Siempelkamp has announced that over 200 of its Prod-IQ systems are sold, with Turkish wood-based panel producer Orma having ordered the 40th unit of Prod-IQ manufacturing execution system (MES) and Pavatex having ordered the 41th unit.
With the Prod-IQ MES system, Siempelkamp provides plant operators with a digital system that draws resources from system data. Higher productivity and plant speed, as well as a reduction of rejects and preventive maintenance are just some of the advantages that Prod-IQ can offer wood-based panel producers.
“The highest possible increase in efficiency and effectiveness is one of the main concerns that Siempelkamp customers wish to ensure for their systems. With Prod-IQ process control, we have created an intelligent system that combines the current megatrends of digitalisation and sustainable production which are indispensable for system operators who want to stand out as pioneers in the market,” said Gregor Bernardy, head of MES and industrial IT at Siempelkamp Logistics & Service.
According to the press release by Siempelkamp, Orma installed their 40th unit at the Isparta, Turkey site in a particleboard plant. Pavatex is also integrating the system into a new plant in France, after an existing plant at the same location had already been equipped with Prod-IQ.quality.
“We chose Siempelkamp’s Prod-IQ.quality because it is an excellent tool for achieving the highest level of operational excellence. Our primary concern here is that the system be intelligent and, at the same time, user-friendly,” said Neslihan Demirel, general manager and owner of Orma.
Prod-IQ.quality determines the product quality based on current process settings as soon as the board leaves the press. A trend diagram subsequently visualises the results.
In addition, the software calculates the minimum quality reserve needed for ensuring compliance with the quality criteria. Since the fluctuation range can be clearly delimited, the plant’s production runs right at the optimal level. This increases productivity while maintaining the same quality and models production processes as efficiently as possible, because additional safety reserves are not required.
Internal bond and bending strength, density, thickness swelling and surface soundness can all be precisely predicted online. Designed according to the principle of machine learning, Prod-IQ.quality uses every available laboratory control to adapt the process model.
Furthermore, Siempelkamp will expand Prod-IQ.quality’s online quality control. This module predicts raw density profiles online and allows simulations of them to be made. Prod-IQ.profile is trained with raw laboratory density profiles and uses an advanced physical model for
the prediction, which is based on the virtual hot press (VHP) model.
It simulates the raw density profile of the current board using the recorded material values, such as weight per unit of area and moisture, as well as press settings such as pressures, temperatures and speed.
This system is currently being brought to market readiness with five selected, globally represented Siempelkamp pilot customers.
Siempelkamp reports that further innovations are underway. The web-based Prod-IQ dashboard platform is currently being developed and is focused on being able to easily compare a customer’s complex plant structures and multiple plants with each other — from any location on any device, with secure access.
Global plant operators can access all production sites via a single system and can compare all plants at a glance via the web-based platform.
