Unternehmen

iMes Solutions GmbH

We realize the Digitalization of your Manufacturing and Production Processes.

Smart Factory in a few Steps

Innovative MES Software and Industry 4.0 Solutions

For more than 20 years, we have been specialists and innovators in the field of MES software solutions. Our industry 4.0 standard products are intuitive, efficient, create transparency and uncover potential. We realize the digitalization of your manufacturing and production processes.

Our core competences are long-term archiving and the evaluation of alarms & events and process values, the automated reporting of KPI and OEE key figures as well as the acquisition and analysis of machine data (MDA).

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Best Practice / Customer Voices

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Company Portrait

The iMes Solutions GmbH with its headquarters in Burghausen, Upper Bavaria, is specialized in the development of MES software solutions in the automation area of industrial plants.

In a strong team we combine professional competence with many years of experience in order to push and optimize the digitalization of industrial manufacturing processes towards Industry 4.0 together with our customers.

The portfolio ranges from process data archiving, alarm and energy management, automated acquisition of laboratory and machine data to electronic shift books and reporting. In the field of technical plant documentation, we support our customers with our documentation, support and project planning tool PLSDOC®.

Our objectives are the best possible protection of your plant know-how, the creation of optimum process data transparency and an increase in productivity and quality within the framework of increased plant safety and security.

In addition to our products, we offer workshops in the field of alarm and energy management as well as support for PCS documentation/reverse documentation, PCS migration and PCS configuration. Furthermore, we offer support in the areas of IT security audits, IT security and vulnerability analysis, IT forensics and data recovery.

Please, talk to us about your requirements and expectations without any obligation - together we will find the right solution. For today, for tomorrow and for the future.

Peter Fröhlich
CEO iMes Solutions GmbH

Company Vision

      "Since 2001 the iMes Solutions GmbH stands for innovative and intuitive software solutions, for quality and reliability.
       Our vision is a universal connection for decentralized plants and equipment in connection with central data processing and visualization –
       scalable, intuitive, simple and manufacturer-independent."

Company Mission

      "We offer our customers tailor-made software solutions.
       Our modular software solutions allow functions to be expanded quickly and flexibly.
      We want satisfied customers. That's why we rely on good, trusting cooperation."

iMes Solutions - Your Interface to Success

With our many years of experience and a cross-industry customer base, we are a reliable and secure partner for the future. Our customers particularly appreciate our personal, customer and solution-oriented support. Even after commissioning we take care of your concerns.

Individually configured products allow us to implement your requirements quickly, cost-effectively and efficiently. The scalability provides the connection of any number of PCS/PLC and machines.

Our MES solutions ensure vertical process integration and represent a link between the machine controls and the systems of the company management level.

The MES software Plant Historian is a modular system for central long-term archiving and the analysis of process control system data. Technical operating data, alarms & events, batch protocols, laboratory data, actual process values and operator interventions are stored centrally in a long-term archive. A great number of analysis tools is available for identifying optimization potential.

You can get to know us within the scope of a PILOT INSTALLATION!
From the very first day, our MES software solution will create transparency and uncover optimization potential. Together with our partners from science and research (e.g. University of Salzburg) we face your requirements and make your production more effective and transparent. Benefit from your competitive advantage now!

The advantages: modular - configurable - scalable

Best Practice / Customer Projects

iMes Solutions' Alarm Management Solution is applied at one of the World's most important Producers of chemical Products

Plant Historian AM - Alarm Management - has been in use at the world's largest chemical company since 2020. At the site in southwest Germany, a total of 11 plants with different PCS and PLC systems were connected in just a few weeks.

Plant Historian AM represents a robust, intuitive and scalable alarm management solution that meets all requirements. The different control systems and controllers are displayed centrally. Additional DCS/PLC systems could be connected without any downtimes.

By reducing the number of alarms, it was possible to reduce downtimes , optimize plant utilization and increase process quality after only a few months.

