(Good) preparation is half the battle!
Dear Customers, Dear Partners,
For a very long time now, we’ve been wondering: Can I commission a machine professionally and efficiently, even if I’m not physically on site?
The answer: Yes, it’s possible—and how! The better you prepare, the better and more surprising the result will be!
As the saying goes: (Good) preparation is half the battle!
Here are a few insights and approaches for the here and now!
Sincerely, Armin Roth
Can I commission a physical machine professionally and efficiently, even if I’m not physically on site?
So far, we’ve encountered countless hurdles and barriers here—both internally and externally—though a large portion of them exist only in our minds! There are countless reasons why it might not work—or perhaps why it shouldn’t be allowed to work at all. However, we also believe there are countless reasons why it can work—or even must work. Now we have the chance—and we’ve put it into practice many times!
Admittedly, it doesn’t always work without some kind of on-site presence—eyes, ears, and hands are sometimes absolutely essential on site and offer a significant advantage. In critical situations, it can only be done as a team—working together at both ends of an infinitely long LAN connection!
Our implementation approach consists of three parts and is based on the following methods:
- Remote maintenance via a VPN connection and the ROTH Service Box
- Live Video Streams Using Microsoft Teams
- Dashboard Overview Using ROTH Platform+
Using the tools and capabilities of our time, such as video streams and video conferencing, we visualize what is visible and obvious; with our ROTH Platform+, we visualize what is actually invisible to humans—software and signals. Using a secure, end-to-end encrypted VPN connection, we use our engineering tools to access the control system directly and perform the commissioning of the machine software.
This gives us maximum transparency and puts us right next to—or even inside—the machine!
Spread across the globe and tested in numerous projects, we have practiced and continue to practice this approach and these methods—with consistent success! This allows us to stay closely involved in the action even from a distance and to work efficiently toward the project’s success.
Of course, nothing happens on its own, and no master is born overnight. With optimal preparation—such as pre-commissioning on the digital twin (as mentioned in the last blog post), the process goes more smoothly and is easier!
As a result, we were able to successfully complete a commissioning project just a few days ago, despite all the current entry restrictions. So the question isn’t whether it works at all, but whether the preparations are good enough to ensure success! But we’re thinking ahead here as well and are already working on ways to delve even deeper “into the machine”—stay tuned!
