Intellinjector: Technology Platform for Information Management and Operation of a Plastic Injector Park

Abstract

The acquisition of information from automated systems and their rapid processing is essential for industry productivity and competitiveness, especially in the age of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0. Industries with large-scale productions increasingly rely on the best possible functioning of their productive sectors, and technology comes as a great ally when innovating. Information obtained from the equipment at the industrial park can be used to assist decision making, improve productivity, reduce waste, and other functionalities. It directly or indirectly aims at reducing costs and increasing the quality of the product. Companies that manufacture electronic meters, such as Eletra Energy Solutions, have a plastic injector park. They always intend to reduce problems, reduce waste, and improve the quality of their injected parts. Some failures that occur during an injection process are defective parts, injection time longer than the configured time, increased material waste, among others. Parameters informed by the plastic injector can be analyzed using artificial intelligence to stop the machine and send alerts to operators to correct detected problems. This article discusses a unique and innovative technology platform capable of communicating with plastic injectors to collect operation data. These data are used to control and monitor, in real-time, the machine parameters, allowing the user to keep up the injector operation, and in a failure case, stop the equipment.