November, 14, 2022 - During K 2022, Engel highlighted a new version of its new customer portal, e-connect. The company says it provides an overview of the entire injection moulding production, independently of the location, and reduces the time for accessing the Engel world for processors. According to Engel, injection moulding machines by other manufacturers can also be integrated into the shop floor monitoring system with the free basic package. And the new e-connect offers extensive process data analysis options – again for all machine makes and other areas of the value chain, the company claims.

"e-connect is the focal point across all phases of injection moulding production. The portal helps our customers to get the most out of injection moulding production in a simple and reliable way," says Dr. Gerhard Dimmler, CTO of the Engel Group. "We have developed e-connect into a holistic digital ecosystem", adds Dr. Dimmler.

According to the Austrian injection molding machine manufacturer, from part design and sample inspection, through production, to maintenance and repairs, the portal provides the functions and applications the converter needs in a centralised bundle. For example, the company says, the sim link data interface for connecting process simulation to the production machine or digital solutions for condition-based, predictive maintenance.

Transparency

Engel says that shop floor monitoring is the most frequently used function. For overview, processors can reproduce the structure of their individual machinery in the system and monitor the states of all machines and production cells online. In the new version, Engel has opened up e-connect for injection moulding machines of all brands. This means that processors no longer have to juggle several different monitoring systems, Engel says. Instead they are given an overview of all their machinery in e-connect.

New e-connect features include automatically calculating overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) while actively identifying potential improvements, the company says.

Data analysis supports process optimisation

Engel says the customers can benefit by the integration of iQ process observer. The smart assistance system continuously analyses several hundred process parameters and compares the values with the previous cycles. In this way, the software automatically detects drifts, notifying the machine operator of sub-optimal process states and their possible causes. The results of the process analysis are now clearly visualised in the customer portal and are available for process optimisation and rapid troubleshooting, regardless of the location.

According to the company, its e-connect enables comprehensive process data analysis even for older injection moulding machines and for machines by other manufacturers. The new web version of the iQ process observer is used for this on Engel machines with previous control unit generations. Process data from Engel machines is evaluated in a fully automated way. Engel offers the e-connect process insights module for more extensive process analyses and for process data analysis on machines by other manufacturers. This software handles process data analysis both for injection moulding machines of different makes and for other equipment along the value chain, such as peripheral equipment, coating systems or packaging machines.

Subscription models

Seven years ago, Engel was one of the first injection moulding machine manufacturers to introduce its own customer portal. Originally, the focus of e-connect was on making service applications available online. Remote maintenance, spare parts procurement and arranging service calls were some of the first e-connect applications. The feature set has grown significantly since then. Thanks to cross-brand shop-floor monitoring, and extensive process data analysis options, e-connect is now the central production tool in injection moulding operations. Using e-connect, even a mix of machinery can be kept under control in a structured, simple and reliable way, Engel claims.

Flexibility

Engel offers different packages that allow the customer portal to grow as requirements increase. Subscription models ensure that Engel customers are always up-to-date. Engel regularly provides updates and without strictly limiting the number of users. In this way, the subscription models significantly reduce the costs and time overhead for adding new users or releasing new features.

Engel is one of the global leaders in the manufacture of plastics processing machines. Today, the Engel Group offers a full range of technology modules for plastics processing as a single source supplier: injection moulding machines for thermoplastics and elastomers together with automation, with individual components also being competitive. Engel has nine production plants in Europe, North America and Asia (China and Korea), and subsidiaries and representatives in more than 85 countries

Source: Engel