Paperless Recorder Eliminates Hardcopy and Enhances Data Value

Yokogawa’s Touchscreen GX10 Paperless Recorder eliminates the cost and labor associated with paper-based data recording.

 

Food manufacturing plants use large volumes of water to produce products and clean process equipment. After use, wastewater must be properly treated before discharge. Wastewater treatment requires monitoring and recording of residues such as chemical substances and pH to confirm that they meet regulations.

 

Figure 1: A food manufacturing plant

 

Challenges

A food manufacturing plant is equipped with a variety of measurement instruments that provide process data such as temperature, pressure, water volume, and pH. In the past, the values measured by these instruments were generally read by a person patrolling the site. However, taking readings from numerous instruments is very time-consuming. To improve efficiency, automatic paper recording instruments record data trends, which are available for review at virtually any time.

However, this also poses various problems.

• The many workers required to check the data results in low production efficiency. The total time required to retrieve and review the paper recordings represented no improvement over that required to read the various instruments on patrol.
• Paper-based data acquisition requires a large amount of storage space. Food manufacturers must maintain hardcopy measurement records for quality assurance and sanitary control. Those require secured locations that can store large amounts of paper-based measurement data.
• Paper-based data acquisition requires an excessive amount of time to analyze and locate target data. In addition, paper records lack searchability and ease of use.
• Costs for consumables such as ink cartridges and paper to print data, as well as the time and effort required to manage and maintain equipment, are significant.
• With paper-based recording, the ink cartridges and recording paper must be constantly checked to ensure data is not lost when they are replaced. Additionally, inventory must be maintained for consumable replacements.

 

Figure 2: Touchscreen GX10 paperless recorder

 

Figure 3: Paper-based data recording challenges

 

Solution

To address these challenges, Yokogawa's GX10 paperless recorder displays real-time measurement data and stores the data history on a memory card for easy access. Paperless operation with the GX10 reduces the time required for ordering and replacing paper and ink cartridges. This also eliminates the need to purchase inventory, leading to significant cost savings. To ensure comfortable visibility and operability, the GX10 features a 5.7-inch TFT color LCD with a portrait or landscape waveform display, which makes it easy to view data on the screen.

Intuitive operation on the seamless display by swiping, pinching in, and pinching out allows viewing of historical trends during measurement and recording. Users can easily jump to the target data from the calendar, alarm summary, or message summary, allowing for easy and quick retrieval and display of past data. Messages and other information can be freely written on the waveform area with the included stylus or fingertip in a manner that is similar to writing on paper. In addition to handwriting, a pre-configured message can be written.

Furthermore, the standard Ethernet interface allows the use of network functions such as e-mail notifications, remote monitoring via a Web browser, and file transfer via FTP. 

Recorded data can be transferred to a PC for management and storage. The GX's dedicated software, "Universal Viewer," enables playback display and printout of data files saved with the GX, as well as interval arithmetic for specified data and conversion to ASCII, Excel, and other formats. It has many useful functions for checking data transitions. 

 

Key Benefits 

Plants in which the GX10 was installed have achieved several benefits, including: 

• Reduced hours with searchable data and easy access
• Reduced cost of consumables and hours ordering, storing and replacing paper and ink 
• Intuitive touchscreen operation simplifies learning for new users 
• Remote monitoring via familiar Web browser operations 
• Built-in memory card and file transfer via FTP 
• Ability to write messages on the screen, resize, and swipe with fingertips 

In addition, the introduction of new equipment to the production site could cause operator confusion. However, the intuitive touchscreen operation in the GX10 significantly reduces the learning curve. Users who are familiar with smartphone and tablet touchscreen operations have found the transition to the GX10 to be very simple. 

Mobile device-savvy employees at a particular site have developed a keen interest in the recorder and are now engaged in positive and proactive daily improvement activities based on the data. As a result, the company has achieved zero emissions of food processing residues which, in the past, were disposed of as industrial waste, and has also been recognized for its community revitalization and environmental conservation initiatives in the manufacturing process. Yokogawa's GX10 not only enables paperless operations but also helps to improve production efficiency.