Monforts customers in Austria, Belgium, Germany and Turkey are already benefiting from the Industry 4.0 advances introduced by Monforts at ITMA 2019 in Barcelona, including the new ‘digital twinning’ capability.
On the very latest Monforts machines, advanced sensor technologies make it possible to access comprehensive technical machine data from any location using the company’s Smart Support and Smart Check apps.
The data is virtually mapped in the cloud in real time and provides an instant status overview of a machine’s performance. This makes vastly simplified and targeted analysis for controlled planning and production possible and insights harnessed from the data can subsequently be used to optimise the production process. At the same time, potential sources of error can be anticipated and eliminated remotely to considerably minimise downtime.
Parts prediction
In addition, the digital twin system provides information on the individual wear parts of a system, such as, for example, converters or gears.
“Operators can now see how long a part will last and when it needs to be maintained or replaced and direct access to the integrated Monforts webshop allows users to order spares at the press of the button when they are needed,” explains new Monforts textile technologist Jonas Beisel. “The Monforts digital twin system and apps are being made available for all of our machine ranges going forward and will make the operations of our customers considerably smarter, and at the same time, simpler. There was tremendous interest in what these developments make possible.”
New savings
Advanced textile manufacturers from Europe and North America were also keen to learn more about the potential of the latest Montex stenters, on which overall energy savings of 40% can now be achieved compared to a conventional stenter with no heat recovery or energy optimisation measures.
“Exhaust air treatment on stenter frames has posed particular challenges over the years, since the air can contain significant amounts of oil, fibre and even wax particles that may see emissions limits being reached in the processing of certain fabrics, depending on the legal specifications,” says Daria Hoss-Denissen of the Monforts project department. “In addressing this issue, we are now incorporating the MonforClean module directly into the stenter frame. The waste heat from the drying process is used to pre-heat the drying air, resulting in a radical reduction in the conventional heat supply required compared to gas and thermal oil heating.”
The further integration of an automatic exhaust air filter washing system automatically cleans the module elements, ensuring the consistent efficiency of both the filter and heat recovery modules, while advanced slot sealings based on a patented new flexible material hermetically seal the stenter frameat the infeed and outfeed while constantly adjusting to the profile of the different fabrics being processed.
“The latest energy-optimised Monforts stenter frame – especially combined with a downstream Eco Applicator – sets new benchmarks in terms of energy efficiency,” says Klaus Heinrichs, Monforts Vice-President. “Following ITMA 2019 we have a busy schedule of trials now booked at our ATC – Advanced Technology Centre – in Germany, with customers keen to assess the benefits to their own processes. We were extremely happy with this year’s show.”
Pictured providing information to visitors at ITMA 2019 are Monforts textile technologists Jonas Beisel and Daria Hoss-Denissen.