitoring of the working time of a team for assortment changeover (T1) and the time of reaching the planned glass utilisation rate after assortment changeover (T2). Using objective data, new KPIs can be established with appropriate motivation for employees performing the changeover of glass forming machines from one assortment to another.
The solution we offer has a number of functional, service and financial advantages for customers over other MES systems for the container glass industry on the market:

• integration of equipment of all types and manufacturers from the composite shop to the packaging plant;
  
• analytical report on the operation of the glass-forming machines;
  
• linking the hot and cold sections of the conveyor with measurement of staff reaction times when a defined critical defect threshold is exceeded;
  -  specialised hardware part of the system, which ensures complete and continuous data collection from all technological areas.

Additionally, I would like to emphasise that Conveyor 2.0 is an entirely Russian development, created with the support of the Skolkovo Foundation and the Foundation for Assistance to Innovations, and is listed in the Unified Register of Russian Software for Electronic Computing Machines and Databases. The latter significantly increases the financial affordability of the implementation through a preferential digital transformation loan from Sberbank of Russia at an annual interest rate of 1% and the possibility of purchasing the system under the digital asset leasing programme, with a 0% upfront leasing contract and a term of up to 5 years.

– Which goals are you pursuing at Mir Stekla 2022? What would you like to obtain at the exhibition, whom to see at your stand? 

– Due to the fact that the container glass industry is very conservative in terms of the use of new technologies and solutions, our main task in the near future is to bring the Conveyor 2.0 hardware and software system to market on a large scale.
We want to show the professional community that a new technological paradigm, in which big data and artificial intelligence are at the service of efficient glass container production, has already arrived! These are not abstract projects from the future, but technologies of today which are being successfully implemented in individual factories, where the owners and managers have set the goal of continuously improving production processes, reducing costs and increasing the profitability of the business.
First and foremost, owners, managers and production managers of glass factories are welcome to visit the stand. We would also welcome all specialists working in the glass industry who would like to learn more about the possibilities offered by Industry 4.0 technology.

Join the Mir Stekla exhibition!
Book a stand on the organiser’s website