Helping a Plastics Industry achieve real time data and analysis of Energy, Performance and Maintenance to reduce machine downtime, rejection, energy consumption so that they become efficient, competitive and ahead of their competitors.

1. PlantConnect – Plant Assets Monitoring Solution
for Plastics processing machines
(Extruders/ injection moulding/ etc.)

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Background
Ascent Intellimation offers solutions based on PlantConnect platform for various industry
segments. Most of such solutions are based partly on AIPL’s knowledge base and topped up with
requirements and business case of a client.
One of the industry segments benefitting from PlantConnect deployment is Plastics Industry.
Some manufacturing units in Germany use PlantConnect for central monitoring and control of
injection molding machines. This document provides details of the same.
Implementation Details
Deployment diagram below shows a typical installation.

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1.1 Parameters
Various machine parameters can be captured through PlantConnect. The parameters specific to
plastic machines are given in Annexure 1.
1.2 Connectivity
Following drivers are developed for plastic machines.
Sr Company Website Protocol Remarks
1 Arburg http://www.arburg.com/en/ Selogica
2 Krauss Maffei http://www.kraussmaffei.com/en/Home__2/ MC3F,
MC4
3 Battenfeld http://www.battenfeld.com/ Euromap 63 Euromap 63 is a protocol
designed by European
association for plastics and
rubber machinery
manufacturers
(http://www.euromap.org/).
This protocol is supported
by many manufacturers
4 Ferromatic
Milacron
http://www.ferromatik.com/en/ OPC
1.3 Features used
List of features used in plastics. For details, refer to PlantConnect brochure
 Visualization
o Real time data
o Dashboard
o Mimic pages
 Alarm Management
 Historian
 Asset Management and Maintenance
 Data Analysis and Reporting
 Integration with ERP / other enterprise systems
 Configuration

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Advantages delivered by PlantConnect
Following benefits are reported by a plastic expert in Germany who is using PlantConnect.
Quality control
Quality is one of the main topics while producing injection molding parts.
To ensure a high quality while having a short cycle time is challenging.
A standard procedure is to inspect some parts out of the current production every hour.
The inspection includes important dimensions and other quality related aspects.
If there is a change in the dimension the production will be adjusted.
What kind of adjustment will be done is not recorded.
Therefore if a similar problem arises no one will know what was done to correct it the first time.
Using PlantConnect as a monitoring system for the current process ensures that all parameters
that are important to ensure a high quality of the part will be controlled shot by shot.
Possible errors (e.g. changes of temperature in a heating rod) will be recognized immediately.
A technician will be informed right away by the system and can take a look to the cause of the
problem.
This reduces the rejections
dramatically. Even slow drifts e.g. of
the mold temperature will be visualized
and give a good indication if
maintenance has to be performed on
the mold or the machine.
With a constant survey of the machine
parameters a high quality of the
produced plastic parts can be assured
through PlantConnect.
Resource planning
Another issue in the daily work on the shop floor is the question how long a production batch
will continue in order to reach the desired amount of parts being produced.
With Plant Connect it is easy to check all the currently running jobs and see how many parts
produced already and getting the information of how long the machine will be occupied with a
certain production.
This makes planning much easier and gives the opportunity to respond quickly to customer
requests.

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Cycle time
Cycle time, as simple as it sounds, is one of the key factors in injection molding. This is true
since cycle time has a direct influence on the part costs. If we take a look to a given production it
can be found that cycle time will be extended step by step if quality needs of a part are not
achieved.
With Plant Connect this vital parameter is monitored closely. As soon as changes will take place
an alert will be sent to the responsible person. This results in direct actions like maintaining the
mold, checking the cooling system etc.
in order to make sure the calculated
cycle time will be set back in place.
Doing this ensures that the production
will not lead to a loss of money and will
be well within the calculated values in
order to meet the calculated part costs.
Plant Connect as a monitoring system as
well as a tool for production planning
ensures high transparency for the shop
floor and ensures quality produced shot
by shot.
Integration with ERP
PlantConnect has standard as well as customizable data integration module. Using this module,
data collected from machines can be pushed to an ERP or other enterprise systems. Various
formats like .csv files, SQL, XML are supported.
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We would like to thank Mr. Thomas Mann, CEO, PlexPert, Germany for his support in
establishing PlantConnect as a remote data acquisition and monitoring tool for plastic
machines.

