User Report Ritter Sport
MES Solution FASTEC 4 PRO at Alfred Ritter GmbH und Co KG, Waldenbuch.
The full report is available for download.
The FASTEC 4 PRO Software Solution at Ritter Sport
In the town of Waldenbuch in the Aichtal valley, sweet happiness has been poured into square molds at Alfred Ritter GmbH und Co KG since 1932 and is now exported to over 100 countries. Founded in 1912, the family business Ritter Sport has declared chocolate production to be its core competence and consistently pursues its mission statement of being best in class with every variety in its category. This requires consistently high quality raw materials and stable manufacturing processes.
The MES solution FASTEC 4 PRO has been supporting the production processes of the Baden-Württemberg chocolate manufacturer since 2012.
- Industry: Food
- In Use: MES solution FASTEC 4 PRO with the modules Machine Data Acquisition, Production Data Acquisition and the Additional Functions Monitoring, Process Data Acquisition
- Interfaces: To SAP, S7 communication with the plant control systems
- Connected Systems: 3 basic massing lines, 6 single-panel systems, 4 storage systems, 20 packaging lines
“I had to spend a considerable number of hours evaluating the data from the old performance measurement system - time that I can now use to determine and implement CIP measures, as I have the various evaluation options immediately available in FASTEC 4 PRO at the touch of a button.”
Short and Precise
From easyOEE to FASTEC 4 PRO
Ritter Sport introduced the flexible easyOEE productivity measuring device back in 2010 in order to record and report the reasons for downtime on certain machines in detail. EasyOEE supplemented the performance measurement system programmed by Ritter Sport itself. This combination was replaced by the holistic MES solution FASTEC 4 PRO in 2012.
In-House Software Solution Reaches Its Limits
In order to gain an insight into the performance of production, Ritter Sport used a self-programmed performance measurement system until the introduction of FASTEC 4 PRO. However, this system was subject to significant restrictions, as no fixed causes of faults were stored. To make matters worse, the data generated was only stored in a database. There were no quick, targeted evaluation options (e.g. reporting on specific causes of faults), which meant that they were very time-consuming to implement.
Transparent Data for All Departments
In 2012, the decision was made to introduce a holistic MES solution. Markus Schimpf, Project Manager Production at Ritter Sport and involved in the project since the introduction of FASTEC-MES, reports: “There was a need for clearer production data, fault logs and root cause analyses, and not just in the CIP department. Improved usability as well as fast and targeted reports were also in focus.” Torsten Schlegel, CIP Coordinator at Ritter Sport, also appreciates the targeted reports that are created in seconds.
Introduction of FASTEC 4 PRO
With the aim of gradually connecting the entire machine park to the MES, the project started in 2012 with a pilot installation on a single-panel line including a packing machine and storage system. It took around four weeks from the start of the project to the first meaningful data, after which the remaining machines were also quickly connected. At Ritter Sport, the machine data is read directly from the S7 control system via an interface.
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