To companies in the process industry, Plant Historian AM - Alarm Management - offers an efficient, robust and transparent solution to increase plant safety and security and reduce the number of alarms. Our alarm management solution is suitable for both small and large companies. Company-wide solutions with more than 90 plants, 300 servers and over 300,000 measuring points have already been successfully implemented.

Leading petrochemical Company relies on Plant Historian Alarm Management & Alarm Rationalization

Since 2016, Plant Historian AM - Alarm Management has been used in one of the largest oil refineries in the German-speaking region - since 2018 in combination with the Plant Historian AR module Alarm Rationalization. Approximately 2000 employees work at the site.

A wide variety of process control systems and controllers from different manufacturers are in use - ABB Symphony and Foxboro I/A, safety-related controllers such as HIMA HiMax and Invensys Triconex. For the more than 120,000 daily messages in 3 facilities, there was no operational message monitoring or the possibility to intuitively evaluate alarm frequencies or alarm duration.

Plant Historian AM/AR provides the customer with sustainable alarm management while meeting all requirements. The various control systems and controllers are integrated and displayed centrally. In addition to central message monitoring and the graphical evaluation of alarm frequencies, the customer also uses the advantages of automated KPI reporting according to ISA 18.2.

The application is intuitive and user-friendly.

Systematic alarm management with Plant Historian AM/AR - Alarm Management/Rationalization - is equally suitable for small and large companies. Company-wide solutions with more than 300 servers can be realised without any difficulties.

Plant Historian Alarm Management at a Swiss Chemicals Company

Since 2007, Plant Historian AM - Alarm Management - has been applied at the south-east Bavarian dependency of one of the largest producers of speciality chemicals.

A wide variety of process control systems and controllers from different manufacturers such as Siemens PCS7, ABB 800xA, ABB Freelance, ABB Symphony as well as Hima HIMAX and Honeywell FSC are in use. A total of 6 control systems and controllers from different manufacturers were connected with 16 DCS connectors.

Plant Historian AM offers the customer the possibility of long-term archiving of alarms & events. The various control systems and controllers are integrated and displayed centrally. The application is intuitive and user-friendly. A key point is also the scalability without interfering with the running operation. The latter proved to be an invaluable advantage in the gradual expansion to a company-wide, central alarm management system.

Plant Historian AM - Alarm Management - provides an efficient, robust and transparent solution to increase plant safety and reduce the number of alarms in companies in the chemical industry.Plant Historian AM - Alarm Management - provides an efficient, robust and transparent solution to increase plant safety and reduce the number of alarms in companies in the chemical industry.

Shift Book - Integration for SIMATIC PCS7 in one of the largest Sewage Treatment Plants in the German-speaking Region

For operators, the flexible Shift Book solution of iMes Solutions provides quick and easy information on any kind of incident in the plant - thus being able to delegate tasks and track events.

Plant operators, shift supervisors and plant managers can quickly obtain an up-to-date overview of the status of the entire plant both on the SIMATIC PCS 7 OS Client and on the computer in the office.

There are different ways to access the shift book:

via a button in the WinCC button bar

via the faceplate of the unit

via the shift book symbol in the WinCC

The iMes shift book is designed to optimise and simplify processes and also takes into account regulatory requirements. Digital checklists, error message recording as well as maintenance tasks etc. are covered. Improved communication, fewer misunderstandings and less paper consumption are further advantages.

iMes Solutions' Shift Book solution is also available as a PCS7 Add-On in the Siemens Industry Mall.

News & Events

13 Jan

Digital Shift Book with Workflow Automation

Increase in production efficiency as a result of digital data collection and process automation

In many areas of the manufacturing industry, the collection and documentation of production and quality data are based on standards and norms. These include, for example, defect and control charts, glass lists or audit records. Frequently, they are the basis for production-relevant decisions. This means that the release of a batch in production by the plant management can be dependent on certain quality data or characteristics. Very often, the collection and documentation of these relevant data is still done manually.

The problem of manual data recording

However, data and information collected by manual means is often incomplete, subject to errors and must also be entered into third-party systems. Research is very time-consuming and cross-departmental communication is usually difficult and consumes a lot of resources.

