The Eagle’s SmartTrac solution unifies Industry 4.0 technologies.
Over the decades, we at Eagle have prided ourselves at remaining at the forefront of industry innovation. As leaders in factory automation solutions, we are always seeking new technologies that can give our customers an edge in a competitive marketplace.
Recently, our commitment to emerging manufacturing methods has led us to embrace Industry 4.0 solutions, which include IIoT technology, Big Data, and Augmented Reality. Today, we’re excited to announce a new automated manufacturing solution that combines all these technologies and merges them into a unified solution.
We can customize our Eagle SmartTrac software for any manufacturing process, placing all the tools you need to manage and oversee your production line in one system. Read more about the key benefits of the Eagle’s SmartTrac Suite below.
1. Notifications.
The only thing better than a machine that never goes down is one that gives you plenty of advance notice. That’s what the Eagle’s SmartTrac is designed to do. It not only delivers on-screen fault notifications to your operators, it is also proactive in identifying maintenance concerns early, so that your team can schedule maintenance during planned downtime, instead of having to conduct emergency repairs during peak operating hours.
The SmartTrac software can be configured to send alerts via HMI messages, emails, and text to anyone our clients choose. Whether you want to alert the floor manager, on duty staff, or even a contact at Eagle so that we can prepare a spare tooling quote and have your replacement part ready as soon as you need it.
2. Production Management.
The new Smart Machine puts manufacturers in full control of their production process management. Whether you want to control production manually, schedule production to run at certain times, or have it begin automatically based on the status of other steps in the production process.
In the meantime, our system enables high-level oversight of the entire production line. Track production progress in real-time for a perfectly up-to-date look at your factory operations, or create an overview of factory performance during a specific time period. And, because our devices can share data with any of your production consoles, you can keep your entire team in the loop.
3. Process Control.
Want to adjust the pass/fail tolerances for quality control purposes? Deliver specific workflow responses to operators that are triggered by certain production conditions? Allow your operators to leave shift notes for their coworkers?
The Eagle’s SmartTrac solution not only informs you of the status of your current manufacturing operations, it also helps you direct how your operators respond in various situations. By improving communication and coordination among your factory workers, you can reduce production errors and improve overall operational efficiency.
4. Traceability.
Production errors are the bane of every manufacturer. While the efficiency of factory automation greatly increases output, it also means that an error in the process can be replicated hundreds of thousands of times before being detected—if the manufacturer isn’t sufficiently vigilant.
Quality control and advanced testing are designed to prevent errors from occurring, and to remove faulty components from the production line before they reach consumers. But if a production error does slip through, product tracing allows manufacturers to limit the scope of their recall by only targeting the parts affected.
Our SmartTrac software accomplishes several traceability objectives at once, from testing and isolating defective components, to tying production data to a unique serial number for each part, to delivering this data to your ERP system so that you can manage your factory resources effectively. This data allows you to account for every step each component takes throughout your production process.
5. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
Achieving ideal operational effectiveness isn’t just about monitoring components, it’s also about optimizing the equipment that produces them. A machine that is underperforming or contributing to production errors can slow down an entire factory. When this happens, it is essential for manufacturers to have the information at hand to quickly identify and address the problem.
The Eagle’s SmartTrac OEE module tracks detailed information about each machine and station, from its maintenance history to downtime statistics to operator use. Know how your equipment is being used so you can improve performance.
6. Big Data and Augmented Reality
Every stage of our process offers an opportunity to collect vast stores of data that manufacturers can draw on as they analyze their production performance. This data can be put to use immediately, and also stored for future analysis. This gives you the flexibility to analyze production data in any number of ways, including ones you haven’t yet considered.
We don’t use the word “smart” to describe our machine for nothing. While in many cases “smart” devices are merely those that are WiFi-enabled, ours draws on the machine tracking capabilities to understand the data being collected, and deliver actionable insights to manufacturers.
KPI reporting and monitoring dashboards provide efficient oversight.
Every company has different performance standards, special factors they want to track and monitor, and their own set of production quotas to meet. That’s why our SmartTrac technology is designed to deliver both standard and custom reporting metrics, so that your operators can monitor system progress at a glance.
By linking Industry 4.0 technologies in one interface, manufacturers will gain greater insights into their production systems and have more control over every step of the process. That’s what we call smart manufacturing.
Brandon Fuller, Eagle Technologies
Eagle Technologies, headquarters in Bridgman, MI
Eagle builds the machines that automate manufacturing. From high-tech robotics to advanced product testing capabilities, Eagle offers end-to-end manufacturing solutions for every industry.
