Extrusion 5-2018

well. Although all our software is in- house developed and is part of Maris’ know-how, no custom product and/or protocol is used for communication pur- poses. Simple and intuitive human-machine interface The human-machine interface (HMI) – achieved by using color touch-screen pa- nels – has been studied and thought to be easily understood and employed by means of intuitive icons always placed in the same position on the various video pages, function buttons to start and stop several devices ordered and represented in logical sequence, soft colors to avoid eyestrain. Moreover, diagnostic pages have been inserted as well in the perspective of re- mote diagnostics purposes. Thus, the whole system status can be checked without opening the electrical panel or, better still remotely. Remote maintenance and remote diagnostics The machine manufacturers market has been using modem to modem connec- tions to remotely access devices and sys- tems for years. Nowadays, thanks to the Internet and the broadband – through industrial VPN routers that easily guaran- tee excellent levels of connectivity and reliability – opportunities to connect any type of system or device in plants and installation sites worldwide are constant- ly increasing. An available remote connection for the Maris systems allows to meet both the requirements of remote maintenance and of remote diagnostics. Interconnectivity with factory infor- mation systems and remote loading of instructions/ Automated integra- tion with factory logistics system, the supply network or other machinery of the production cycle ‘Industry 4.0’ means the possibility to in- tensively use, assess and analyze produc- tion data within the IT (Information Tech- nology) systems of a company’s corpora- te level. Nowadays, PLC programs are already collecting large amounts of data on pro- duction and process levels (pressure valu- es, temperatures, totalizers). Thanks to Industry 4.0, the exchange of data bet- ween production and corporate levels of a company, or with other systems of the line, must be guaranteed and made available to IT systems in order to – for instance – improve product quality. Taking into account the fact that histori- cizing data and handling the communi- cation with the logistics department are a customer’s task (or of a company on its behalf), one of the essential require- ments for the success of Industry 4.0 is therefore the existence of a uniform standard to exchange data. As for Maris lines, the use of worldwide recognized and employed protocols such as Profinet or open protocols as the OPC Unified Architecture (UA) makes reading and writing data available and easier to manage with no need to resort to a more specific purpose-oriented add-on software. Continuous monitoring of working conditions and process parameters through appropriate sets of sensors and the adaptability to process deviations This requirement is naturally fulfilled by Maris lines as it is vital to meet the basic process and safety needs of our custo- mers. F.LLI MARIS S.P.A. Corso Moncenisio 22 - 10090 ROSTA (TO) Italy www.mariscorp.com 34 Extruder, Recycling Extrusion 5/2018 www.extrusion-info.com