The solution of iMes Solutions GmbH

iMes Solutions' Digital Shift Book solution provides a paperless way to automatically enter relevant data into digital data entry masks. Subsequently, the data from various sources can be processed and provided in the form of reports (e.g. daily/weekly/monthly reports). All shop floor areas such as personnel, warehouse, machines, maintenance, raw materials, production and quality management are covered.

The benefits of workflow automation

The workflow engine integrated in the Shift Book provides a fast and flexible automation of workflow processes. Information relevant to production or plant safety is forwarded ad hoc to predefined recipient groups. Response time is reduced and information is reliably forwarded to the responsible persons.

In addition, complex if-then scenarios can be modelled on the basis of the recorded data across several interfaces or applications, e.g. machine controls, process control and third-party systems (ERP, MES, LVS, CRM). This represents an enormous support for decision-making in the design of more efficient production processes..

Examples

The use of the digital shift book is a profitable investment in the production process in a wide variety of industries.

Production in the pharmaceutical industry
For the purpose of quality documentation and audits in the production of pharmaceutical products, the times at which, for example, certain temperatures or defined points in the step chain are reached are required at batch level. This documentation is fully automated by digital reading and recording of the times directly at the production line..
Quality management in the food industry
Food is subject to particularly strict rules during production. For example, metal detectors are used to detect any metallic contamination in the product, which on the one hand provides evidence for audits and on the other hand guarantees a safe food product.
The automated creation of a shift book entry based on an external trigger, e.g. a variable in a machine control system, automatically records and reports incidents such as metal detector findings. Thus, the possibility of immediate action is ensured.
Traceability in quality management
The answer to the question "What was produced when and how?" is given automatically in the digital shift book. All production-relevant parameters, e.g. density, volume or moisture of the individual raw materials of the product to be manufactured are documented. The data is automatically recorded in the shift book and is available for evaluations and reports at any time.

Conclusion:

iMes Solutions' Digital Shift Book solution is a multi-functional tool in the production of various industries. The digital data collection guarantees a complete and largely error-free, standard-compliant and audit-optimized type of data collection and documentation for quality assurance in the company. Furthermore, the use of if-then scenarios offers possibilities for a more efficient design of production processes.

Practical AI Solutions for the Shopfloor

Software developers in the automation sector of industrial plants collaborate with manufacturing industry and research institutions in order to create new opportunities in the field of AI.

For more than 20 years, iMes Solutions GmbH has been a specialist and innovator in the field of digital solutions for the shopfloor of industrial plants. The portfolio ranges from process data archiving, alarm and energy management, the automated recording of laboratory and machine data to digital shift books and reporting. In the area of digital plant documentation, customers find support with the documentation, support and project planning tool PLSDOC®.

In a separate department that has specialized in the area of data mining / AI, new knowledge is generated from collected data.
In cooperation with customers, universities and partners from the manufacturing industry, iMes Solutions GmbH is significantly involved in several research projects. These include:

KI-RAM - AI-based solutions to reduce abrasion and traffic-related microplastic emissions
in cooperation with the Fraunhofer IMWS Halle, Rösler Tyre Innovators GmbH&Co.KG, the University of Paderborn and DENKweit GmbH with a focus on
- Analysis and reduction of the tyre abrasion of commercial vehicles with the help of the evaluation of field data (tyre abrasion sensor)
Development of an intelligent mechatronic sheet metal forming tool for the tool and automotive industry - in cooperation with Brabant & Lehnert Werkzeug und Vorrichtungsbau GmbH (tool and jig construction) and the Institute for Microsensors, actuators and systems at the University of Bremen with a particular focus on the following areas
- Integration of sensors (motion, force and heat sensors, camera)
- Quality recognition of the produced sheet metal parts from sensor data
- Adjustment of the tool parameters or maintenance report

