Monitoring Hot Melt Adhesive Dispense

Remote monitoring systems help optimize performance of hot melt adhesive equipment because they give operators and management teams the tools they need to improve efficiency.  By allowing users to stay in touch with operations data, operators are able to view the status of hot melt machines on the plant floor from a smart phone, tablet, or computer. 
 

In addition to adhesive consumption, select monitoring technologies can also track real time production unit data – giving the management team and those responsible for cardboard and other purchasing activities the information they need to understand and improve their business. 

Manufacturing companies using remote monitoring on end-of-line packaging equipment can reduce adhesive use by up to 70% in some cases. These savings can result in a return on the initial equipment investment (ROI) of less than a year - and even as low as a matter of weeks in some cases.
 

Before selecting a hot melt monitoring system, be sure to ask your OEM if they can prove the results and consider asking these important questions:

• Are the savings from the monitoring system real and reliable?
• What proof can the vendor offer about the savings?
• Does the system rely on stitching to achieve adhesive savings?
• Is stitching appropriate for your application?
• Does the system support the adhesive you require for your application?
• Will the system and technology help save money over the long term?
• How does the system deliver on reliability beyond adhesive savings?
• Is it common to maintain spare parts for items that break or need to be replaced?
• Is the monitoring system a standard element of the hot melt equipment or is it an add-on?

 

Remote monitoring helps to reduce lost time due to bottlenecks and malfunctions. Operators can receive instant email or text message notifications when the hot melt dispensing equipment has stopped running, including the reason for the malfunction. 

Efficiency can be further improved when maintenance teams, distributors, and suppliers have access to monitoring information without waiting for contact from operators on the line. When this kind of efficiency-promoting tool is available, downtime is reduced and throughput and profitability is increased.

Remote monitoring also enables efficiency improvements to keep adhesive usage as low as possible while ensuring that the machine forms adequate seals. Data captured by monitoring systems should be visually displayed for easy review and understanding at a glance, regardless of the viewer’s capabilities with technology. Operators should be easily able to:

• Track active lines
• View live temperatures
• Graph system parameters to analyze historical performance
• Link to detailed troubleshooting instructions

Access can be also be provided to the management team to track adhesive consumption, temperature, and more from any internet-connected device. With this information, they can tell whether adhesive use is within its optimized band, when operators have made unnecessary or inefficient changes, when issues have occurred with the equipment to help minimize adhesive usage, maximize quality, and improve the overall packaging line efficiency.