Durst, working in partnership with the Free University of Bozen, is launching Premise, an EU-funded project which aims to develop improved preventative maintenance systems.
The project will also include TechnoAlpin, a manufacturer of snowmaking systems, will be headed by Johann Gamper, professor and vice rector for research at the Faculty of Computer Science, and will run until at least July 2022.
The main aim is to develop a technical infrastructure with database technologies that enables predictive maintenance measures on production facilities.
‘In the Premise project, we are calculating appropriate algorithms that make predictions about maintenance requirements, including for sub-areas,’ explained Mr Gamper. ‘In this project, we can test technologies that we have been researching for years with our industrial partners on the basis of specific case studies and adapt them to specific requirements. We are thus contributing to technology transfer – an important mission of unibz (the university).’
‘We sell our digital printing systems worldwide and for this reason we equip them with analytics software,’ added Christian Casazza, customer service director of the Durst Group. ‘The combination of intelligent sensors and software evaluation for component and machine data forms the basis for predictive maintenance – the detection of error states or the need for service or replacement of spare parts ‘in advance’ so that production can be adjusted accordingly. With the Premise project, we go one step further and use artificial intelligence methods to make these predictions and interventions before an emergency even more efficient and to be able to apply them even to complex, causal relationships. This is a decisive advantage, especially in times when international traffic is restricted.’
