From Spring 2022 of Connected.
During a time of digital transformation, businesses are using technology to modify existing processes to help them meet ever-changing market requirements.
Within the manufacturing sector, the use of digital technology to connect equipment, machinery and devices across plant operations is commonly referred to as, “Connected Enterprise.” According to an article by Enterprise Digitalization , “Connected Enterprise” relies on the Internet of Things (IoT) to gain insights in the form of real-time data and analysis by Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve operations.
Kevin Carpenter, Vice President of Manufacturing Services at Rockwell Automation, advises an organization must adopt and establish the following key technologies to capitalize on their real-time data:
- Smart items: More devices connecting to your networks
- Data analytics: Turning data into actionable information
- Scalable computing/cloud: Leveraging, including off-premise resources
- Mobility: Immediate awareness of the data, leading to a more productive workforce
- Security: Everything must be locked down
Access to real-time data is transforming industrial manufacturing environments through the integration of control and diagnostic data from the device to the plant level. This allows manufacturers to improve productivity and product quality as well as minimize risk. This includes smart safety and sensing technologies.
WORKPLACE SAFETY CONCERNS ON THE RISE
While digital transformation drives the need for smart manufacturing, an increase in safety concerns among workers is further contributing to the need for smart safety solutions. According to a recent study from AlertMedia's State of Employee Safety Report , 97% of employees say safety is an important factor when considering where they work. Employees care more about safety than nearly every other incentive, second only to compensation.
When considering the research, and with recent changes to the workforce that include the Great Resignation and retiring Baby Boomers, employers should focus on their safe workplace efforts to recruit and retain talent, especially in those environments where machine safety and electrical hazards can harm workers.
This evolving workforce is considered one of the key challenges to safe workplace operations. When a workforce shifts and older workers with more experience retire, there is an increased risk of injury or accidents among new or younger workers with less experience. Worker behavior also contributes to safe workplace challenges, such as not following recommended safety procedures or sidestepping safety systems due to poor design.
Additional challenges include machine downtime, where workers encounter maintenance issues, jams, misfeeds or other issues. Lack of reliable data management and reliance on manual reporting causes a disconnect of available information and data to plant floor systems. Meeting compliance with industry standards can be difficult and time consuming, including documentation and reporting.
As a result, these challenges can lead to production inefficiencies, an increase in downtime and even worker injury.
HOW CAN SMART SAFETY SOLUTIONS HELP REDUCE SAFE WORKPLACE CHALLENGES?
In the Rockwell Automation Smart Safety section of their Smart Devices presentation, they advise implementing a solution that incorporates smart safety devices to enable plant workers to transform the way they monitor and manage safety. The data provided from these smart devices can improve insight into worker behavior and compliance with safety procedures. It can enhance safety through improved operational visibility, worker location tracking and delivery of information via mobile device in real-time.
Also, safety-related downtime is reduced with better visibility into system performance including duration time, location and frequency of shutdowns that can help determine the root cause. With the elimination of manually-collected data and reporting, there is a reduction in errors. Personnel can focus on other plant priorities while safety procedure compliance is improved.
By harnessing the power of safety and operational data provided by these smart devices, manufacturing facilities can minimize risk, improve safety compliance and performance, increase machine productivity and minimize downtime to increase Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) and Return on Assets (ROA).
KIRBY RISK AND ROCKWELL AUTOMATION PROVIDE THE RIGHT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR YOUR SMART SAFETY SOLUTIONS
As an authorized Rockwell Automation Distributor and Service Provider, Kirby Risk Electrical Supply can provide a complete Smart Safety solution to meet your facility's safety requirements that includes services and products such as smart safety devices, safety control systems and enterprise solutions.
Amber Gray, Automation Manager, and Chris Whisler, Automation Area Manager, contributed to this article.