ifm mate: Event Logger
More insights for optimum results
How often do recurring errors in your processes go unnoticed? Do you really know where time is lost in your production? How much more could you achieve if you had deeper insights into your production processes?
With the latest software update version 1.5.0 and the included Event Logger licence extension, we have exactly these issues in mind.
Previously, ifm mate was already able to detect when and where deviations occur, but now these events can be named and communicated. This gives you the opportunity to gain deeper insights into your production processes and to optimise them in a targeted manner.
What does the Event Logger include?
The integration of the MQTT interface allows selected events to be subscribed to and evaluated. This makes it possible to detect inefficiencies and improve processes.
The digital error sheet contains a customised list of errors (for example, cold solder joints, damaged or defective components), which can be stored in ifm mate for each specific use case and selected in the event of an error. It is then possible to correlate this information with other process information via MQTT.
Example: Error analysis for process optimisation
At a manual workstation, workers are tasked with completing a sub-assembly. This involves six steps and a soldering process. During the subsequent electrical test, scrap is repeatedly found and it is unclear at which point in the process the errors occur.
Possible error sources:
- cold soldering joints
- missing components
- use of faulty components
With the Event Logger and the error sheet as part of the ifm mate system, these errors can be systematically detected and analysed.
Incorrect gripping and deviations from the specified process are automatically detected by ifm mate. The worker also documents every identifiable error directly during the assembly process by accessing the error sheet and selecting the error that has occurred (e.g. “cold solder joint”).
This makes it possible to detect patterns and take targeted measures to rectify errors, thereby reducing the error rate and improving production quality.
- Event creation: The ifm mate worker assistance system creates events with relevant information (e.g. field ID, sequence ID, time stamp, specific payload such as number or sensor value).
- Publish: These events are sent to an MQTT broker via the MQTT protocol. The broker acts as an intermediary that receives messages from publishers (such as ifm mate) and forwards them to the appropriate subscribers.
- MQTT broker: The MQTT broker receives the message and stores it temporarily. It checks which clients (e.g. IT systems) have subscribed to this type of message.
- Subscribe: The IT infrastructure has registered as a subscriber for error messages. The MQTT broker forwards the message to all registered subscribers.
- Processing in IT: The IT systems receive the message and process it further. This can include documenting the error, triggering alarms or initiating corrective measures.