Desma optimizes efficiency with software, maintenance

PITTSBURGH—There's something to be said for focusing on the finer details—they do, after all, keep machinery running smoothly and manufacturing operations working exactly as they should.

Sure, the small details are easy to overlook, but Desma USA Inc. is giving its customers the tools they need to keep the focus where it should be. And during the ACS Rubber Division's International Elastomer Conference, Desma showcased two products—DesClean and Smart Connect—that are designed to put machine maintenance and operational efficiency at the forefront.

Efficiency starts with preventive maintenance and the often overlooked oil.

Scott Early, Desma president and CEO, said many Desma customers don't realize how dirty the oil running through their machines is. DesClean is designed to change that.

"In the grand scheme of things, when you are talking about a piece of equipment, it's a relatively small cost, but it is a good preventive maintenance service," Early said of DesClean during an interview on the IEC show floor. "We notice that customers tend to neglect oil changing and oil cleanliness, and that affects how well the machine runs."

Desma's name is on the side of every machine it sells, Early said, so it's in the company's best interest to keep the more than 2,000 machines it has on shop floors running properly. After all, he said, it would be terrible for something as simple as oil to negatively impact a customer's perspective of the brand.

"We developed a system that will clean oil in the hydraulic tank of the press down to a sub-micron level, which is much greater than the factory OE oil filters are designed to filter to," Early said. "We ship this device out when our service technicians do a PM contract on the presses, and while they are PMing the machine, we pump the oil out through this cleaner system, run it through a filter and replace it.

"It gives the customers a good oil clean-up and a good bill of health. We provide that with our PM services and it's to help keep our customer-friendly machines working efficiently."

DesClean was rolled out mid-summer, Early said, noting that it had trials with customers in the greater Cincinnati area. The feedback, so far, has been positive.

"We have done a couple of tests for our customers in the local Cincinnati area where our factory is, and we have been able to show them the true results," Early said. " … You can see the before and after, even if the customers think their oil is clean. That tends to be a pretty powerful testament."

When it comes to ensuring that Desma machines are operating at their best every day, data matters. That's why Desma introduced Smart Connect, software that allows customers to access an array of data instantly through a mobile app.

This, Early said, gives supervisors and engineers the power to manage an entire production floor from anywhere in the world.

"The app does a couple of things," Early said. "When you are a production engineer or when you are in charge of the production floor, you are always fighting a fire: What is the important thing today? You can take a look at the app driving into work in the morning and know if all of your machines are running. And if any of your machines are down, you can see some of the reasons why. … It allows you to see in real time the status of the machines—if they are green or if they are red, cycle counts or, if there are any alarms, what triggers they are."

Moreover, the Smart Connect allows supervisors access to important information that may be needed for maintenance of any kind. This allows for quicker routine maintenance as well as troubleshooting, Early said.

"Instead of calling the plant and having someone send it over by email, we can pull it up right here and troubleshoot in real time," Early said.

Information collected by Smart Connect is stored on the cloud and includes everything from the current status of machines to archived information about the products made on them.

"With rubber, most people are interested in time, temperature and pressure," Early said. "They are most interested in (things like) what the temperature was on cycle number 17. (Smart Connect) archives that temperature.

"It archives the pressure the injection needle was pushing the rubber in. It archives any kind of other relevant production data. It is used to substantiate the quality of products for your ISO, certification-type things.

"And we are seeing more and more customers want to archive production or data because, from a product liability standpoint, they want to be able to chase down what part was molded on Sept. 12 at 4:30 p.m. With our software and the Smart Connect device, we are able to help our customers put all that data on the cloud."

Smart Connect is available on new machines and can be retrofitted to some older Desma models, those dating back about seven years or so, Early said. The software can be used on multiple machines within a factory setting and requires a dedicated router and IP address for each machine.

Headquartered in Hebron, Ky., Desma USA Inc. offers a range of German-engineered rubber injection molding machines and domestically designed molds, serving a number of industries including electrical, pharmaceutical, automotive, oil, gas, military and industrial products. Desma has experience in a number of elastomeric materials, including EPDM, silicone, NBR, SBR and fluoroelastomers.

More information about Desma products and services is available at desma-usa.com.