Visualization and control of furniture-making production lines at the Ahrend company, Netherlands

Ahrend is a Dutch company that produces and sells well-thought-out office-furniture products in two different factories in the Netherlands.

In these factories, Ahrend creates complete working environments, where quality, care, and attention to its products, people, and environment are at the forefront. Ahrend furniture offices and showrooms are found all over the world (e.g., in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, Australia, and Czechia). At present, Ahrend has more than 1,250 employees worldwide.

Ahrend makes various furniture products for the following sectors:

• The world of finance
• Government
• Services
• Industry
• Nonprofit organizations
• Schools, universities, and other educational institutions
• Care & welfare
• Call centers
• Offices

Examples of visualization windows

Above, one of the visualization screens used in the factory is displayed. This particular screen provides information about the last 20 production runs. It shows the amounts of different products that are made with start and stop times. This cabinet-production line is a production line that makes carcasses for different types and dimensions of cabinets. In the background, the Reliance SCADA/HMI system is interfacing between the PLC and the production information system. The PLC tells Reliance SCADA what type of cabinet is being produced at what time. Reliance passes this information to the production information system. An Excel report is generated on request for tracking and tracing purposes.

The other visualization screen shows a heat exchanger. Cold ground water is pumped up from a well deep underground. After being used by the heat exchanger, it is further used in the production process to cool the metal department. By using the pumped water for different goals, Ahrend saves half of the water needed every year.