Innova IMPAQT (Intelligent Monitoring of Performance, Availability and Quality Trends) covers three areas where losses in the primary process can occur: availability, performance and quality. It rates output as a percentage and gives the reasons for any losses found. This data provides the processor with a powerful tool for optimizing his process in real time and keeping production equipment at the highest level.
Registering downtime
IMPAQT processes notifications from switches, circuits and product detectors (PDTs) in the line. IMPAQT’s intelligent system won’t register a loss if an alarm occurs outside production hours; the line is not running, so there is no loss. If the alarm does cause a line stop, IMPAQT will register downtime with a clear error message, such as ‘nozzles don’t come down in the container pre-washer’. Intelligently, it doesn’t measure how long an alarm sounds but total time elapsed until production starts again. This is an important IMPAQT advantage.
At the end of each line, IMPAQT will have gathered all data from upstream product sensors and is therefore able to pinpoint exactly which machine in which part of the process was responsible for a loss and its reason.
Availability
If a line is ‘available’, this means that all systems are set to run and products are available. Losses in availability can be caused by technical or organizational downtime. Only a technical ‘failure’ such as a broken-down motor can really stop a line. No other ”loss” will do this. Organizational reasons such as a half-loaded container, a truck stuck in a traffic jam or personnel coming back too late from a break will trigger line restraint. Line restraint means that a line is physically able to produce but cannot do so. People or products aren’t available. The line cannot forward products to the next line.
Performance
Performance loss includes mainly products that were available but didn’t make it to the end of the process. If products are falling from the line and not being hung back, this is performance loss. When IMPAQT records empty shackles, it is much smarter than regular OEE systems because it knows if this has been caused by availability (no chicken available) or performance (e.g. an underperforming shackling team). An incorrectly functioning evisceration machine is a performance loss too. IMPAQT’s analysis can even tell each unit’s performance.
Quality
IMPAQT ’quality’ measures how many products are right first-time without having to be reworked. For IMPAQT, quality is a combination of process and product quality. If products are falling from the line onto a belt, they can be rehung. This is process quality loss. The empty shackle which results is undesirable in itself; chicken quality won’t, however, be affected. When the vacuum system of the vent opener doesn’t suck away polluting material, IMPAQT knows that this is product quality loss. By pinpointing even the smallest losses in these three areas, IMPAQT is able to assign reasons, not just for a single machine but for the whole line.
More than expected
IMPAQT is more than a terminal that indicates that a line stopped from 10.05h till 10.25h. This is typically all that regular OEE software does. Most data must still be entered manually per machine. IMPAQT, however, has already many more analytical skills and these shouldn’t be underestimated! It takes a lot of complex analysis to pinpoint exactly which ‘event’ has contributed to a loss, as one alarm can trigger nine others! The software has real knowledge of the poultry process, so that algorithms can connect the dots properly and report correctly. IMPAQT is, however, about much more than reporting. Real-time dashboards with alarm cause identification allow immediate action to be taken. Other OEE systems simply can’t do this.
