Spotlight, Powered by MobiNET in first live trial at auto plant

Aug. 28, 2017 – HTM Sensors and Route1 entered into a live trial for Spotlight, Powered by MobiNET, with a tier 1 automotive parts manufacturer.

The result of a collaboration between Route1 and HTM Sensors, Spotlight, Powered by MobiNET, is a technology that delivers real-time industrial data analytics on data collected from programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and other automation devices, including Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The technology provides quantitatively-based actionable information to help drive industrial process efficiency and maximize productivity while minimizing unplanned downtime and cost, and has been architected to ensure security, ease of deployment and scalability, it explains.

On July 25, 2017, HTM Sensors installed a fully configured and hardened Data Collection Device (DCD) in the tier 1 automotive parts manufacturing facility for one of its high volume production lines. The plant is part of an international manufacturing group supplying parts and assemblies to the automotive industry. HTM Sensors has been working with this facility for several months providing the plant personnel with data analytics assisting them with downtime reduction programs by collecting and analyzing the data in a discrete manner.

The installation of the DCD allows HTM Sensors to provide the data analytics to the plant personnel on a continuous basis. The results from processing the data collected as well as specific recommendations to reduce downtime or mitigate productivity issues are displayed at the plant in real time, where plant personnel can view the results on a dashboard and respond in the appropriate timeframes.

HTM Sensors says it has interest in an additional 10 trials at other manufacturing facilities in and around the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario. HTM believes that Spotlight, Powered by MobiNET, is applicable to manufacturing and processing industries worldwide. HTM Sensors currently sells sensors to companies in the manufacturing and processing sectors with an aggregate of approximately 5,000 customers.

HTM and Route1 expect the first sale of Spotlight to occur during the current calendar quarter. It is expected that a standard plant will generate approximately C$20,000 to $30,000 per line per year, with the number of production lines per plant ranging from two to 10 for which Spotlight could be applicable.

Spotlight, the parties explain, is a unique offering to the manufacturing and processing industries. It provides continuous analysis of the stream of data collected from the plant floor as well as specific recommendations to minimize downtime, increase productivity and schedule maintenance at the appropriate times in the manufacturing cycle, they say, adding that the data to be analyzed is transmitted securely to the MobiNET platform with no vulnerability to external interference.

Spotlight, Powered by MobiNET, shows plant personnel where to look, the parties describe, noting that anecdotal information is removed, and data analytics are applied to show exactly which one of the thousands of inputs in the plant requires intervention for a newly applied solution to the input application. “The volume of data that is not captured is overwhelming and managers have a need for information that is actionable so they can apply their labour resources to the most important locations,” they say.

The granular level of the data that Spotlight collects, as well as the delivery of actionable information, the parties say, is what sets Spotlight apart from anything else. This is coupled with the security of the data provided by Route1, which allows the data analytics to be performed without fear of intrusions, it adds.