Lanxess pushes forward site digitisation

Lanxess has implemented Software AG’s TrendMiner self-service analytics system for time-series data in about two thirds of its 120 plants, including all of its major production sites in Germany, Belgium, the US and India. Only smaller plants with less complex processes are not yet covered, the company said.

TrendMiner is said to enable production staff to “autonomously analyse manufacturing processes and measurement data, detect patterns and trends in these data, and thus detect production irregularities”. It has typically been used to facilitate capacity increases, predictive maintenance, quality improvement and more efficient raw material and energy use.

This is all part of the company’s continuing digitalisation initiative, which began in 2017. To date this has led to the development of digital business models, the introduction of new technologies along the value chain, the development and use of big data and investing in digital skills.

In initial projects with TrendMiner, Lanxess said that it “has significantly increased its capacity utilisation in selected plants, optimised resource efficiency and reduced maintenance costs”. In some cases, six-figure euro amounts were saved.