Automatic line control for filling lines

When installing its new combined line for returnables and non-returnables, tasked with handling approximately 100 different products, the Paulaner Brewery in Munich integrated software packages from Krones for ensuring optimum control of orders and meaningful analysis of the production operation.

The following systems are being used there:

• Line Management System (LMS)
  The order sequences are passed via the ERP system to the Line Management System (LMS). Each order is described precisely, with the article number, the EAN code and the best-before-date information, plus the planned quantity of bottles or cans, and the scheduled beginning and end of filling. The PLC uses this specification to directly control the functions in the line, such as routing at the conveyors, label provision and, for example, date-coding at the packer.
  In addition, the LMS software ensures line transparency. Since line stops are displayed on monitors in each work zone, the causes for any operational delays can be swiftly identified.
  This line control capability makes sure that change-over times are minimised and the line’s overall equipment effectiveness enhanced.
• Line Documentation System (LDS)
  Acquiring all the production data in the Line Documentation System (LDS) enables the line’s performance to be fruitfully analysed. Since the entire line is visualised, the production operation, and thus each machine’s individual performance, can be tracked from the desktop. The trend curve depicts the line’s output over lengthy time periods. In the monthly (at Paulaner) weak-point evaluations, the Top 5 of malfunction sources are analysed and eliminated. Compared to the other lines, which require handwritten records from the line forepersons, on this line the LDS provides all the requisite information more or less at the touch of a button. It also, of course, automatically stores data on the critical control points required by the Paulaner Brewery’s certification under ISO 9001, for subsequent retrieval.