01
Design
Development
The Client
Picanol Group is an international, customer-oriented group which is specialized in the development, production and sale of weaving machines, engineered casting solutions and custom-made controllers. As a weaving machine manufacturer, Picanol prides itself on being a technology leader and takes high importance in being innovative.
Picanol Group has approximately 7,000 employees worldwide and it is listed on Euronext Brussels (PIC) through Picanol nv. Picanol Group’s activities are divided into five business segments: Machines & Technologies, Agro, Bio-valorization, Industrial Solutions, and T-Power.
02
The challenge
Picanol wanted to bring the advantages of mobile connectivity into the weaving process. Being mobile offers new ways for weavers to continously monitor the TCO of production and optimise where needed.
03
The solution
Pegus Digital developed 2 Android applications to connect to the weaving loom: Picanol EasySet and Picanol Energy. Both apps start from a Bluetooth connection with the weaving machine and give operators the possibility to follow-up the weaving process in detail and to intervene when needed.
Optimizing machine usage
Picanol Energy allows the operator to analyze and optimize the machines’ electrical and air usage. For instance, the amount of kWh per 100,000 picks (kWh/CMPX) can be monitored, different configurations can be compared in orderly graphs and their impact immediately measured.
Easyset controls the waste length during weaving
Weaving with less waste equals a more efficient use of yarn and a decrease in production costs. Picanol’s Easyset app allows the operator to optimize the cumbersome waste configuration of the machine by tuning the waste length directly on the machine without any other manual intervention. This reduces production cost, and at the same time improves the weaver’s effectiveness and insights in the weaving process.
Why mobile?
The mobile innovations Picanol has implemented give factory operators monitoring access to live data and insights from their machinery, enabling them to tweak processes, quickly solve production problems and improve factory output.
Weavers are constantly monitoring the Total Cost of Ownership (TOC) of their production process. Being mobile offers them more possibilities to stay connected with their work, in the same way a sales manager needs to be connected to the office.
Picanol EasySet and Picanol Energy were developed as a teaser, and have been succesfully demonstrated at the ITMA fair in Milan. These are only the first two steps towards a broader mobile future.
In examining the applicability of mobile apps in the machine world, Picanol found an excellent partner in Pegus Digital. The creativity with which Pegus Digital has tackled several technological challenges, fits perfectly with the vision of Picanol. An original design, great user interface and robust operation of the various mobile apps, ensure that Picanol can score heavily in demonstrating the different apps on large textile fairs.
Matthias Marescaux
Picanol
