Stoelzle Flaconnage targets carbon savings with digital technology

Premium spirit glass bottle manufacturer Stoelzle aims for energy and CO2 savings after it integrated a digital performance monitoring solution into its production lines.

The glass manufacturer has integrated technology from Hark, a Leeds, UK-based start up, at its Knottingley, UK production site.

Hark’s technology is being integrated into two of its production lines and will deliver asset performance monitoring.

The Hark Platform will support integrations with motors and inverters on the production lines, enabling remote asset performance monitoring. Through partnerships, Hark is able to provide the hardware to connect these assets effectively.

A continuous stream of data will be fed into the cloud-based platform for analysis, so that Stoelzle can understand its operations more accurately and highlight any asset opportunities immediately.

The solution helps to reduce downtime for Stoelzle. Just one asset breaking down could mean the entire production line would have to cease production for hours.

That’s why it chose Hark for its Proof of Concept in its Knottingley site to investigate electricity output outages and anomalies.

The introduction of the Hark platform will allow greater visibility over its location, and highlight any issues at a granular level, right down to the individual asset. The integration of this technology aims to identify issues before they stem into bigger problems.

Thomas Riss, Chief Executive Officer at Stoelzle Flaconnage, said: “Being able to unify and visualise asset data in a single platform will really help us to identify savings in energy, reduce our CO₂ impact and further drive our sustainability targets. So far, the entire project has been smooth, and both Hark and ourselves look forward to delivering results.”

The asset performance monitoring module uses algorithms to benchmark an asset’s current performance, determining its existing baseline and identify any variances in real-time, with instant alerts for those that require maintenance.

Mike Jeffs, Chief Commercial Officer at Hark, said: “Stoelzle products are used by other Hark customers in both Pharma and Retail, so it’s pleasing to help digitise their factory lines and contribute to efficient operations at more points in the supply chain."