Sophim: Enhancing Production Agility and Efficiency with Universal Automation
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Functional Applications - Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)
Applicable Industries
- Life Sciences
Applicable Functions
- Maintenance
- Product Research & Development
Use Cases
- Leasing Finance Automation
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Sophim is a manufacturer of natural ingredients for the cosmetics industry. The company was in need of a modern, agile, and efficient automation system to improve its production processes. Sophim sought to upgrade its legacy systems to an Industry 4.0 solution, with a focus on predictive maintenance and clean integration of IT technologies. The company also aimed to leverage external engineering expertise without adding complexity to the project or solution. Sophim's goal was to increase operational efficiency, reduce design time and time to production, and enhance its competitiveness in the market.
The Challenge
Sophim, a manufacturer of natural ingredients for the cosmetics industry, was faced with the challenge of modernizing its automation systems. The company sought to upgrade its legacy automation systems to an Industry 4.0 solution in a managed, low-risk, and agile manner. The new solution needed to provide clean integration of IT technologies, with a particular focus on predictive maintenance. Additionally, Sophim wanted to leverage external engineering expertise without introducing project or solution complexity. The task of implementing this solution was given to Alliance system integrator partner Master Systèmes.
The Solution
Master Systèmes deployed a universal automation solution for Sophim, known as EcoStruxure for Life Sciences. This solution includes the next-generation engineering platform, EcoStruxure Automation Expert, which is based on the IEC 61499 standard. This software-centric industrial automation system bridges IT and OT, adhering to the open principles of universal automation. The solution was equipped with the Modicon M580 dPAC, which unified and contextualized data from Sophim’s disparate machines. This made the data intelligible, usable, and more valuable for production managers. The solution also provided more flexibility in the choice of automation control systems and easier integration of analytics or other software solutions in the future, thanks to edge computing capabilities.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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