Case Study Hosokawa

For 125 years, Hosokawa Alpine has been a guarantor of innovation in machine and system engineering for processing and handling of powders, granulates and bulk materials. This spirit of innovation now culminates in a comprehensive digitalization project on the shopfloor – more precisely, with the introduction of cronetwork MES, specifically a fully digitalized worker cockpit and detailed scheduling (APS).

Alexander Baur, Head of FAL & Production Control at Hosokawa Alpine, on the early findings in the project: “The selection process already showed that the jack of all trades device is also a myth in digitization. That’s why we made a split and implemented cronetwork MES from Industrie Informatik in conjunction with complementary tools within production.”

For him and his team, the introduced machine connection (MDC) for OEE calculation, plant data collection to reduce reporting efforts and the implemented worker cockpit, which is to be the central platform for the employees on the shopfloor, are especially important support for the daily work: “Especially the worker terminal raised a lot of hope among the potential operators, which could even be exceeded in the end!”

The advanced planning & scheduling used is primarily aimed at visualizing progress in production and, thanks to the transparency gained, is thus an important support in order planning. Although the introduction has now been successfully completed, the desire for further improvement is great and many good, further ideas from the employees are proof for Baur that everything has been done right so far.

Photos: © Hosokawa Alpine AG