SOLUTIONS
Current trend? What is retrofitting, what does it have to do with sustainability and how can I get a grip on my trainer workflow? In this article we will look at these questions.
The print and media industry is in a constant state of flux, driven by technological advances and changing customer requirements. One way for printers and companies to remain competitive and optimise their production capacities is the so-called retrofitting of production machinery in the area of printing and finishing.
The term "retrofit" is derived from the words "retro" for backwards and "to fit" for adapt. It describes the updating and modernisation of existing machines to make them usable for digital processes. Through these measures, for example, sensors can be installed to record production and process data. This data is then available for future digitalisation steps.
In recent years, retrofitting has gained considerable importance. Companies are increasingly recognising the value of this investment as it allows them to modernise their production lines without having to replace the entire machinery. This allows them to reduce their operating costs while offering competitive print products and services.
One of the main motivations for retrofitting is the possibility to save costs and implement more environmentally friendly solutions at the same time. By updating machines, companies can reduce their energy consumption, minimise waste and optimise the use of resources.
If you have retrofitted sensor technology for order tracking in your machines, for example, through a retrofit kit, various possibilities open up for you to use your machine and order data effectively. Here are some potential areas of application:
The sensors allow you to track the progress of your orders in real time. You receive precise information about which machines are working at which point in the production process, how long they need to do so and which resources are consumed in the process. This gives you comprehensive transparency and allows you to identify bottlenecks or delays at an early stage and take appropriate action.
The collected data allows you to identify and analyse bottlenecks and bottlenecks in your production process. You can identify which machines may be operating inefficiently or have longer downtimes. Based on this, you can take targeted optimisation measures to increase production output, reduce throughput times and improve overall efficiency.
By integrating machine and order data, you can perform comprehensive analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of your production planning and control, for example. You can identify patterns that lead to delays or bottlenecks and make adjustments to further improve overall efficiency.
Order tracking data allows you to give your customers accurate information about the status of their orders. You can provide them with real-time updates and ensure transparent communication. This improves customer satisfaction and strengthens your customer relationships.
Running is healthy, of course, but it tends to be a hindrance when it comes to a multitude of tasks and processes within the company. Let's take the example of a customer enquiry about the order status with an office-based sales representative.
He now has to quickly gather the information on the order. In the company, the orders are passed on from department to department by means of shopping bags, and there is no need for system is available in which the order information can be tracked. The employee now has two possibilities:
a) He runs through the individual departments, receives partial information until he finally finds his order in the dispatch department.
b) He makes phone calls to the departments, but has problems reaching the individual departments.
The sales employee must therefore spend time here that is missing at the end of the day and is difficult or even impossible to reach for his customers during this time. But there is an additional problem. The sales employee pulls other employees out of their work process by asking for information, thus disrupting concentrated work and, in the worst case, causing avoidable errors.
Many printers have older machines in use in production, which certainly have their raison d'être. Often, however, these units do not have the ability to send or receive information.
With Badger, we provide you with a retrofit solution that makes your older existing installations connectable by using our solution. Badger uses flexibly deployable sensors to implement counters and for speed detection. Badger is based on a power-saving industrial appliance based on Raspberry/Arduino. Data collected with Badger is directly linked to your product or order information and fed into the Lynx infrastructure returned. There, they can be flexibly integrated into other processes or processed for further evaluation.
Software solutions
With Badger we provide you with a retrofit solution that integrates your machines that are not state of the art into your system network.