Enhancing Automation: How Red Lion Transformed Comstar’s Assembly Line Monitoring

Definition of problem

In modern manufacturing, automation is key. Those charged with overseeing processes need to spend more time acting on actionable insights and less on manually monitoring those processes, as traditional, manual solutions drive up costs, waste time and often prove ineffective.

Comstar’s process for the monitoring of its assembly line system was one such manual process, and the manual nature of the company’s solution was 

preventing accurate and efficient diagnosis of product defects where it matters most – on the assembly line. In addition, the error alarms on the company’s assembly line system weren’t being acknowledged in a timely manner. Because the process was manual, the monitoring of alarms and events was confined to the local level. This local, manual nature made the transfer of critical information on a larger scale impossible, creating a significant pain point and bottleneck.

Comstar needed to find a “poka-yoke,” or mistake proofing, solution that helps operators avoid mistakes in day-to-day operation. 

The solution needed to cut down on the time it took to recognize and attend to system faults and on the processes 
involved in addressing those faults. Finally, the solution needed to be implemented without impacting or making 
significant changes to the existing system

The Red Lion solution

The solution needed to cut down on the time it took to recognize and attend to system faults and on the processes 
involved in addressing those faults. Finally, the solution needed to be implemented without impacting or making significant changes to the existing system.

The team at Red Lion leveraged the E3 I/O Module, the DA30D and Graphite HMI solutions to provide a seamless and fast implementation that didn’t impact the existing system.

In addition, a radio transmitter and receiver and SCADA were used in the solution. SAS Automation Chennai was used as the system integrator, connecting the radio frequency module, implementing wiring at the site, configuring the DA30D and E3 I/O Module and providing SCADA modifications.

By utilizing the E3 I/O Module to capture events and alarms through connected buttons and sensors, leveraging the DA30D to capture information from the I/O Module, log its status, and pass that status through a radio modem to the control room SCADA, and using the Graphite HMI for local visualization and to provide an avenue for adding future I/Os, Red Lion was able to provide Comstar with the automated solution it needed

 

Results

With this solution in place, Comstar has now been provided remote and efficient monitoring of the assembly line system, 
overcoming the shortfalls of the previous manual solution.

The protocol conversion of the DA30D, powerful data logging capabilities and the E3 I/O Module’s connectivity were 
particularly impactful for Comstar and will provide lasting benefits for the company’s monitoring efforts moving forward.

Comstar lauded the Red Lion solution as innovative with easy-to-configure software, noting that the solution is also set 
up to be future-dependent and ready to adapt to innovations to come.

Though Comstar had been approached in the past by other vendors interested in providing a more automated solution 
for the company’s assembly line system, Red Lion was the first to offer the cost-effectiveness Comstar was looking for.

With the implementation of Red Lion’s solution, not only were product defects reduced on the whole, but product defects 
that did occur were solved at the time of product assembly, saving time and money and boosting employee satisfaction.

The solution has also had a direct impact on Comstar’s success, as the benefits of the solution have been passed down 
to the company’s own customers, such as Royal Enfield, Volvo, KIA, TVS and TATA.