Giant Series panel PCs are streamlining manufacturing of the
world-renowned Playmobil figurines made by Geobra Brandstätter GmbH
& Co. KG at its plant in Dietenhofen, Germany.
Geobra Brandstätter is Germany’s largest toy manufacturer, producing 2.6 billion Playmobil figurines since 1974. In order to meet increasing demands to achieve greater performance from
existing software, the management team needed to introduce an
innovative shopfloor IT system and purchase new panel PCs.
The exceptional durability and long-life designs of Giant Series panel PCs make them ideal for today’s manufacturing applications. These new shopfloor terminals are highly coveted thanks to their
intuitive, easy-to-use operating interface, offering full functionality
even for operators wearing gloves.
Complex manufacturing processes in diverse plant environments and the particular qualities of Playmobil figurines make dependable IT support absolutely critical. Shopfloor terminals are available at many points on the production line to help control and manage work routines. Employees in charge of production planning and manufacturing control, production managers, as well as controllers and business managers, can quickly and conveniently access crucial data anywhere on the shopfloor. They can carry out required processes and tasks using HYDRA®, an Acquisition & Information Panel (AIP) software package provided by MPDV.
The depth of information presented by the AIP is adapted to the relevant user groups and tailored to their particular requirements. Users can make temporary or short-term changes to the production schedule, solve problems in specific production batches, and deal with any other potential complications. If a problem does occur, action can be taken immediately, including subsequent ordering or re-planning – all in real-time. All data can be evaluated to improve the enterprise’s strategic planning.
The challenge of reliable operation in harsh environments
The environment can be harsh in the factory, warehouses and spraying department. The systems used in these areas must be resistant to vibrations and shocks. Another challenge is that the panel PCs are frequently installed in unheated rooms, cool warehouses, as well as in heated rooms in the spraying department. This means all systems must function properly in a wide range of temperatures – from single-digits up to 50°C.
The industrial panel PCs must also be fanless, as additional mechanical components are highly susceptible to interference and failure due to wear and tear, leading to greater maintenance and repair requirements. The enclosure must also be resistant to dust penetration and other contamination in order to prevent malfunctions or even total failure. Dust can easily accumulate in vent holes in panel PCs used in factories and warehouses. Vent holes also make it difficult to clean the devices, since liquid penetrating into the enclosures leads to serious damage to the system.
Long-term availability is another important factor, since it ensures that the systems and system components can be subsequently ordered in the same configuration over many years. This facilitates IT administration as well, allowing software images with identical configurations to be deployed on all systems without taking individual system specifications into consideration.
Seamless touchscreen operation – with gloves
Apart from the general requirements, Geobra had further demands for the new systems. They required the devices to be operated intuitively, exclusively using a touchscreen. The new panel PCs had to be equipped with a resistive touchscreen that could be operated while wearing any type of glove. Precise inputs, such as making parts list entries, needed to be executed on resistive touchscreens using an auxiliary means of input, such as a retracted ballpoint pen.
The solution
Test systems were installed for three months at the Playmobil plant in order to identify the best solutions for the new shopfloor terminals. Geobras IT Administrator Rafael Kaczmarczyk said “we should thoroughly test the new HMI terminals under realistic conditions in a production setting.”
The three-month evaluation led to the decision to use Giant D17 panel PCs for Playmobil shopfloors. Utilising a 1.8 GHz dual-core Intel® Atom processor D525, the Giant D17 fully meets Geobra’s performance and precision requirements. The 17- inch device is equipped with a completely enclosed and durable metal casing with IP65 rating, including connectors and cable passageways.
A further failure factor is eliminated by not using rotating hard disks. Instead, the Giant D17 is equipped with heavy-duty compact flash storage media. The panel PC is fanless and has no vent holes: it utilises a passive cooling concept that emits the generated heat from the system to the outside via the enclosure.
System durability is expressed in the ‘Mean Time Between Failure’ (MTBF) of the systems, that is, the period of time that a system can be operated without maintenance. The MTBF of the Giants is more than 50,000 hours. They are able to work in an uninterrupted manner for at least five years and without any failure, even when continuously operated.
Kaczmarczyk said “this is a factor of lowering costs that cannot be dismissed, as short cycles of maintenance or repair will result in a considerable sum in the long term. So in this way we are able to cut costs with the Giants thanks to their reliability.”
The Giant panel PCs can be mounted in a flexible and convenient way in any location thanks to a VESA-compatible mounting system. Reading devices for Legic and Mifare transponders can be quickly connected via IO interfaces designed for industrial use. The Giant D17 features 2x- Gigabit Ethernet, 4x USB 2.0, 5x serial interfaces as well as a Mini PCle socket, PCIe x1 slot and additional PCl slot for further expansion. WLAN cards for wireless communication can be integrated in advance upon request.
“High availability IT on the shopfloor is indispensable for a smooth production,” Kaczmarczyk said.
“The Giant panel PCs are helping us to ensure the best possible availability. The design offers high value, durability and the trusted quality embodied by the ‘Made in Germany’ seal. Moreover, the systems can be operated in an intuitive way even when wearing different types of gloves. Updating projects can be easily executed as well. “
ESIS is the leading supplier of electronic industrial equipment in the Australian market since 1971. Check out our premium range of Fanless PCs, HMIs, Panel PCs and other electronic components. Our products are certified and made with high-quality custom materials for accurate results. Contact us for a detailed product catalogue or to share your queries with our experts.
Article courtesy of: ADLINK
