Availability
Avoiding unplanned downtime and interruptions helps keep the process stable. Freed capacity can be used to create value.
In die casting,
every second and every gram count
Detect events earlier, use data without laborious searches and reach informed decisions and effective action sooner. smartfoundry.solutions supports your foundry at every stage with automatic data acquisition, connected information and suitable applications.
Economic drivers
Assess potential in your foundry
Performance
Identify cycle time deviations and performance losses. Stable operations create the conditions for making better use of existing capacity.
Quality
Detect process deviations earlier and help prevent defective castings. Less scrap and rework protect material, energy and working time and increase the share of usable output.
Energy and resources
Make energy and media consumption and the energy-related carbon footprint visible by state, cycle and equipment. Identify defective production and unnecessary consumption to use resources more effectively and reduce emissions.
Working time
Automated data acquisition, analysis and information delivery reduce manual routine work. More working time remains for analysis, improvement and implementation.
Teamwork
Shared information connects production, quality, maintenance and experts, on site and across locations. Teams can assess states and coordinate actions together.
Why digitalisation · Detect and prevent losses earlier
Detect earlier
Analyse faster
Implement measures more effectively
Unnoticed process changes, recurring interruptions or gradual performance losses can affect quality, availability and productivity. Material, energy, working time and machine capacity are consumed without achieving their potential value. Even after a problem is detected, losses can continue until a measure takes effect. Visibility of states, recurring patterns and unusual deviations helps identify the need for action early. The sooner causes are understood and suitable measures implemented, the sooner processes can be stabilised and unnecessary effort reduced.
The diagram shows the six phases from an event to an effective measure. The falling curve illustrates how the remaining potential decreases as time passes.
Work directly with information and insights
Our solutions acquire and process machine, process and sensor data almost entirely automatically. During acquisition, data is already closely linked to other data and its context, such as the machine, tool, production cycle or lot. It is aligned in time, combined and prepared in a format ready for immediate analysis. Your teams can work directly with information and insights instead of first having to find, connect and manually prepare data.
The right information at the right workplace
Boards, panels, reports and monitoring functions make relevant changes visible. Analysis applications help investigate patterns and narrow down causes. Shared views simplify coordination between production, quality, maintenance and other specialists.
Targeted support for decisions and implementation
Relevant documents and managed machine settings support implementation. Initial AI advisors help interpret information and explore possible actions. Introduction, training and expert support help your teams use the solutions effectively in daily work.
Six phases, our support
How our solutions can help
Detect
Where losses occur
Undetected faults generate further scrap and consume material, energy, working time and machine capacity without creating value.
How we support you
Sensors and interfaces capture changes. Boards, Guards and reports make them visible to the people responsible.
The potential
Limit defective production earlier, conserve resources and reduce avoidable downtime.
Provide data
Where losses occur
After detection, data often has to be found, requested and gathered from different sources.
How we support you
Machine, process and sensor data is collected automatically and linked to time, machine, tool, component and lot.
The potential
Less time searching and waiting. Relevant information is available sooner.
Prepare & analyse
Where losses occur
Before analysis, data must be standardised, aligned in time and connected to the appropriate process context.
How we support you
Automatic preparation delivers ready-to-use evaluations. Analysis applications and initial AI advisors support investigation.
The potential
Reduce manual preparation and identify relationships sooner.
Assess & decide
Where losses occur
Results need to be assessed. Missing information and specialist knowledge delay the selection of a suitable measure.
How we support you
Connected information, stored machine knowledge and initial AI advisors help assess results and possible actions.
The potential
Shorten research and coordination and make better-informed decisions.
Plan measures
Where losses occur
A decision alone does not resolve the problem. The sequence, prerequisites and responsibilities must be agreed.
How we support you
AI advisors help explore possible corrective steps. Expert support assists with detailed planning alongside the responsible teams.
The potential
Move more quickly from an insight to an agreed, practical plan.
Implement
Where losses occur
Missing instructions, follow-up questions and incorrect settings can delay implementation and cause additional errors.
How we support you
Suitable settings files, documents, initial AI advisors and expert support assist implementation at the workplace.
The potential
Reduce searching and follow-up questions and help prevent implementation errors.
Results you can assess
Examples show how information leads to specific measures and how you can assess their effects in your foundry.
| Area of action | Initial problem | Our contribution | Operational measure | Check the result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtime | Recurring interruptions are detected late. | Make states visible automatically, flag deviations and accelerate root cause analysis with connected data. | Address the cause and improve restart procedures. | Detection time, downtime, availability |
| Cycle losses | Microstops or subcycles prolong production. | Compare cycles and subcycles over time, locate the main losses and make changes traceable. | Address the main source of loss and stabilise settings. | Cycle time, microstops, performance |
| Scrap and rework | Process drift or faults recur. | Consider process and quality information in context, detect deviations earlier and make proven settings available. | Review the process window, eliminate the cause of the fault and retain proven settings. | Scrap rate, rework effort, process variation |
| Energy and resources | Consumption and energy-related emissions lack a link to the production process. | Record consumption automatically, assign it to production states and derive energy-related CO₂ emissions. Make base loads and major losses visible. | Reduce base loads, leaks, defective production and unnecessary heat retention. | kWh and media consumption per cycle, energy-related kg CO₂ per cycle, costs |
| Information and decision-making effort | Data is searched for, prepared manually and coordinated among those involved. | Link information automatically and prepare it for use. Shared views and stored knowledge support interpretation. | Integrate data-based discussions, analyses and decisions into the workflow. | Search and preparation time, analysis time, time to decision |
| Setup and restart | Missing documents or unsuitable settings lead to queries and corrections. | Make the right settings versions and instructions available at the workplace. Keep changes and process development traceable. | Standardise setup procedures, check settings and support a controlled restart. | Setup time, time to a stable process, correction loops and startup faults |
Voices from the field
What users
value about smartfoundry
Data-based decisions“Running a die casting foundry without data and facts is like navigating a ship through fog without instruments. Now we have the instruments we need.”
Recognising relationships“Data acquisition with smartfoundry.solutions enabled us to replace gut feelings with actual insights. Some of the results really surprised us.”
Preparing shop floor meetings“smartfoundry.solutions significantly reduces the effort required for the daily shop floor meeting. It certainly saves more than ten hours of preparation time per week.”
Productivity gain during the trial“Even during the short trial period, checking the current settings and cycle times enabled us to increase the overall productivity of the monitored equipment by 5%.”
How does data become useful in die casting?
Discover how the insightfabric acquires, connects and provides data for your tasks.