Hartness International Integration LLC

Integration projects have beentoo often used by OEMs as opportunities to increase their own constant at the exclusion of superior technologies. The result has been increasing design complexity, requiring costly and intricate control systems to deliver efficiencies. Today’s highly sophisticated lines demand technical knowledge that has grown beyond the average system operator. Hartness Integration creates line concepts that reduce rather than expand the degree of technical sophistication required by the operator. We believe our customers should not be held hostage by the complexity of their lines and equipment. Our concepts recognize the dynamics of change that effect all packaged goods manufacturers, the need to stay competitive by producing more, in less space with fewer resources, and with less downtime. Our decades of experience in diverse industries lets us blend uniquely different cultures to create unexpected and practical approaches that are rarely seen from "specialized" line integrators. Conventional thinking always leads to conventional results. We also saw the need to change the traditional "project management" model, by creating a more straightforward information stream throughout the process. Our approach is fully transparent, nearly eliminating the impact of the inevitable unexpected. We believe open dialog generates better, more practical solutions that anticipate the roadblocks common to all major projects. The logic is simple: When all issues are visible, the performance of all who are involved naturally improves.

HERO

The HERO system from Hartness International provides a unique new approach to finding the causes of errors, because it records only the problems. Because it can be coupled to the machine’s PLC, Hero's recording is triggered by the event, so Hero gives you a concise record of errors, not hours of video. Just set it up and walk away. Hero does the work.

Programming can be set to capture video before, during and after the event, from four to 24 vantage points simultaneously. You not only see the problem, you also see the issues that led to the problem. The basic system has four tiny cameras that can be easily mounted in even the most difficult locations. All four cameras feed video to the central recording system, so that when an event occurs, the origin and the location of a problem can be quickly determined.

Operation histories can be easily constructed and are quickly accessible from the video archive, making the analysis of chronic, intermittent problems much faster. Downtime can be significantly reduced. For local access simple touch screen controls make it easy for the operator to select individual screens for closer viewing, control playback at variable speeds, or view all four feeds at once.

The system can also be remotely accessed, making it possible for a supervisor to monitor multiple lines from a central location, or via password protected internet connection. The internet access also allows connection to technician-specialists anywhere in the world, reducing the need for outside service costs, and the travel costs and downtime associated with them.