Interview with Alex Zlatic, Head of Product and Market Development and Craig Tait, Managing Director of Corrugated Control (Escada) at SuperCorrExpo 2024.
Buenos días de Orlando. We’re here showcasing our innovative technology for corrugated production. It’s truly world-class and cutting-edge. We believe that the best businesses are run with the highest quality data.
Our strategy is to gather the most accurate real-time data and integrate it into visual information systems, allowing corrugated producers to easily see what is happening in real-time.
Here, we can see data from various areas of the company, including the speed of the corrugation machine and the percentage of trimming. All of this information is connected to a real-time, web-enabled database that can be accessed anywhere, even on a cell phone.
We are also developing a new technology called BI, which aggregates different types of data, even from external systems. With natural language processing, like ChatGPT, you can type what you need, and it will create a new visualization for you.
eProductivity Software (ePS) is a leading provider of industry-specific business and production software technology for the packaging and print industries.
If you’re the manager of a corrugated company, you will have a personalized screen. This is a normal web browser, but it will look different if you’re the production manager or the customer service manager. For example, a customer service manager might want to see quality defects, pending estimations, or open sales orders. All of this information is in one place.
We have two main systems: a business system that allows you to make quotations and run the company, and a manufacturing system focused on factory operations. Our focus is on running the factory, not the finances, but financial information can still be displayed on our workbench.
On the manufacturing side, we offer a suite of products, from corrugated trimming to conversion, scheduling, and data collection. One of our most notable features is the direct machine interface, which provides real-time data on machine speed. If a machine runs below a certain speed, the system prompts the operator to explain why, helping us track production efficiency and costs.
Our roll stock management system tracks everything in the factory, from partial rolls to finished goods. It can suggest using partial rolls or substituting grades, ensuring efficient use of materials. All of this data is integrated into a comprehensive system that can be accessed in real-time.
Craig Tait: Our Escada portfolio offers significant improvements in productivity and yield from your corrugator. It includes reliability and maintenance management modules, advanced energy monitoring, and intelligent speed control. These features help maximize run speed, reduce downtime, improve quality, and reduce waste.
One of my favorite features of Escada is its ability to programmatically control recipes for board production. The system can run speed tests and trials to determine the best settings, and it memorizes these recipes for consistent results every time. It also has a self-learning feature that continuously updates and optimizes settings.
We’ve been using AI technology for 30 years, including rule set building and graph optimization. The latest development is generative AI, which creates new setups based on existing ones. I’m speaking on an AI panel tomorrow and invite you to join us.
Sustainability is another key focus. Our system controls temperature and steam pressure to save energy and uses automation to optimize operations. We also provide certification for forestry standards and chain of custody, helping companies prove their sustainability.
We have a reporting system called Clarity for environmental reporting, including steam consumption. We have important customers in Ukraine, such as TPP, who use our system despite the challenges of war. We support them as much as we can.
Reporting from Orlando by Igor Tkalenko – corruga.expert
