FLUTURA:
“FITBIT FOR MACHINES”

Adhesives are used in a multitude of industries, including aviation, automotive and electronics, and Henkel was faced with the challenge of increasing yield whilst maintaining quality.

Two specific levers, viscosity and softening points are at the heart of production and needed improvement to keep up with demand. This is where Indian startup Flutura’s Cerebra came in. The Cerebra IoT intelligence platform, described as a “Fitbit for machines,” was adopted in order to harvest and ingest three years of sensor data regarding plant production and management.

Temperature sensors, RPM sensors, torque sensors and pressure sensors were strapped on to industrial mixers in order to monitor adhesive quality, as well as predict problems with equipment before they occur.

Predictive maintenance is also able to cut down on the volume of stock Henkel is required to keep in case of rejected batches, as well as make the process more cost-efficient – as quality testing, reworking and human error account for much of the cost associated with factory production.

This solution has now been scaled to 33 plants and 1400 manufacturing lines and has saved vendors over $140 million in costs caused by defective products over the past three years.

saved in costs, previously caused by defective products