02 Nov One step further towards digitization. The Atex-Qplant project for ink management
The human eye is capable of seeing all the colors that are formed between the wavelengths of light between 380 and 750nm. Depending on how this is measured, we could say that there are between 100,000 and 90,000,000 colors. The difference is abysmal and surely the number of colors that each one of us is capable of distinguishing is much lower than these values, but at Rieusset we strive to offer our clients the exact shade they want for their product so that they may carry out the most ambitious projects.
With such a huge number of variations, it is very important for us to be able to manage all the inks and products that make up this large number of colors. We are therefore faced with an important point for improvement. If we add to this our effort to advance towards production that is increasingly more agile, we realized that it would be very helpful to have software that manages all the needs for working with these inks.
• Management of existing stock
• Movement of inks between the different warehouses
• Ink formulation for creating the desired colors
• Allocation and traceability of the consumption made in each of the manufacturing orders
• Etc.
Additionally, this project opens the door for us to digitize a large amount of data from which we can extract important statistics in order to be able to make the best decisions.
We continue heading towards industry 4.0 and digitization
As you have been able to see in our blog, this is not an isolated project. It forms part of a business strategy within Rieusset in order to gradually advance towards the new reality of industry 4.0. As I commented earlier, the way we manage this currently is not the most adequate one and this requires us to spend a large amount of resources and time in order to carry it out.
In addition, the lack of digitization forces us to use a lot of forms and procedures that largely use paper. Physical paper, and as you can see in this other blog post that I will point to a few lines further down, at Rieusset we are constantly trying to use less and less paper in the form of documents. This is due to two reasons – one being our commitment to reducing paper consumption, and the other is the inherent problem that comes with paper documents of not having accurate, updated information that may be dealt with at the moment. You can read more about this in the blog post titled “The Paperless Factory.”
Launching of the “Atex & Qplant: digitization of the inks process” project
Therefore, due to the synergies that exist within the cluster of which we are a part, we realized that this project could be suitable for the first call of 2022 for Innovative Business Groups (AEI), within the category of experimental development activity.
Via AEI Cluster
These are subsidies that were being offered by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism together with the AEI in order to stimulate the generation of collaborative projects, supporting small and medium-sized companies from accredited clusters. The ultimate goal is to influence the leadership of digital transformation, promote Industry 4.0, post-Covid recovery and efficiency in the use of material and energy resources for the ecological transition.
After disclosing the project that we wanted to carry out, we saw that it was aligned and that in all certainty we could benefit from this aid. Through the Packaging Cluster, we were put in contact with different companies in order to develop it. These companies are:
- TAI Smart factories
- Irontech
- Imaz technology
- Functional print
- Packaging cluster
- We ourselves, Rieusset
Where each one of these will contribute their know-how in order to carry out this project.
Some of them are already known to us from previous collaborations. Mainly, TAI Smart factories, with whom we have been working for a long time, since they are our partner for the MESH system that we have installed in our plant. They will be in charge of developing the necessary software for ink management.
On the other hand, there is Irontech. They are hardware suppliers for industrial environments, responsible for developing a certified team for ATEX environments (an acronym that comes from French to determine explosive atmospheres). This is because the inks we use are based on ethyl acetate and this is highly flammable.
Via Irontech Group
As a new addition, and continuing with one of the maxims of our company, there is Imaz technology, which will provide us with safety in these ATEX environments. To do this, they will develop a sensor that will warn of the concentration of high volumes of ethyl acetate in the environment and notify us when this exceeds the established limits.
Via IMAZ
Lastly, there are Functional print and the Packaging cluster, the entities that have made these synergies between companies possible and who will be in charge of making the project come to fruition, ensuring the cohesion of the group and managing a part of the development of the project. In addition, they will be responsible for the dissemination and communication of the project to all interested parties.
Via Functional Print
But really, how does this project work or what is needed for it?
Well, let’s start at the beginning.
Reception and warehousing of the inks: as we have previously mentioned, the storage of these products must be carried out in areas called Atex. This means having special security levels and specific fire protection. In addition, the equipment within these areas must be certified and must meet a series of requirements.
The inks come to us in different formats. This can be in cans containing approximately 20kg or in tanks of different dimensions. At this point in the process, the requirement that the program must meet is to be able to locate this material in the warehouse and ensure traceability with our suppliers.
Formulation of new colors: due to the great variability of colors, most of them are formed from different base inks. Therefore, in the same way that we follow a cooking recipe, we follow a procedure that determines exactly the percentages of each of the inks that will go on to form the final color. The program stores and manages the creation of these new formulas.
Printing: the biggest complication comes when we finish the printing process. There is always a surplus of the inks that have been used to print a design –which in our case can be up to 10 colors– that is returned to the warehouse. This volume, due to the characteristics of the machine, is around 30kg. As can be expected, this leftover is reused in subsequent jobs that do not have to be the exact same color. The program then manages the creation of new colors from those that we already have in stock and which come from a return from the printing process.
Subsequent analysis of results: we want to continue to streamline and have increasingly greater control over our processes. That is why we focus on knowing all the numbers that make up this entire chain of events as accurately as possible. In this way we are able to control, optimize and make the decisions that allow us to improve.
So here you have one more update on how we are progressing towards our transformation and the projects we are developing to try to be better every day than the day before. We will continue to inform, in future blog posts, on how we are evolving.
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