DIGIBatch - Project
Digitalization of existing discontinuous production systems in process industry
Project description
Industry 4.0 and digitalization are fully underway in manufacturing industry and new solutions and products are constantly being introduced. In process industry, however, this development is progressing at a slower pace. Increasing cost pressure and the desire of the customer for more individualization, especially for discontinuous batch processes, such as drying, sterilizing, evaporation, cooking, baking, etc. force the companies to reduce batch times and to adapt and develop their recipes.
DIGIBatch shows how to use a Knowledge Base, Functional Mockup Units (FMU), and a cloud platform to provide companies with a simple and cost-effective tool for quality assurance, production assurance and preservation of core knowledge about the production process. By recalibration after each batch and ongoing control parameter adjustment, recipes can be adapted and further developed. To increase the quality and production reliability, features from the process can be monitored automatically and recipe developments can be carried out in soft real-time over all sites.
DIGIBatch adopts an easy-to-implement approach for the implementation of a digital twin on scalable and cost-effective cloud platforms, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. Validation is based on a functional model of the implemented digital twin in the laboratory of the AIT, which serves as a showcase for the addressed end users from the process industry, thereby initiating subsequent experimental development and demonstration projects.
Project start: April 2018
Project duration:30 months
Project partner: AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (Coordinator)
AutomationX GmbH (Project Partner)
Funding tool: Produktion der Zukunft
