CSi palletising reduces their CO² footprint by providing remote service with IXON Cloud

CSi palletising provides fully integrated material handling and palletising systems for the fast-moving consumer goods industry. From single robot palletising cells, to the fastest multi load & line palletising machines. Remote access via IXON Cloud helps reduce downtime and their CO² footprint, and improves response times and customer satisfaction. CSi created a video to endorse their remote service capabilities, which combines various techniques to meet customer needs.

CSi’s after sales team includes a 24/7 support desk which uses different access methods to support their customers around the globe. 'We are an international company and our customers produce mostly day and night,' says Frans Mertens, Manager Middleware Software Solutions at CSi. 'The sooner we get an engineer, who is on duty, remotely connected to the system, the better. That's how we really wanted to improve our service level.'

Initially, CSi could not connect directly to their installations. If the support desk wanted to get remote access, they needed to ask their customer for jump server access. This slowed down the response times, and thus also the service CSi delivered.

In addition, jump servers involve security risks and are no longer suitable for secure user access. IXON Cloud solved this problem with top-notch security and an advanced user management system.

Solution

CSi now delivers the IXrouter as a standard in all their i-Pal products to make use of all benefits the IXON Cloud solution offers. Through the IXrouter CSi can connect their service engineers directly with the machinery. On the built-in server they gather data, and they can connect an industrial IP camera to have eyes on site to reduce the mean time between repairs (MTBR).

Some customers choose to only turn on VPN when it’s needed, others are always connected. VPN access is easy to control for CSi’s customers with a physical switch.

In the video below CSi shows how they provide remote service with IXON Cloud. In the video CSi shows their remote service capabilities and how they ensure their installations are up and running again more quickly in the event of a breakdown:

Frans describes: 'In the video our customer has an issue with one of our standard robotic solutions, the i-Pal. The customer is relatively inexperienced with the robot and calls our 24/7 helpdesk. The support engineer asks the customer to switch on the VPN so he can access the robot on-site. The customer then enables the VPN by a physical toggle switch which enables the engineer to remotely access the machine. He has a look at the teach pendant of the robot, sees the program of the robot and determines the cause.'

The customer can also connect the IP camera to a cabinet socket and physically disconnect the IXrouter from the network. 'This example demonstrates that the combination of IXON and CSi can reduce machine downtime in the plant,' says Frans.

Result

'Our remote service proposition is growing. Our engineer is able to support multiple customers around the globe on the same day, because it can all be done remotely. This reduces traveling costs as well as our CO² footprint,' says Frans. This ties in well with one of CSi's core values: sustainability, which is also very important for their customers. 

Response time and downtime are also reduced which increases customer satisfaction. Furthermore, CSi gets access to the machine software without limitations. 'Unlike before, we can now take over the teach pendant and add camera images, because we can set up a VPN connection. This enables us to have an in depth look into the programming of the robot and therefore analyse more precisely.'

Frans adds: 'We are also enthusiastic about the data logging and alarming possibilities, and are in contact with our customers about these features. This would enable us to integrate information in customer’s dashboards. Additionally, it can be combined with CSi’s Middleware Software Suite called MOre.'