The appearance and color scheme of a glass forming machine were typically driven by its function, where paint had the function of a protection layer, the look of the equipment was not really considered. Machines were painted typically in grey. Grey inside, grey outside, knowing that a machine will look grey after a period of production anyway.

Glass container production lines are equipped with an increasing number of sensors and equipment to stabilize the production. With the availability of data from these sensors, it becomes obvious that this data must be analyzed to optimize glass container production. The challenge in obtaining a complete and meaningful data set is to assign the data of all involved systems to the ‘right’ container. A lot of different components from both HE, CE and Traceability equipment have to work hand-in-hand and speak the same language.

While multi gob weight production was already supported on a basic level by the first FlexIS controls generation, the current FlexIS generation, with its newly built User Interface, sup-ports a true multi article setup. On this basis, a further supportive tool, the Multi Gob Application (MGA) was integrated into the controls system.

The FlexIS Process Control System is the core component that makes automation of the container forming process possible.chine, but also FlexIS is not only capable of controlling a forming machine, but driving all mechanisms from feeder to stacker.

Swabbing blank moulds and neck rings has traditionally been carried out by human operators. Bucher Emhart Glass (BEG)’s FlexRobot can automate the procedure, taking on a repetitive task and delivering efficiency gains and time savings. The FlexRobot system is mounted on the blank side panel and integrated into the FlexIS control system. One FlexRobot can serve an entire Tandem machine installation.

Hollow glass production lines are equipped with increasingly sophisticated sensor systems. This opens the door to thorough process understanding. Before applying any data analysis tool or closed loop, however, a much more basic functionality has to be ensured: The different systems that collect data have to speak the same language or the different data has to be translated so the systems understand each other. Although this sounds simple and straightforward on paper, in practice it is not.