Establishing comprehensive planning, predictive maintenance and predictive energy management in a mill enables immediate practical and financial benefits. In order to further explore the potentials brought by Industry 4.0, CTA interviewed two market leaders in software solutions for textile finishing at ITMA 2019.

Sedo Treepoint shapes the digital future with integrated software

Sedo Treepoint, a market leader in textile dyeing and finishing integration, helps customers to achieve more intelligent and smarter processes and workflows in their production with its innovative systems.

Andreas Hannes, Marketing Manager, Sedo Treepoint said: “Digitalization and the smart factory are big challenges for our customers – especially in dyeing and finishing, there is a high potential for savings and technological improvements. Sedo Treepoint as a market leader in dyeing and finishing automation has been providing innovative solutions to our customers for more than 40 years. Our new developments shown at ITMA are designed for the Smart factory and will help customers to strengthen competitive advantages.”

At the show, the company introduced for the first time the newly developed Sedomat 8000 series controller range, which is specially designed to meet the latest requirements of Industry 4.0 and more.

Developed for the Smart Factory the new generation has flexible, web-based user interfaces, on-board Wi-Fi and many more cutting edge features. The new 8000 series was a focus that attracts enormous interest.

Sedomat 8000 series comes in three different sizes to match exactly customer’s needs. In addition to the well proven benefits of their Sedomat controllers, the new series offers different interfaces like CANopen, Profibus DP and MODBUS. To improve the communication between different systems, OPC UA interface will enhance data.

Intelligent software solutions completed the portfolio and could contribute to production optimization significantly. Visitors were provided an insight into the different applications like new SedoMaster and SedoExpert versions and they could learn about how to realize sustainability along the supply chain with ColorMaster and EnergyMaster.

SedoMaster is the core of the production shop floor: Intelligent central production planning, control, monitoring and reporting becomes available with SedoMaster MES for all key operators and the management due to the connection of all dyeing and all finishing machines. Powerful reporting gives information on productivity, resource cost and OEE.

The solutions of Sedo Treepoint help to plan, control and monitor machinery as well as the connected peripheries optimally. They help to reduce resources and costs and increase productivity and efficiency at the same time. More importantly, the new SedoAPP makes real time data available wherever they are need.

SETEX uncovers Industry 4.0 potential in textile manufacturing

SETEX, a global leader in designing, manufacturing and implementation of automation solutions for the textile dyeing and finishing market, presented a wide range of solutions at ITMA 2019.

As introduced by Jürgen Jerzembeck, Head of Marketing, SETEX Schermuly textile computer GmbH, the brand new SETEX 390 controller generation made in Germany is designed as intelligent control solution for stand-alone machines and to facilitate integration and rapprochement between operational und information technology (OT und IT).

Each model features user interfaces as a web application, which turns SETEX 390 controller into a powerful industrial internet device (IIOT). Customers can use their PC, tablet or smartphone as a remote client without additional software installation.

In addition, the E390 12 controller for exhaust dye machines helps people understand and interact with processes without losing context through independently swiped header, body and bottom screens.

Intelligent software wizards use well-known dyeing curve symbols to guide the user graphically by drag-n-drop through the program generation process.

A new formula engine for parameter calculations determines beside times, consumption and events the estimated batch consumption for steam, water and more resources.

Jerzembeck pointed out, when the production performance is not satisfied, it is suggested to check if the machines, the process or the production environment's value stream cause problems.

He gave some examples to explain how SETEX's solutions deal with the production performance issue. For example, comprehensive OrgaTEX BI analyses show production performance and quality rate from reasons of planned and unplanned downtimes to production run-time exceeding set-time.

The new OrgaTEX-inteos software is an innovative manufacturing operation management system that furnishes textile companies with digital intelligence for more profit along the textile value chain, from fiber to product and from recipe to delivery.

“Often companies don´t know where their energy goes. With the OrgaTEX Energy Management we identify in a first step major energy and resource consumers for water, steam, gas and electricity,” Jerzembeck said. The pro-active OrgaTEX Energy Management stands for avoiding energy peak loads and an energy flexible production.

Another highlight at the booth was the new OrgaTEX Maintenance Manager. It provides an intelligent, networked service between PLC, HMI and MES software, connecting information from machine parts master data and maintenance rules with intelligent sensor data, presented in overview of current production planning.

For technical textiles, SETEX has developed the FabricINSPECTOR camera device technology further to detect gap and thread size for woven fabrics. Special fabrics for medical or geo-technical applications are subject to strict limits on grid size and proportions.

“With new camera optics and all new software, we will again invest more in entering the technical textile market,” Jerzembeck said.

Commenting on the market development and trend, Louie Lei, General Manager of SETEX Textile Computer Ltd., said: “Industry 4.0 is still a slogan and everybody is exploring how it can be achieved. Major manufacturers in China are moving towards this direction. Collecting all data from the machine is important as most of the advanced machinery.”

“We specialize in both software and hardware, so we understand all things about signals. SETEX will be able to contribute to the development of Industry 4.0,” Lei added.