Kuss Filtration Deploys MERLIN IIOT Manufacturing Software in USA, China, Brazil Factories
March 2016 — NTMA- The Record,VOLUME 37 / NO. 3
In 2008, Cisco first used the term “Internet of Things”, or IoT, to describe the intelligent connectivity of smart devices by which objects can sense one another and communicate. The data shared between these devices offers the potential to profoundly change how, where and by whom decisions about our physical world are made.
Manufacturing companies craving competitive advantage are actively seeking ways to implement machine-to-machine connectivity their shop floors. They refer to this movement as the Industrial Internet of Things, or IIoT. IIoT adoption accompanies a changing of the guard in manufacturing plants. New managers consider technology an everyday appendage, not an exotic novelty. So while it’s true that there’s a herd mentality in manufacturing that can stifle innovation, it’s also true that the herd is starting to move.
So how do manufacturing companies adopt IIoT? It starts on the shop floor with technology that equips industrial machines with the necessary interfaces for connecting, collecting and analyzing manufacturing data. To do this they need a proven framework for plant-wide and multi-plant communications. That framework will in turn provide actionable information for machine operators, factory managers, engineers, production managers and senior management to dramatically improve productivity and profit.
Kuss Filtration Inc., a global filtration product OEM, has embraced IIoT with MERLIN Enterprise Edition for a multi-plant rollout of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) software. MERLIN will be used in Kuss factories in the USA, China, and Brazil. The purchase includes 43 licenses of MERLIN and is a follow-on to a 10-license sale in June of 2015.
MERLIN is an IIoT shop-floor-to-top-floor communications platform that connects industrial machines and provides manufacturing analytics in real-time. Specifically, MERLIN delivers a 10%-50% average productivity increase, and earns 20%-plus profit improvement based on just a 10% increase in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). It consistently achieves payback in less than four months with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) greater than 300%, and connects to any machine, old or new, utilizing native MTConnect, other protocols or MERLIN hardware adapters for older machines.
“Kuss is committed to quality through our operating management system and use of Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing techniques, which has earned us the ISO/TS 16949 certification in addition to many awards and recognitions for design, innovation and product excellence,” says Kuss Filtration’s President and CEO Hasnain Merchant. “MEMEX’s MERLIN has proven itself, and now we intend to enhance our manufacturing excellence and profitability with MERLIN in three of our factories.”
Kuss will use MERLIN to extend its reputation for unparalleled quality and innovation. The company has over 60 years of experience providing air and liquid filtration solutions to a diverse global market. Today, Kuss Filtration is comprised of six locations in the U.S., Brazil, Europe and China strategically placed to service its growing global customer base.
“Kuss Filtration is a great example of a world-class company embracing the power of our MERLIN communications platform,” says MEMEX CEO David McPhail. “MERLIN proves that the Industrial Internet of Things isn’t a theory. IIoT is an implement now competitive advantage for the smartest factories on the planet.”