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Annexure
1.4 List of Parameters specific to plastic machines
Sr. Name Sr. Name Sr. Name
1 CYCLE TIME 59 ZONE 1 TOL (Plus) 117 EXTRUDER EXT RPM 2
2 FILL TIME 60 ZONE 1 TOL (Minus) 118
EXTRUDER BACK
PRESSURE 2
3 RECOVERY TIME 61
ZONE 2 ACTUAL
CURRENT 119
EXTRUDER EXT SWITCH
POINT 2
4 SLD FWD TIME 62
ZONE 2 ACTUAL
TEMPERATURE 120 EXTRUDER EXT RPM 3
5 SLD RET TIME 63
ZONE 2 SET
TEMPERATURE 121
EXTRUDER BACK
PRESSURE 3
6 XFER POS 64 ZONE 2 TOL (Plus) 122
EXTRUDER EXT SWITCH
POINT 3
7 CUSHION POS. 65 ZONE 2 TOL (Minus) 123 EXTRUDER EXT RPM 4
8 INJ. RET. POS 66
ZONE 3 ACTUAL
CURRENT 124
EXTRUDER BACK
PRESSURE 4
9 HYDRAULIC XFER PRS 67
ZONE 3 ACTUAL
TEMPERATURE 125
EXTRUDER EXT SWITCH
POINT 4
10 NOZZLE TEMP. 68
ZONE 3 SET
TEMPERATURE 126 EXTRUDER EXT RPM 5
11 ZONE1 TEMP. 69 ZONE 3 TOL (Plus) 127
EXTRUDER BACK
PRESSURE 5
12 CLAMP FAST CLS. TIME 70 ZONE 3 TOL (Minus) 128 EXTRUDER SHOT SIZE
13 MOLD PRT. TIME 71 FILL 1 POSITION 129
EXTRUDER DECOMP
AFTER SHOT SIZE
14 BREAKAWAY TIME 72 FILL 1 SPEED 130
EXTRUDER SLED
CONTROL
15 CLAMP FAST OPN. TIME 73 FILL 1 PRESSURE 131
EXTRUDER SLED
FORWARD PRESSURE
16 CLAMP SLOW OPN. TIME 74 FILL 2 POSITION 132
EXTRUDER SLED
FORWARD SPEED
17 EJT. FWD TIME 75 FILL 2 SPEED 133
EXTRUDER SLED
RETRACT PRESSURE
18 EJT. RET TIME 76 FILL 2 PRESSURE 134
EXTRUDER SLED
RETRACT SPEED
19 CORE SET TIME 77 FILL 3 POSITION 135
EXTRUDER SPRUE
BREAK
20 CORE PULL TIME 78 FILL 3 SPEED 136
EXTRUDER SPREU
BREAK TIME
21 CLAMP OPEN POS. 79 FILL 3 PRESSURE 137
EXTRUDER SLED
RETRACT MODE
22 GATE RECYCLE TIME 80 FILL 4 POSITION 138
EXTRUDER SLED
RETRACT DELAY TIME

