Monarch, a leading supplier of high-end circular knitting machines, and Belgium-based BMSvision have entered into a co-operation agreement for the development, marketing, installation and service of a state-of-the-art Manufacturing Execution System (MES) for the circular knitting industry. The system, which is based on the proven BMSvision KnitMaster architecture, is marketed as MMS – Monarch Monitoring System.
Using the LAN interface board of the Monarch machine, all production data is automatically collected and sent to the MMS server for real-time analysis and reporting. An additional interface has been developed with the LGL feeders on the machine providing real-time information of yarn tension and yarn consumption in the MMS monitoring application. Older machines or machines from any other brand are connected by means of one of BMSvision’s touchscreen-based data collection terminals.
Powerful analysis tools allow quick identification of bottlenecks resulting in optimal usage of production capacities. In case a problem is detected on a certain machine, such as high stop level and deviation in yarn feed, automatic alarm messages are sent to the supervisors – allowing an immediate reaction and correction of the problem. Managers can build their own personalised dashboards for a quick and transparent analysis and evaluation of their KPIs.
The integrated job scheduling module automatically calculates the time needed for every single job and updates it based on real-time information such as actual speed, efficiency and stop level of the machine. By means of simple ‘drag and drop’ functions, the planner easily assigns jobs to machines.
MMS is available in three versions: MMS Basic for machine monitoring, MMS Plus which also includes a complete scheduling software module and MMS Advanced as the full option MES system.
With this co-operation, Monarch aims to support its customers in their path to digital, paperless production and offer them customised solutions for better utilisation of their machines as well as for increasing their overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).