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February 24, 2020

AkzoNobel: Improving factory performance with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology

Dutch paint and coatings leader, AkzoNobel, is active in more than 100 countries. At its factory in Como, Italy, the company is implementing Azure IoT technology for the first time. After an adaptation period, AkzoNobel is now seeing the performance and productivity gains that come from greater connectivity on the factory floor. 

“It gives us the complete picture, allowing us to see exactly where we can make performance gains across multiple levels of the business,” says Philippe Huberts, Director for Digital and Automation Technology at AkzoNobel. 

AkzoNobel

Overcoming fear of the unknown

“When we first started using Internet of Things (IoT) technology on the factory floor, many of our operators were really afraid of it,” recalls Luca Ottolini, Production Manager at AkzoNobel Como, noting the major technological innovations that have recently been introduced at the site.

Until late 2018, the performance of the machines involved in creating the powder coatings in Como was monitored using pen and paper—with ticks in boxes every 15 minutes to indicate how machines were performing.

Today, all that data is being captured digitally in real time, thanks to a Digital Performance Portal solution using Industrial IoT (IIoT) and Microsoft Azure. The solution is a game-changer in helping the company maximize its use of data, but one that came with challenges.

 “We have operators on the factory floor of all ages—from young people who have grown up with digital technologies as second nature, right through to older guys near retirement,” Ottolini explains. “Suddenly at 60 years old they’re being asked to change the way they’ve been working for many years. It was challenging for them.”

However, a year down the line, the system is now accessible for everyone—no matter their level of technical expertise.

“My full focus with the team was to make this system as user-friendly as possible. Of course, we wanted to challenge our workers, because we want them to work in new ways, but we wanted to make this transformation as smart and easy for them as possible. It works—now everybody is able to use the system,” he says.

Using digital technology to drive operational excellence

What’s happening at the Italian site is just one piece of a much larger global transformation that AkzoNobel is undertaking.

In mid-2018, the company invested in Azure as its go-to platform to complement its cloud-first strategy.

Based in the Netherlands, the company that boasts products such as Dulux and Polyfilla is already enjoying significant cost and productivity savings from implementing an IIoT solution on the Azure platform at Como—and this is just the start.

At the company’s Amsterdam headquarters, Philippe Huberts, Director for Digital and Automation Technology at AkzoNobel, offers his vision for how digital technologies are going to reshape the way the company operates globally.

“As with all manufacturing processes, the machinery involved in making paint produces mountains of data and information. What we wanted to do was harness all this data across all of our many sites,” says Huberts.

The initiative has had huge benefits for the company, particularly when it comes to visibility—joining the dots between what’s happening at each site.

Since implementing the technology, AkzoNobel is able to compare the performance of machines not just within a single factory, but also at different factories and sites around the world instantly, helping management to understand what is working well in each region, and what individual factories need to improve upon, leading to substantial benefits to operational productivity. This information allows the company to really drill down into the performance of individual machines.

“It gives us the complete picture, allowing us to see exactly where we can make performance gains across multiple levels of the business,” he notes.

Thinking big, starting small, moving fast

In keeping with the company’s guiding thoughts on digital transformation to “think big, start small, and move fast,” AkzoNobel began piloting the new technologies in four of its most operationally mature sites—hence the work in Como, where existing equipment on the factory floor has been connected to Azure.

“In terms of what we wanted to achieve with the new technology, we had a simple idea,” says Giuseppe Rigamonti, Site Manager at AkzoNobel Como.

“We realized that we could no longer try to improve the quality of the product, as we were already at a very high level. So instead, we focus on improving our processes—and gaining more control over what’s happening,” he says.

“With this new system, we can check on the performance of the factory in real time,” explains Rigamonti. “Whether it’s at home, on a laptop, on a phone, we can check exactly what is happening. In the past, we were in control one day after—now we are in control every second.”

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is the key metric for measuring the productivity and performance of the machines used in the production of paint at Como.

“OEE is a way to measure how we are using a machine in the company,” says Rigamonti. “Imagine that you buy a new car, but you leave it in the garage for four out of seven days a week,” he continues. “OEE tells us this information, so we can act on it and increase our productivity by getting more from the machine in question.”

The OEE measurements of each machine are now displayed in real time on the screens on the factory floor and are accessible to managers and executives. In fact, any AkzoNobel employee with access rights and a laptop or smartphone can see how the site is functioning at any time of day.

People on the factory floor can now see whether they’re behind or ahead of schedule, whether there’s an issue with their machine’s performance, and get instructions on what to do if something isn’t working optimally.

“When we introduced this new technology, we explained to the operators that this is not about making you work more. I am convinced our workers are already working very hard. This is about working every day better and better. That is our mindset,” says Rigamonti.

Scaling in the future

Looking to the future, AkzoNobel is keen to build on the digital foundation the company has established by applying advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to harness its data globally in more advanced ways.

“By integrating all our data sources going forward, we’re going to improve the agility of our supply chain and the flexibility of our processes,” says Huberts.

With the success of financial savings at the Como site this year, the company is currently rolling out the same initiative at more sites.

“It’s all about scalability for a company like AkzoNobel,” says Huberts. “And with Microsoft Azure powering our transformation, we have exactly the flexibility we need to scale across our entire network.”

“With this new system, we can check on the performance of the factory in real time. Whether it’s at home, on a laptop, on a phone, we can see exactly what is happening. In the past, we were in control one day after—now we are in control every second.”

Giuseppe Rigamonti, Site Manager, AkzoNobel Como

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