In today’s industrial environment, there’s no room for mediocrity. Manufacturers face constant pressure to cut costs, increase energy efficiency, maintain top-tier quality and make faster decisions. To stay competitive, companies must invest in automation and digitalization – key enablers for optimizing processes, improving productivity and reducing costs.
Once a company reaches a sufficient level of digital maturity, it can take the next step by implementing advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics and digital twins.
Digitalization: the foundation of modern manufacturing
Digitalizing production involves collecting real-time data, automating key processes and using tools to monitor and analyze equipment performance and resource consumption. This allows companies to:
- Access reliable, real-time production data
- Quickly identify deviations and defects
- Optimize energy and material usage
- Increase flexibility when implementing process changes
These digital solutions are powered by Metronik’s MePIS MES system for comprehensive production control and MePIS Energy for efficient energy monitoring and optimization.
Three practical examples of successful digitilization
Companies approach digitalization in different ways, depending on their priorities and the areas where they see the biggest challenges or opportunities. No matter where they begin, it’s important to have a broader plan that integrates individual solutions into a unified, long-term digital system. Here are three examples of how companies are successfully applying digital solutions.
1) Energy management, peak load control and central control system in the food and beverages industry. In industries with high energy costs, savings start with digitalizing consumption and monitoring energy flows. A food processing company implemented MePIS Energy to digitally monitor and manage energy use by production. The system enables:
- Real-time tracking and comparison of usage against forecasts and historical data
- Rapid detection of anomalies and unnecessary losses
- Optimized scheduling of energy-intensive machines
- Monitoring and optimization of peak loads to reduce penalties for exceeding contracted capacity
- Integration with a central control system (CCS) for coordinated control of the entire energy infrastructure
These digital capabilities lay the foundation for future upgrades, including AI-based forecasting and energy procurement optimization.
2) Digital production planning and control in the metalworking industry. By implementing MePIS MES, a metalworking company digitalized its core production processes – dramatically improving visibility, control and reliability. The system provides real-time insights into production flows and delivers the data needed for faster, better decision-making at every level. Benefits include:
- Precise scheduling and task allocation
- Real-time production tracking and early detection of deviations
- Faster response to disruptions and changes
- Less administrative work and fewer errors
- Better resource utilization and shorter lead times
This digital transformation provides a solid base for further optimization using advanced analytics and long-term planning with AI.
3) Ensuring batch quality in the chemical industry. In the chemical industry, process parameters play a critical role in product quality – if conditions aren’t right, an entire batch can be wasted. While automation provides real-time control, it doesn’t capture long-term process complexity. That’s where AI comes in.
Using historical data, AI can predict future process states and help detect quality risks early. For a chemical manufacturer, we developed an AI solution that:
- Collects process parameter values in real time
- Forecasts their values one hour ahead
- Detects potential quality deviations in advance, including how specific parameters affect final product quality
This empowers process engineers to take timely action, prevent defects before they occur, reduce waste and improve production efficiency.
Building the industry of the future starts now
Digitalizing processes is the first step toward the future of industry. It leads to greater productivity, more stable operations and lower costs – while also preparing companies for the adoption of AI, data analytics and digital twins.
Metronik: your digitalization partner
At Metronik, we bring together automation, digitalization and decades of cross-industry experience to deliver solutions that work in the real world. Our MePIS MES and MePIS Energy platforms are core tools for companies ready to take the next step in their digital transformation.
If you would like to learn more or become part of our community of solution users, please contact Vanja Tomažič at: vanja.tomazic@metronik.si
