The Future of Digital Design

SKF Seals is a division of SKF that operates in the market for industrial and automotive seals. Some time ago, a digitalization project was launched in this division, for which all machines are connected, digitalized and visualized in such a way that it makes sense for the companies and creates added value. In this case, this means that every machine has a status and displays production data in order to keep the plant, and therfore the entire operation, running at all locations. The first step is to record where each plant stands in terms of digitalization. This means checking which systems are available and whether there is already an infrastructure or what the connectivity is like there. In addition, the specific requirements are defined in order to obtain secure data. So the question is what SKF is doing with big data and what it will ultimately achieve. It used to be the case that there was no more machine data after commissioning. There was no information available as to whether the machine was running or not. The big question was: when you bring machine systems to the various locations, how do you get feedback on whether they are running or not? After all, the process doesn't end after installation, because that's when process development really begins. It takes a while until the goal is reached and a check is possible so that the project can be finally handed over. In this phase, there was a lack of reliable data on how the machine was running. A solution was found in the Mould Monitoring cloud software by Digital Moulds. After the initial discussions, a pilot project was quickly set up. The first devices were initially installed in the live version at low cost. In addition, a system with motion detectors was designed to see whether data was being transmitted at all. The installation was initially carried out on machines in Leverkusen so that experience could be gained.