In the context of a modern globalized and highly digitalized world, the success of glass processing plants to a great extent depends upon how well they embrace the latest IoT-based technologies. The amount of automation and smart data enabled by IoT are two primary factors that define a company’s efficiency, operating speed, and ultimately, competitiveness. No wonder the most progressive glass processors are looking for ways to tap into this particular niche.

For the first time this year, the number of glass loads produced by machines featuring the interconnected IoT-based Glaston Insight platform reached a coveted 1 million. You might not be a user of the technology, but let me explain why this fact still should be of interest to you – and the entire glass-processing community.

Glaston Insight, the platform that in a very short time earned the attention of some of the industry’s most forward-looking players, utilizes IoT for online monitoring of modern heat-treatment machinery. Not only does it give immediate production feedback, enable remote support and provide operating recommendations, but over the long run, it also helps everyone become a better professional in the glass industry.

The tool does this by gathering global glass processing data, therefore continuously growing and multiplying its own intelligence. Theoretically, every minute, new glass batches produced somewhere in the world are continuing to add to that million, bringing an ever-increasing amount of valuable intelligence into the global glass production landscape.

Interconnection enables instant support

For glass processors, the benefits of being interconnected are numerous. In addition to remotely accessing data from tempering or laminating machines, they can manage their fleets in real time and regardless of place. Meanwhile, IoT-powered analytics enables machine learning, which allows glass processors to reach better output with higher quality.

However, such a benefit as remote support is a topic in its own right.

Let’s imagine you need expert assistance for your machine or production. And you definitely want it right now. An online connection provides a way to remotely access important machinery-related data. For maintenance engineers, it is a tool to analyze faults without actually being present at the factory. Such remote access has already been a well known and proven trouble shooting tool among the leading machine manufacturers in the industry.

IoT now provides additional quick problem solving, remote machine tuning and appropriate action suggestions. In addition, it helps reduce unnecessary service breaks and improve end product quality instantly.

It’s true that these types of cloud-based solutions for the glass-processing industry are still developing. Even so, a lot can be solved remotely when you need that support right away.

The future of remote support

Today the remote support possibilities are based mainly on alarms and data automatically pushed from the machines. In the near future, however, they will extend to having a real virtual assistant capable of ‘seeing what you see.’

For example, if you notice any quality issues, you will be able to record your production process and instantly share it with an expert sitting anywhere in the world in a remote support room. So, remote service in the future will be extended to a real value added multi functional tool, not only in case of trouble shooting.

Equipped with screens with a live feed, IoT data and various analytics, this person will examine your problem, adjust the recipe and run another batch through the machine with you to see if the issue has been resolved.

Though still in testing phase, the remote connection and mobile virtual vision tools are doing great in building a formidable team, especially when used in conjunction with process and machine experts. And in a short time, everyone will be able to experience all the great things about this part of IoT-based technologies.

For a more connected glass industry

These days, not only we humans use multiple social networks on a daily basis to be interconnected, learn something new and support each other. Machines, too, have their own networks, helping them grow their intelligence and get support.

In this sense, solutions like Glaston Insight are the Facebooks and Snapchats of the glass-processing world, uniting machines for the benefit of the whole industry. And the higher the number of users, the more value they produce.

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