Development of an intelligent dosing control for lubrication nozzles - in cooperation with HIESSL Schmiertechnik GmbH (Lubrication engineering) and the Fraunhofer IWU - Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology with the main focus on
- Intelligent nozzle control with readjustment
- Algorithm for viscosity adaptation of nozzle control via sensor technology
- Automated and precise component wetting with the nozzle control system
MMAA - Networked Assembly with Autonomous Workstations - in cooperation with Otto Martin Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG (engineering) and Kempten University of Applied Sciences with the focus on
- Improvement of a modular assembly solution
- Providing a digital workplace with intelligent support
InKris - Intelligent crystallisation sensor for smproved quality assurance in injection moulding - in collaboration with FOS Messtechnik GmbH (measurement technology), Exipnos GmbH and the Fraunhofer IMWS with a focus on
- Development of an "intelligent crystallisation sensor" for quality assurance in injection moulding
- Testing and optimization under real-life conditions in the production process
Golden Eye - intelligent dosing system - in cooperation with Bahner Feinwerktechnik GmbH (precision engineering) and TH Köln with the focus on
- Image-based volume testing of fluids in the field of dosing technology
- Adjustment of the nozzle actuation via the detected volume deviation

A detailed description of the individual projects can be found here .

The „Development of an intelligent mechatronic sheet metal forming tool for the tool and automotive industry“ has already been completed, all other projects are in various stages of research and development.

Other elements of iMes Solutions' digital development include regular participation in digital industry conferences such as VDI events or MEORGA, broad networking with partners from all areas of digitization, the publication of technical articles and contributions, and a broad presence with discussion forums in social media.

Company from the Food Industry with its Focus on Organic Muesli Products relies on iMes Solutions' Digitization Technology.

Traceability and transparency in the production process

>> Facts
For more than 30 years, the company, based in the Upper Bavarian region, has been committed to the production and distribution of organic food. Particular attention is paid to sustainability, including social and economic aspects..

>> Initial situation
In partially automated production, many processes are still recorded and documented manually. For each end product, important parameters such as weight, moisture, volume, etc. are recorded manually. Errors are inevitable in this process.

Research and data preparation for internal and external audits are usually very time-consuming. Traceability is also difficult in the event of quality problems.

>> Target
A central software solution is to be provided for the automated storage and evaluation of data, e.g. from Siemens WinCC or metal detectors. This should simplify plant management and make it more transparent. In the future, the collected production data will be available ad hoc for reporting and audits. Above all, quality management is to be supported and relieved in the area of audit preparation.

>> Project targets & requirements in detail:

Central software solution for quality and process data storage
Guidance of plant operators by intuitive and user-friendly software
Process automation: workflows depending on specific events, e.g. metal detector results
Complete batch traceability
Relevant information, e.g. for audits, should be available ad hoc
Automated reporting, e.g. daily and weekly reports for production and quality management
Alarm and event recording: All events in the production line should be documented and made evaluable.

>> Technical challenges
Complete integration into the Siemens WinCC world
Creation of complex workflows for process automation: e.g. metal detector events are documented automatically and are available for ad hoc audits
Centralized and automated reporting: consolidation of production-relevant information provided by different sources

>> Decision for the iMes Solutions GmbH

The user friendly and intuitive web solution from iMes Solutions GmbH meets all the company's requirements.
The Plant Historian shift book software is coupled with the OPC server and, for example, automatically creates an ACTUAL/TARGET comparison of the product used during each weighing process and identifies any difference.
The shift book solution is fully integrated into the Siemens WinCC world. A button opens the dialog in the browser window and the input fields are automatically filled in advance.
The shift book solution is also available as an add-on in the Siemens Industry Mall.

>> Conclusion
The shift book software solution provided by the iMes Solutions GmbH is characterized by its complete integration into the Siemens WinCC world. It supports paperless working in all areas of production and quality management. This reduces the time required for recording, reporting and research, increases process quality and reliability and reduces costs. As a special advantage for its platform-independent use, the software solution can be used equally in the Windwos, Android and iOS world.

Use Cases & Publications

Use Cases

Publications

Publication: iScan Digital Glass Lists - Management of digital glass lists according to ISO 22000.pdf

Extract of our References

Our innovative MES software series and services are used across industries such as chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, automation, automotive, power plants, wastewater treatment plants and food processing.