WITTENSTEIN integrates monitoring into beverage packaging machinery

WITTENSTEIN has integrated connected gearbox monitoring into a beverage packaging machine developed by Wilhelm Fischer Spezialmaschinenfabrik, using sensor information and operating data to assess mechanical condition within the machine’s automation environment.

The installation will be demonstrated at BrauBeviale in Nuremberg from 10 to 12 November 2026. It combines WITTENSTEIN alpha’s cynapse-equipped gearboxes with the company’s Analyze Health Index software and Bosch Rexroth’s ctrlX AUTOMATION platform.

The demonstration uses a machine designed to handle six-pack beverage containers. Its monitoring functions have been incorporated through the automation architecture rather than provided solely as a separate diagnostic instrument attached to the equipment.

Wilhelm Fischer will exhibit the machine in Hall 7, stand 7-460. The companies intend to show how drive-component information can be used to identify changes in operating conditions and support maintenance decisions before an emerging problem interrupts production.

Gearboxes are used in packaging machinery to transmit rotational movement and adapt speed and torque to the requirements of individual mechanisms. In an automated line, these movements must remain coordinated with conveyors, transfer equipment and other machine functions.

Repeated acceleration, changing loads and extended operating periods place demands on mechanical components. The condition of a gearbox can therefore depend on how the machine is operated, including load changes that may not be evident from the number of hours recorded since its installation.

WITTENSTEIN’s cynapse technology incorporates sensors and logic functions within the gearbox. Its technical specifications identify temperature and acceleration as directly measured variables, with an IO-Link interface used to transmit component and operating information.

Temperature measurements provide information about the thermal conditions experienced by the gearbox, while acceleration data can be used to examine mechanical movement and vibration. Neither measurement alone establishes the cause of a developing fault, but changes can provide evidence for further investigation.

The cynapse Analyze application also requires speed and torque information, which can be supplied through the automation environment using OPC UA. These operating values allow component loading to be considered alongside measurements obtained from the gearbox itself.

Combining the data is important because the same temperature or vibration measurement can occur under different operating conditions. A component running at high speed and heavy load may behave differently from one operating intermittently at low load, even where both remain within the manufacturer’s permitted limits.

WITTENSTEIN’s Health Index evaluates the loading and condition of relevant gearbox components over their operating life. The results are presented through a traffic-light display, with associated information intended to guide maintenance or replacement decisions.

The analysis uses the supplier’s gearbox expertise and operating models rather than relying exclusively on a single sensor threshold. Its purpose is to make changes in component loading more accessible to operators responsible for maintaining the machine.

Such an assessment can support condition-based maintenance, in which an inspection or intervention is informed by evidence about component use and condition. Conventional preventive maintenance, by contrast, may rely more heavily on fixed intervals established according to operating hours or elapsed time.

Neither approach can eliminate mechanical failures. A condition-monitoring system depends on the measurements available, the reliability of the communication network and the extent to which its analytical models represent the component and operating duty being assessed.

The monitoring arrangement also needs to distinguish between a change caused by an equipment problem and one resulting from altered production conditions. A new packaging format, for example, may change the mechanical demands placed on a machine without necessarily indicating damage.

Wilhelm Fischer has integrated WITTENSTEIN’s application into the machine through Bosch Rexroth’s ctrlX AUTOMATION platform. This provides a common environment through which relevant component information can be accessed by the analytical software.

WITTENSTEIN’s connected gearboxes transmit their information to a shared data pool. Applications can then use the available measurements, including operating values such as speed and torque where these have been supplied by the machine’s control system.

The approach reduces the separation between conventional machine control and mechanical condition monitoring. Rather than examining gearbox condition only during maintenance visits, operators can obtain information from connected components during normal machine operation.

That information may support investigations into repeated stoppages or changes in equipment behaviour. The usefulness of the analysis will depend on the quality of the recorded data and whether maintenance staff can relate an indicated change to the conditions experienced by the machine.

Packaging lines frequently contain several mechanically linked operations. A failure in one transfer or grouping mechanism can interrupt the movement of containers through neighbouring equipment, while restarting the system may require checks to ensure the machine has returned to the correct operating sequence.

The potential value of monitoring individual drives therefore extends beyond the cost of replacing a gearbox. However, WITTENSTEIN has not published measured reductions in downtime, maintenance expenditure or component failures for the Wilhelm Fischer machine being exhibited.

The demonstration should be treated as an integrated technical application rather than proof of a quantified operating improvement. Its performance in routine production would need to be assessed against recorded failure rates, maintenance interventions and the reliability of the condition indications.

Maintenance recommendations also require appropriate operational controls. An indication of abnormal loading may justify an inspection or a review of machine settings, but any decision to continue operating a component must remain consistent with the equipment manufacturer’s limits and safety requirements.

WITTENSTEIN’s wider cynapse portfolio includes software for monitoring utilisation against permissible loading limits. The Health Index used in the exhibition demonstrates how component information can be interpreted within an installed machine, while other functions in the portfolio address related aspects of drive performance.

The collaboration brings together three established industrial technology activities. Wilhelm Fischer supplies the packaging machine and its application engineering, WITTENSTEIN supplies the connected gearboxes and analysis software, and Bosch Rexroth provides the automation platform through which the services are integrated.

The project also involves cooperation through Packaging Valley, the German packaging machinery industry network. Its exhibition at BrauBeviale provides a practical example of incorporating mechanical condition monitoring into a production machine before any wider installation results have been disclosed.

Visitors will be able to examine the arrangement from 10 to 12 November. Subsequent operating data from commercial applications will be needed to establish how accurately the system identifies developing mechanical problems and whether the information produces measurable improvements in maintenance scheduling or machine availability.