Enhancing Operational Efficiency with Power BI Solution for a Leading Ink Manufacturer

The client is a leading global manufacturer of printing inks, pigments, and other solutions for the publishing and packaging industries. Founded in the 1950s, the company has grown to operate dozens of production facilities worldwide. Precise machine performance is critical to maintaining the client’s high product quality standards. Any downtime impacts their ability to fulfill large orders from major customers. The client had been manually collecting and analyzing machine data, which was inefficient and did not allow operators to quickly identify and resolve issues on the factory floor. They sought to modernize their monitoring process with a real-time digital  solution for increased visibility and responsiveness.

The main challenge for the client was to gain real-time insight into the operational status of various machines across their global production facilities. They needed a solution that could:

• Aggregate streaming data from different machines and sensors into a centralized dashboard
• Present customized visualizations of each machine’s layout and performance metrics
• Be accessed from any connected device to give supervisors mobility on the factory floor
• Quickly identify downtime events or outliers that required maintenance attention
• Support data ingestion from a variety of machines without additional engineering work

Xylity Technologies would need to leverage the Power BI platform to develop a customized monitoring tool that met all of these requirements in an intuitive and user-friendly manner.

• Data Integration: The team connected Power BI to the client’s various data sources across its global network, streaming real-time data from machines, sensors, and other IIoT
• Custom Visual Design: Xylity developed a interactive factory floor map visual from scratch in Power BI. This allowed supervisors to see an overhead view of each machine’s status at a
• Performance Metrics: Key performance indicators like uptime, throughput, error rates, and more were identified. The visual and underlying data models were structured to support easy tracking of these
• Role-Based Access: Different dashboards were created tailored to the needs of operators, supervisors, and executives. Access controls ensured the right users saw relevant data for their roles.
• Security Best Practices: As the solution involved accessing sensitive production data, it was implemented following industry best practices for data security, authentication, and authorization.
• Testing and Validation: An iterative process of development, testing, and refinement took place. Feedback from client users helped enhance and optimize the dashboard experience.
• Training and Documentation: Thorough admin and end-user training and documentation ensured easy ongoing management and insights extraction from the Power BI
• Maintenance and Support: An upkeep process was established for ongoing solution maintenance, enhancements, and support for the lifetime of the client engagement.
• Change Management: The rollout followed change management practices to ensure smooth adoption across the client’s global operations.

Overall, the Power BI solution provided a single source of truth for real-time and historical operational intelligence. It enabled proactive maintenance through easy identification of anomalies from the monitoring dashboard.