Category: OMAC

PackML continues to gain ground

February 26, 2010

I am sitting in the 8:30 AM OMAC session at the ARC Forum with a group of 35 packagers, machine builders and technology providers who share an interest in OMAC's PackML standard. Rob Aleksa of P&G is reviewing the business value of PackML for packaging lines and is about to review the recently published application guide for ISA TR088.05....
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PMMI and OMAC Packaging Workgroup should start dating

February 9, 2010

OMAC's brief marriage to ISA's Automation Federation is over. The divorce settlement is worked out and soon to be finalized. OMAC will be single again, and as an independent organization, will spend the coming months evaluating its future and may start dating again. My suggestion is for the OMAC Packaging Workgroup to seriously date PMMI....
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Will ISA take the wrong path yet again?

December 16, 2009

Automation engineers who have been fortunate enough to spend a portion of their careers in the areas of process, discrete, hybrid and IT are relatively rare. I am one who has enjoyed this variety of experience, which leads me and many of my colleagues with similar experiences to view the P&ID as equally important to each area. In my view, no automation project should be without a P&ID. A whole...
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OEE - Still a blur on the radar screen

May 29, 2009

Among the key performance indicators (KPI's) that grocery manufacturing executives think are most important, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is number four on the list after quality, cost and safety. Yet compared to the first three, there is little understanding of how to implement the OEE measurement. I believe this is yet another indication of the suits and the geeks failing to communicate....
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OMAC Packaging Workgroup establishes 2009 goals

February 5, 2009

A committee of the OMAC Packaging Workgroup met at the conclusion of the Orlando ARC Forum on sustainabie manufacturing to establish goals for 2009....
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Scouting PackExpo 2008

September 18, 2008

It will soon be time to jet off to Chicago for this year's installment of PackExpo. One hopes that every show of this size brings something new or exciting to the industry. This year's PackExpo should be no exception. Here are some things that I plan to be scouting for....
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OMAC should maintain a simple focus on packaging

February 25, 2008

At the annual OMAC Users Group meeting, held this month in Orlando, a discussion was generated on the topic of putting a more general face on OMAC by dropping its focus on packaging with regard to PackML and PackTags. The argument goes that since the technical product is elegant enough to be applied to other industries, it shouldn't be referred to as PackWhatever, implying that its use is limited to...
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Interchangeable parts - Why not software?

August 19, 2007

The concept of interchangeable parts is one that packaging machinery builders readily understand and depend upon every day. Not only are parts from a single manufacturer interchangable within a machine, but builders source custom parts from multiple manufacturers to control cost and schedule and generic parts are interchangeable across a host of different machines and devices. We have come to enjoy and expect that fasteners, shafts, gears, couplings, motors, valves,...
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OMAC Standards: Marketing ploy or value-adding?

June 25, 2007

With the price and scarcity of manufacturing labor, the future of manufacturing in America depends upon our ability to automate – Really Automate. Our ability to really automate depends upon making it simple to reliably automate and simple to reliably integrate our automation with our supply chains. Making it simple and reliable depends upon our adoption and use of standards like those under development by OMAC and the availability of...
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Getting technology education suited to packging - A how-to guide

May 18, 2007

Technology education in America has been driven by the automotive, metals, aerospace and petro-chemical industries. Certificate programs from organizations like ISA do a good job in preparing technicians for the petro-chemical industry. Programs from NCIST (National Center for Integrated Systems Technology) prepare technicians for employment in the automotive or metals industries. But where does one go for a certificate that prepares technicians for packaging and consumer packaged goods? The available...
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Community activism or tribalism for automation industry?

May 14, 2007

Automation professionals used to behave as a community. End users, technology providers and systems integrators would convene at industry-wide events, much like county fairs, to share ideas, best practices and lessons-learned....
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Are validated lines better lines?

April 30, 2007

How effective are pharmaceutical packaging lines? One would certainly think that the amount of time and money that is spent on validating a pharmaceutical packaing line would result in a line that runs better than a line that has not been subjected to all of this additional engineering, operations and quality control rigor. We hear that the validation costs of a line can exceed 2 to 3 times the cost...
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Small packaging machinery suppliers may be shut out of pharmaceuticals

March 11, 2007

Some packaging machinery manufacturers and systems integrators have shied away from pharmaceutical customers due to the burden of process and machinery validation. The costs of validation may exceed the costs of hardware and software, and going through the process is not for the faint-of-heart. Costs of 1.5 times the total automation cost have been reported for initial validation and changes to a validated process that may take 2 hours in...
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About Keith Campbell

Leaders learn from the past while looking to the future - and bring both to bear on the here and now. This is the philosophy that has steered Keith Campbell's 30+ years in manufacturing. It has worked for him in operations, maintenance, engineering, R&D, education, consulting and professional organizations--and now he's putting it to work for you--taking you to the edge of his thoughts on packaging operations.

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