ENGEL Global

Remote maintenance of injection moulding machines compared

Which remote maintenance tools does ENGEL offer? For which support case is which option most suitable?

At ENGEL you have the choice between two remote maintenance tools. The feedback from the market on e-connect.24 and e-connect.expert view is positive. The usage rate of remote machine maintenance is increasing, and the success stories are piling up.

picture shows application of e-connect.expert view and e-connect.24 from ENGEL

In the event of a machine breakdown, you urgently need technical experts to repair malfunctions and recommission your machine again. The shortage of skilled workers makes such emergency situations difficult. Experts are not always available on site within a short time. In this case, our digital service solutions can help. They enable remote maintenance of your machine. Our service experts connect to your system via remote access and remedy the breakdown from afar in up to 75 % of cases!

What remote maintenance options for machines does ENGEL offer?

  • e-connect.expert view:
    Often, a short video call with a smartphone, tablet or smart glasses is enough to rectify faults. With the help of the camera, they show us directly at the machine where the cause lies. And solve the problem together with the ENGEL service expert.
  •  
  • e-connect.24:
    If option 1 is not sufficient, our experts access machine data via a secure online connection to rectify the fault.

Our remote maintenance tools support you to fix a wide range of breakdowns - quickly and easily from a distance.

e-connect.expert view: How does our Remote Assistance tool with Augmented Reality work? 

With e-connect.expert view, we offer remote troubleshooting using only your smartphone. In case of a service case, you receive remote assistance via an audio and video connection with augmented reality elements.

What advantages does e-connect.expert view offer?

Two colleagues from the hotline report on their experiences.

Stefan Isaksson, hotline expert at ENGEL Sweden, reports: "The use of e-connect.expert view is particularly helpful when servicing machines with an older generation of control units. With the tool, it is possible to assist the customer with calibration or troubleshooting remotely."

Fernando Espino Servin, hotliner at ENGEL Mexico, reports on a specific customer case: "A customer contacted us because the touchscreen of his machine control unit was black. This meant he could not operate his machine". Fernando recommended that the customer connect to him via e-connect.expert view to investigate the problem remotely. "That's how I found out that the CC300 panel had internal damage. That was responsible for the black display."
The solution for the customer was eventually to buy a new CC300 panel. "When the new panel arrived at the customer's premises, we did the installation and connection together via e-connect.expert view. I gave him the instructions via the smartphone and was able to watch him carry them out directly on the machine. This is how we got the machine ready for production again thanks to remote maintenance."
 

The use of e-connect.expert view is particularly helpful when servicing machines with an older control generation.

Picture shows hotline staff at ENGEL Sweden
Stefan Isaksson, Hotline-Staff at ENGEL Sweden

I gave the customer the instructions via the smartphone and could observe how he carried them out directly on the machine. This is how we got the machine ready for production again thanks to remote maintenance.

Picture shows hotline staff at ENGEL Mexico
Fernando Espino Servin, Hotline-Staff at ENGEL Mexico

e-connect.24: How does our remote maintenance tool with direct access to the machine work?

Whether at the weekend, on the night shift or during office hours - with the e-connect.24 remote maintenance tool, our service experts can securely access your machine control via an open online connection. You get your faults under control quickly and around the clock.

What advantages does e-connect.24 offer?

Learn about service cases that were successfully solved with the help of e-connect.24.

Marcel Grasser, our Technical Support Expert from Schwertberg, Austria, reports: "Our customer described the following error pattern to us: In every cycle, the mould bounced by a few tenths of a millimetre during the movement transition between mould closure and clamping force build-up.
With the help of a service technician, we jointly made oscilloscope recordings with different settings over several days. A big advantage of e-connect.24 was that we could immediately evaluate the recordings of the measuring device while the technician was already starting the next tests. All tests performed could be documented in our back office. This is a great advantage for the technician, who was relieved of the time-consuming documentation work. Every test and every parameter change, no matter how small, must be logged so that structured troubleshooting is possible at the end of the day. After a few days, the fault could be repaired and the machine was handed back to the customer.

e-connect.24 offers a variety of functionalities that make it easier for us to analyse faults and perform remote maintenance on the machine. Especially if the operator on the customer side is familiar with the injection moulding machine. We would never have been able to carry out troubleshooting at this speed without e-connect.24."

A big advantage of e-connect.24 was that we could immediately evaluate the meter's recordings while the technician was already starting the next tests. [...] We would never have been able to carry out the troubleshooting at this speed without e-connect.24.

[Translate to Englisch:] Bild zeigt Technical Support Experte bei ENGEL Austria
Marcel Grasser, Technical Support Expert, ENGEL Austria GmbH

At the customer Helvoet in the Netherlands, another service incident was solved with the help of e-connect.24. The incident was at the beginning of the Corona pandemic, when personal contact on site was severely limited. Together with the ENGEL service team, a component, lab-on-a-chip article, which places the highest demands on the precision and consistency of the injection moulding process, was digitally optimised.
Read more about how digital customer service saves time and money at Helvoet.

At Huf Hülsbeck & Fürst in Romania, e-connect.24 accelerated the start of production. In just one week, the specialist for locking and authorisation systems was able to present good parts to the customer - thanks to remote machine maintenance from ENGEL and virtual teamwork. What other advantages e-connect.24 brought in this case, read the blog post.

How do ENGEL solutions for remote machine maintenance work?

 AR Remote Assistance
(e-connect.expert view)
Remote maintenance tool
(e-connect.24)
With smartphone 
With tablet 
WIth PC 
With smart glasses 
Via machine control CC300 
Incl. video transmission 
With augmented reality elements 
Troubleshooting with data analysis 
Production data monitoring 
Available 24/7  
With contract 
Pay-per-use 
Machine must be networked 
Secure end-to-end-connection

 

Remote machine maintenance: For which support case is which remote maintenance tool best suited?

Whether you need a quick intervention or a comprehensive analysis of your machine data, we have the right remote maintenance solution for your service case. Our remote maintenance tools support you to avoid breakdowns in a wide range of cases - quickly and easily from a distance.

  • e-connect.expert view is used when a short video call with a mobile end device is sufficient to repair malfunctions on the machine. For Injection moulding machines with older control generations cannot be connected online so e-connect.expert view is particularly helpful here.

  • e-connect.24 is the right solution when a video call is not sufficient for troubleshooting.  Complex faults affecting process stability, product quality or cycle times are solved via e-connect.24.  The service experts access the machine data via a secure online connection. Extensive data analyses reveal possible sources of error. In this way, you avoid tedious troubleshooting and save time and money.

In times of a shortage of skilled workers, are you required to quickly rectify problems on your injection moulding machines?

Contact us. Together we will find the best solution for remote maintenance of your machines.
 

More about our products from the article

Remote Assistance with Augmented Reality

Faster help for your service case with e-connect.expert view.

Remote maintenance tool 

Online support tool e-connect.24 for fast remote maintenance 24/7.

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Markus Lettau
Molding Industry Business Advisor
ENGEL Machinery Inc.

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Please note the information on data protection at ENGEL at www.engelglobal.com/dataprotection.

Get in touch

I'd like to hear from you.
Markus Lettau
Molding Industry Business Advisor
ENGEL Machinery Inc.
Personal Information
How can we help you?
Submit
Please note the information on data protection at ENGEL at www.engelglobal.com/dataprotection.
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