Meat&Poultry - June 2011 - 97

Handtmann Communication Unit

HCU

All production data is easy for production managers and HCU operators to quickly analyze.
comparisons, production sequences, production overviews and more) is displayed in easy-to-view-and understand colored graphs and tables. Production control is accomplished through item-specific parameter limitations – production parameters can be limited individually for each item, which prevents production faults caused by operating errors. “There’s a graph on production capacity utilization,” Kittle points out. “Here’s 6 am. In the evening in the second shift, it tells you by color codes what’s gone on throughout the day on that particular line.”

Scales suitable for system integration include Bizerba (ST terminal with Ethernet and BCT software for PC) or Mettler-Toledo (IND690 with Ethernet connection and SysPac software – and MTScaleConnection software for PC Toledo do Brasil). HCU utilizes two types of software: the HCU Center and HCU View. HCU Center takes information from the stuffers and scales and sends it to the computer. It creates the database that can be seen on HCU View. Any designated company employee can have access to reviewing the stuffing operation via the system’s HCU View software. “The production planner can look at the screen and see what they ran for the shift, day, week, etc.,” Patel says. “The production manager, QA and packaging manager can view this...anyone authorized has an opportunity to look at this secure historical and real- time data through HCU View. There are wireless capabilities, as well.”

The HCU system collects all production data, including downtimes (data collection on all machine stops), documentation concerning the shift and number of operators, as well as individual classification of downtimes (breaks, cleaning, resetting, etc.). “This is capturing interruptions,” Kittle says looking at one on-screen graph. “There’s a break...I’m changing product here. I’m doing wieners, but I have to attend a meeting. Every one of these pink bars on the chart represents a delay of some sort and

Simple data transfer
Production data is saved in a database and it can be selected using the HCU Viewer and then exported directly to Excel. Once the data is exported to Excel, individual pivot tables and graphs are automatically created and displayed in colored charts and graphs – such as machine operating time per day; quantities per day or month; signals from the metal detector per machine, item or day; plus hourly output per line, item or day. The database is open and can also be read out directly by higher-level systems (e.g., PPS system, materials management system). The HCU allows production managers to organize the stuffi ng lines and scales into tables, as well as the programs on the vacuum stuffers, directly from the PC. Renaming and standardizing, transferring from one line to the other plus saving and printing are also done on the PC – which is a simple, central operation, Haug says.
• June 2011 • Handtmann HCU • 5

“The data transfer is very simple. The open database can be read out directly by higher-level systems.”
how long each stoppage is. That was a six-minute break, this was 13 minutes and here’s a 40-minute break. You can start to analyze interruptions and track it by machine, operator shift and more.” All production data is easy for production managers and HCU operators to quickly analyze because the process data (line comparisons, daily
www.handtmann.com

Capturing the essentials
HCU is easy to operate and understand, Haug insists. “The installation and configuration is performed centrally and is very simple,” he says.

http://www.handtmann.com

Meat&Poultry - June 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat&Poultry - June 2011