Related use case
How we helped Group Vandamme, the EU’s leading producer of corn oil, to better control their production process, maximise production output, and save tons of time on reporting.
6 client quotes about our industrial IoT data platform
Frederik Van Leeckwyck on , updated
When choosing an IIoT platform, there’s inevitably the risk of picking out the wrong one. The proof is always in the pudding, yet it could save you sleepless nights when knowing in advance your company’s production data is in excellent hands. Don’t take only our word for it. Here are 6 quotes from our clients, after successfully implementing Factry Historian in their company.
1. “9 out of 10” — Johan Van De Walle, Group Vandamme
Leading vegetable oil producer Group Vandamme required a more efficient way to collect, analyse and visualise data from their equipment and production processes. Our mission was to replace a cumbersome, Excel-based process monitoring system with a scalable and easy-to-use IIoT data platform for process analysis, dashboarding, and automated alerting. Said and done.
The greatest business value of the software lies in being informed in real time about the production process, being able to control it better, and move quickly in case of anomalies thanks to automated alerts. This way, it allows us to maximise production and be more profitable. If I had to put a score on our satisfaction, I would grade a 9 out of 10. The software does what it says on the tin, and has been running for years now without any incidents.
Johan Van De Walle
Operations Manager at Group Van Damme
2. “Best of the test” — Pieter Loose, Ekopak
Ekopak is Belgium’s first renewable water supplier. Whereas it used to focus on building and selling water treatment installations, today, its business model focuses entirely on selling renewable water by volume. To support this new ‘Water-as-a-Service’ business model, the company required a scalable IIoT platform for process data acquisition, machine monitoring and dashboarding.
To support our business transformation, real-time data acquisition and visual insights are crucial. We need to monitor our installations very closely, and mobile maintenance teams keep our installations up-and-running. Those are supported by the historian’s data collection, both real-time and historical. We investigated multiple systems and could not be happier with our choice: Factry Historian meets all of our needs and we are eager to take it even further.
Pieter Loose
CEO at Ekopak
3. “Easier world” - Klaas Dobbelaere, Puratos group
Puratos, one of the global leaders in industrial bakery products, was looking for an IIoT solution to collect and visualise production data from multiple production sites. Before implementing our historian, people from the R&D or Quality departments had a hard time accessing production data and creating graphs or visualisations. To make data accessible, they were looking for an IIoT solution that combines openness with scalability, and brutal power.
Before Factry entered our world, an automation engineer, operator or supervisor had to manually pull the data out of the production layer, enter it into a spreadsheet, export it to another format and share it through email. Alternatively, we had to work with fixed dashboards – if available. Now, things are easy. On my laptop, I can see the data of any site worldwide through the software, anywhere when connected to the corporate network.
Klaas Dobbelaere
Solution Architect for Production Operations at Puratos group
4. “Took us next-level” - Jerry Nunes, Puratos Canada
After first launching our IIoT data platform on Puratos’ main production site in Belgium, we implemented it on more than 10 production sites around the world, including their production site in Canada. Before, Puratos Canada used classic chart reports, which was challenging for the production manager. Going back in time to perform root cause analysis was even harder. Factry Historian changed their game in terms of data capturing and visual analysis.
Factry’s IIoT platform has proven to be a great asset to Puratos’ production facility in Canada. The software helps us in two ways. The first way is validation. Let us say we receive a quality complaint. Factry Historian delivers proof of what exactly happened at a specific moment in time and how long the problem lasted for. It allows me to investigate things in a much more detailed manner than I was ever able to before. Secondly, Factry Historian has taken us to the next level in terms of capturing data and using it in real-time.
Jerry Nunes
Operations Manager at Puratos Canada
5. “Easy as playing a board game” - Ivo Lemmens
Yeast producer Algist Bruggeman, part of Lesaffre Group, leverages Factry Historian to monitor a multitude of appliances and machines, both in real-time and from a historical perspective. High-resolution process data is gathered and visualised through custom dashboards that are user-friendly and easy to set up. This allows them to zoom in on process issues and carry out preventive maintenance, in order to fix production issues before they happen.
One of the key reasons to move forward with Factry Historian was its usability and modern look and feel. Working with the software almost feels like playing a board game: it doesn’t need a lengthy explanation. Through trial-and-error, you can move forward with it and gradually gain experience you can keep building on. The people behind it also played a crucial role in our decision. Factry truly understands the tools and technology they work with.
Ivo Lemmens
Project Manager Automation at Algist Bruggeman
6. “Time-saver” - Franky Vanhinsberg, A&S Energie
A&S Energie lacked integration of its production data, which made efficient reporting impossible. In order to monitor the plant’s processes, equipment and machines, operators had to manually collect sensor values and metrics from the plant, both from analog counters and the SCADA systems. Another issue was that their previous historian software lacked usability. Before, process data was only readily available for the last 2 weeks. Older process data needed to be retrieved manually and loaded into the trending tool. As the retrieving process was cumbersome, these systems were under-utilised.
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