We pack (with) passion – this is the motto of SPIES Kunststoffe GmbH, a plastics manufacturer that has been producing at the site in Melle in the Northwest of Germany for 60 years. Around 430 employees in three plants ensure that everything runs smoothly when the food packages are produced in injection molding processes. They design and manufacture made-to-measure tools and product-specific molds themselves, run series production of packages, and see to logistics and administration. The innovation leader produces more than one billion in-mold labeled packaging parts every year. There is hardly any household in Germany without their products. By the way, the products of the medium-sized family business are 100% made in Germany.
"We wanted to make all facts known and achieve transparency in production. I therefore looked out for a system that processed and aggregated our figures. We changed and added some interfaces and set up a few light barriers. It took us less than twelve months to connect our first plant to HYDRA and after a year and a half, all three plants were connected. Finally, all figures were available." Heiko Steinmeier, Production Manager at SPIES Kunststoffe GmbH
Perfect fit
Potato salad, vitamin pills, ice cream, yoghurt – these are just a few examples of the numerous food articles in plastic packages that we take home from the supermarket. Packaging comes in many different shapes, ranging from small oval or corrugated sample sizes to square maxiportion packs. The German company SPIES was founded in 1964. Since then, they have evolved into experts for this type of plastic packaging thanks to their know-how in mold and tool making. The company can meet customer requirements of any kind and produce the perfect container for almost any product. The focus is on functionality and product safety: easy-to-use and appealing packaging is important for SPIES, but hygiene and the careful and sustainable use of resources are top priority.
24 hours, seven days a week: production lines at SPIES never stand still. Employees work in three shifts and ensure that the 150 injection molding machines run continuously. They see to correct labeling of the packages, a hygienic and flawless production as well as packaging and warehousing. Almost everyone will have come across the gently curved plastic tray containing ice cream in different flavors. It is produced in Melle, Germany, in a process called in-mold labeling or IML for short. „We place a printed label into the mold before injecting the liquid plastic. This way, we manufacture ice-cream packages, margarine containers, cream-cheese trays and many more,“ Heiko Steinmeier, Production Manager, says. Label and packaging merge into one unit of the same material thus ensuring recyclability. This is referred to as a mono-material packaging.
„Hygiene is our second nature“
More than 100 camera systems monitor the processes in real time during production to guarantee that all packages are correctly labeled and consist of a single material in terms of chemical components. „Hygiene is our second nature,“ Heiko Steinmeier points out. Even smallest fibers or dust must be avoided at all costs when it comes to packaging, that‘s the law. „Employees wear hairnets, beard covers, and long sleeves to prevent soiling of any kind. At the end, the cameras check each container.“ If everything is correct, the injection-molded products are packed. „Our employees close the box, label it, and stack it on a pallet.“ The boxes are transported to a high-bay warehouse and finally delivered to the customer.
Figures instead of gut feeling
As Production Manager, Heiko Steinmeier is responsible for about 280 employees of the family-run business. He ensures that machine failures are repaired and labeling errors eliminated so that production processes do not come to a standstill and on time deliveries are secured. However, when he started his job at SPIES five years ago, he had to face major challenges. „I like to take decisions based on numbers and not on gut feeling,“ the experienced manager comments. „When I started working for SPIES, we didn‘t have any reliable KPIs that directly tell you what is going on in the plant.“ Most production processes were documented with analog methods back then. The company wanted to change this for some time. We needed to work with facts and increase trans- parency in production. I therefore looked out for a system that turned our figures into KPIs.“
HYDRA was installed, but not actively used
Steinmeier quickly found out that SPIES had already taken first steps to test a digital tool. However, he was not 100% satisfied with the system‘s performance. He did some more research and got to know HYDRA during a visit of an MPDV sales representative. The MPDV solution processed data precisely as Heiko Steinmeier needed it. A happy coincidence. „The sales representative and I also discovered that HYDRA had already been installed at SPIES, but was not actively used. Let‘s start a project, I said.“
After less than a year, the plant was connected to HYDRA
It was easy for Heiko Steinmeier to gain the consent of the managing director and the management board. A project team was formed with a colleague from IT and two MPDV employees. The objective was to transform SPIES into a Smart Factory with the help of MPDV‘s HYDRA: automatic data collection replacing Excel spreadsheets and KPIs instead of gut feeling. „The four of us tested the installed system thoroughly, extended it wherever necessary, and optimized processes,“ Heiko Steinmeier recalls. "We changed and added some interfaces and set up a few light barriers. It took us less than twelve months to connect our first plant to HYDRA and after a year and a half, all three plants were connected. Finally, all figures were available.“
One click for reliable data on machine productivity
„The first thing I do in the morning when I get to work: I boot the computer, open HYDRA, and have a report of the last 24 hours displayed before I delve deeper.“ Steinmeier pays particular attention to the OEE, the Overall Equipment Effectiveness. This key figure combines data collected in the fields of quality, performance, and availability to evaluate machine productivity in a specified period of time. „The only thing that the colleagues still have to enter manually are the malfunction reasons: Is the tool defective, is it a machine failure, of has a colleague overslept? Everything else is automatically collected: cycle times, production times, quality rates, machine runtimes, and downtimes.“ Today, Heiko Steinmeier takes most of the management decisions based on the OEE. „Before the implementation of HYDRA, I didn‘t have this data, which is really important for my work. The ‚management by walking around‘ was the only way to gather information.“
MPDV solutions: from Excel sheets to a managed system
Thanks to the new automated resource reporting, the production manager and colleagues can monitor in real time if interventions have the expected result. Suboptimal control measures are rapidly identified and corrective action can be taken. This reduces costs and pain and saves time. „Was the measure effective? Was it the right measure? Do we have to take action somewhere else? I can now see this instantly and react directly.“ Since HYDRA has been rolled out to the entire company, processes have been streamlined and productivity at SPIES has increased significantly. The excellent results were a compelling argument for the SPIES management, and the medium-sized company is now planning to implement further HYDRA modules such as Maintenance Management. „At the moment, we are changing our complaint management by implementing an MPDV solution. Supplier and customer complaints are now centrally stored. The Excel sheets are gone and a managed system is introduced.“
Change to HYDRA has been well- received in the company
„Of course, the system implementation was not greeted with enthusiasm by everyone: underperforming machines can now be identified quickly, and the factors leading to poor performance can be analyzed,“ Steinmeier says with a twinkle in his eye. „In the meantime, however, HYDRA is accepted by everybody and has become a daily control medium for many people.“ Employees in production use the company‘s shop floor client SPIESnet, which is connected to HYDRA, to check the machine performance at any time and take countermeasures, if required. „The evaluations are transparent for all employees. HYDRA has put an end to assumptions and prejudices about good or poor performances in a shift or plant as the tool provides reliable data for each machine, shift, and any other possible factor influencing the result.“
Good feeling is good, figures are better
Heiko Steinmeier draws the following conclusion: „I have implemented MES systems in several companies and brought them to life because I need figures to take decisions. Gut feeling is good but figures are better. They are needed for any neutral assessment.“ The SPIES production manager would opt for MPDV solutions again, and he strongly advises other companies to change to Smart Factory solutions. Steinmeier plans to add some more digital control instruments to his toolbox in the years to come. His mediumterm vision is a digital shop floor management. For this, MPDV is his first choice. „I never get tired of praising our contacts at MPDV: In particular, the project manager has pushed us when it came to implementing HYDRA and set up an extensive documentation. Without him, we would not have made such good progress, I think.“
