„Through our shared effort we will be able to increase the production quality of domestic SMEs”
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IMM-DATA Ltd. is a Hungarian business enterprise which operates in the manufacturing industry and develops and integrates industry 4.0. solutions. The company’s founders have over 35 years of experience in developing and operating industrial solutions in the area of production optimization. According to the head of the company Zoltán Fábián, these new systems are most helpful in reducing costs for SMEs that have between 10-100 production machines. On the other hand, the fact that these solutions can offer useful assistance in developing company culture is equally important, and in the future, they may serve as the basis for additional industry 4.0 developments. Both Zoltán and his team know that there is always room for improvement which means they don’t want to slow down anytime soon.
You help manufacturing companies increase their productivity and decrease their expenses through a trustworthy online data providing service. What makes this innovative?
In essence the fact that our solution is comprised of three parts: one hardware, one software and an introduction or application consultation. We believe that SMEs often cannot get all this from a single source. In addition, our solution has properties that we believe make it unique. Both our hardware, the Mimoza (Plug & Play adaptable data collection units for injection molding machines – the editor.) and Polaris (installable, modular unit that may be expanded with sensors and can be adapted to machines from various manufacturers. – the editor) are custom developed, and our software can be accessed from browsers on all devices and have expansions such as interactive dashboards, alerts and reports for data analysis or even data transfer for MES/ERP systems through APIs. Several of our prospective customers requested advice on
how to integrate the measurement and data collection solutions.
To answer this question and to introduce and personalize best practices, our team of Lean professionals offer advisory services in areas such as project and change management, establishing measurement and strategic goals as well as the formation and application of KPI indicators. We include this advisory knowledge in our software, but we also provide individual consultation. We believe that our Software-as-a-Service model (which is the same for all of our customers) provides a continuously improving software version without the need to pay a one-time fee. Furthermore, the monthly fee is calculated based on the number of machines involved in measurement and data collection and can thus be changed on a monthly basis. Also, the discounts we offer in case of a long-term contracts are an attractive option for many Hungarian companies.
We operate our services in the Microsoft Azure cloud service, thus ensuring that alongside quick and flexible integration, all of our customers get access to the latest software versions without requiring any additional administration.
What made us come up with the idea of this data collection system?
The most important inspiration was perhaps when the members of our team were successful at achieving a cost an annual reduction of several million forint at a domestic plastics company using the first version of our solution. Before the measurements, the professionals at the company believed that reject products made up about 3% but it was later found that it was in fact 8%. After our introducing our innovation, the reject rate was reduced to under 2%.
What are typical problems that arise during regular data collection during manufacturing?
We had to realize early on that current systems on the market were designed to operate in large enterprises which require a single but large investment. The planning required is complex and implementation is slow.
It is difficult to integrate these large and in certain aspects complex solutions into the daily routine of SMEs, and their integration and operation is more expensive the most such SMEs can allow. Furthermore, their use often required additional trailing because the owners of these systems do not always offer guidance in integrating and using these systems. In addition, the manufacturers’ solution is not always compatible with equipment from different manufacturers and extracting data from older machines is not a simple task.
Because of this it is difficult to provide useful help, if we can offer any at all, to the majority of Hungarian SMEs in this area, and we recognize that there are many who would require an innovative and serviceable solution.
Once we got over this point only a few steps separated us from coming up with our idea to increase the production quality as well as simplify and digitize processes at domestic SMEs through our shared effort.
What makes this solution better than data collection by hand?
On the one hand our system is fast and can be accessed from anywhere at any time, is easy to interpret and provides accurate information, and on the other hand automatic processes may be implemented such as alerts or escalation steps.
How could this system benefit domestic SMEs?
Mainly in the area of cost reduction. This solution will result in less rejects, less unplanned standstills and quicker work completion, but an equally important aspect could be the help it provides in developing company culture. Not to mention the fact that it could be a stepping stone to additional industry 4.0 developments as it concerns the development of manufacturing efficiency, more precisely how production lines, machines and tools necessary for production communicate with each other.
IMM-DATA Ltd. is a Hungarian business enterprise which operates in the manufacturing industry and develops and integrates industry 4.0. solutions. What is your opinion on the state of industry 4.0 solutions in Hungary? Are companies open to them?
Yes, we can see that they are open to idea. This is mostly the case for company heads before or after a generational or ownership change at the company. It is also true for cases where the customer demands continuously increasing quality and service standards while also expecting a reduction in costs.
We believe that introducing good practices and showcasing logic and connection between solutions that can be applied to the problems of manufacturing companies are essential for garnering acceptance and understanding the essence of Industry 4.0.
Fundamentally we should rely on the younger generation in spreading the technology, but perhaps its not really age rather openness that counts when determining whether a company executive is receptive to industry 4.0 and the change that comes with it.
It is important to note that it is not the goal of industry 4.0 to replace human resources, although many fear this is the case. We are still far from the time when machines will manufacture and repair other machines. The goal of digitalization is to achieve a level of speed, accuracy and efficiency that was previously unattainable, where employees with a higher degree of planning-organizing knowledge are required in order to design and improve operations.
The company’s founders have over 35 years of experience in developing and operating industrial solutions in the area of production optimization. What does their career look like?
Our leading team is made up of four people. Another member of our dual management system is Kristóf Hauser, who as the company’s CTO has in the past developed logistical, manufacturing support and automation systems, for instance at Simon plastics processing where he worked for eight years on automation projects. Barnabás Tőke, the head of hardware development also worked at Simon plastics processing as a development engineer, where his main tasks included the improvement of the data collection system, the design of unique hardware and purpose machines, PLC programming and getting aquatinted with new innovations and technologies and integrating them into the system. Ákos Hámori the head of software development gained experience as a developer at Google and SZTAKI industrial projects. And lastly,
I myself have 25 years of experience in leading digitization projects at domestic telecommunications, info communications, transportation, energy and processing companies, I worked at IFKA as an industrial development consultant and took part in programs aiming to implement Industry 4.0. sample applications in order to revitalize the digitalization and automation development projects at manufacturing SMEs.
What inspires your team?
The goal of our team is to offer a measurement and data collection system and service to our clients that provides the best possible solution. This is a goal with no end in sight therefore we are continuously improving ourselves. We’ll keep on working on it!
Source: Press release