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Sr. Name Sr. Name Sr. Name
23 FILL1 POSITION 81 FILL 4 SPEED 139
FEED THROAT ACTUAL
TEMPERATURE
24 FILL1 SPEED 82 FILL 4 PRESSURE 140
FEED THROAT SET
TEMPERATURE
25 FILL1 PRESSURE 83 FILL 5 POSITION 141 FEED THROAT TOL (Plus)
26 FILL2 POSITION 84 FILL 5 SPEED 142
FEED THROAT TOL
(Minus)
27 FILL2 SPEED 85 FILL 5 PRESSURE 143
OIL ACTUAL
TEMPERATURE
28 FILL2 PRESSURE 86 PACK SPEED 144 OIL SET TEMPERATURE
29 FILL3 POSITION 87 PACK 1 TIME 145 OIL TOL (Plus)
30 FILL3 SPEED 88 PACK 1 PRESSURE 146 OIL TOL (Minus)
31 FILL3 PRESSURE 89 PACK 2 TIME 147
INJECTION FILL HIGH
TIME
32 FILL4 POSITION 90 PACK 2 PRESSURE 148 CYCLE ALARM TIME LIMIT
33 FILL4 SPEED 91 PACK 3 TIME 149 INJECTION DELAY TIME
34 FILL4 PRESSURE 92 PACK 3 PRESSURE 150 COOLING TIME
35 FILL5 POSITION 93 PACK 4 TIME 151 EXTRUDER DELAY TIME
36 FILL5 SPEED 94 PACK 4 PRESSURE 152
EXTRUDER OVERRUN
TIME
37 FILL5 PRESSURE 95 PACK 5 TIME 153
CLAMP OPEN DWELL
TIME
38 TONNAGE 96 PACK 5 PRESSURE 154
EJT FORWARD DELAY
TIME
39 CLAMP POSITION 97 HOLD SPEED 155
EJT RETRACT DELAY
TIME
40 EJECTOR POSITION 98 HOLD 1 TIME 156 PART DETECT TIME
41 INJECTION POSITION 99 HOLD 1 PRESSURE 157 HYDRAULIC EJECT
42 ACTUAL INJ. PRESSURE 100 HOLD 2 TIME 158
EJECTOR STAY
FORWARD
43 EXTRUDER RPM 101 HOLD 2 PRESSURE 159
EJECTOR RETRACT
OVERRIDE
44 MACHINE STATUS 102 HOLD 3 TIME 160 EJECT BACK L.S. VERIF.
45 CYCLE TIMER 103 HOLD 3 PRESSURE 161 INSERT MOULDING
46 CYCLE COUNT 104 HOLD 4 TIME 162 TRY AGAIN
47 OIL TEMPERATURE 105 HOLD 4 PRESSURE 163 SPI ROBOT INTERFACE
48 BARREL HEAT (ON/OFF) 106 HOLD 5 TIME 164 PART DROP DETECT
49 SOAK TIME: SET (MIN) 107 HOLD 5 PRESSURE 165 MOULD COOLING
50
SOAK TIME: ACTUAL
(MIN) 108 TRANSFER POSITION 166 BARREL HEAT
51 NOZZLE ACT CURRENT 109 TRANSFER PRESSURE 167 INJECTION
52
NOZZLE ACTUAL
TEMPERATURE 110
TRANSFER CAVITY
PRESSURE 168 EXTRUDER OVERRUN
53
NOZZLE SET
TEMPERATURE 111
EXTRUDER DECOMP
PRESSURE 169 SEMI AUTO PURGE
54 NOZZLE TOL (Plus) 112
EXTRUDER DECOMP
SPEED 170 INTRUSION MOULDING
55 NOZZLE TOL(Minus) 113 EXTRUDER DECOMP 171 COLD SLUG REMOVE

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Sr. Name Sr. Name Sr. Name
BEFORE SHOT SIZE
56
ZONE 1 ACTUAL
CURRENT 114 EXTRUDER EXT RPM 1 172 GAS ASSIST INTERFACE
57
ZONE 1 ACTUAL
TEMPERATURE 115
EXTRUDER BACK
PRESSURE 1 173
INJECTION SWITCH OVER
TYPE
58
ZONE 1 SET
TEMPERATURE 116
EXTRUDER EXT SWITCH
POINT 1
About Ascent Intellimation
www.ascentautomation.com
www.plantconnect.net
Ascent Intellimation Pvt. Ltd. (AIPL) specializes in IT solutions for Industrial Automation.
PlantConnect® is the web-based monitoring platform of AIPL. We provide several
PlantConnect® based solutions for Remote Asset Management, Manufacturing Intelligence, and
Real-time Reporting etc.
AIPL is process driven company with ISO certification for quality. Please contact us for further
details and queries:
Ascent Intellimation Pvt. Ltd.
Dnyanmayi, 1 Shreeniketan Society, Off Karve Road, Kothrud, Pune - 411038
Tel.: +91 20 6500 4608
E-mail: sales@aiplindia.com