Garland’s Data-Driven Insights Boost Throughput by 17% with TensorIoT and AWS

Garland, a manufacturer of high-performance roofing and waterproofing products, wanted to boost manufacturing throughput while upholding quality and sustainability. The company worked with AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner TensorIoT to implement SmartInsights, a solution based on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to gain centralized visibility into its processes. Real-time insights through a user-friendly dashboard led to a 17 percent throughput increase and a 15 percent reduction in scrap rates. Increased efficiency and cost-savings enabled Garland to expand capacity to meet customer demand while fostering innovation for future needs. Additionally, because SmartInsights operates on Garland's AWS account, it ensures data ownership, security, and confidentiality.

Since its founding in 1895, Garland has been manufacturing high-performance roofing and waterproofing products for commercial buildings sustainably and efficiently. Because Garland’s growth was accelerating, it was looking for a way to increase its manufacturing throughput while also keeping to its high-quality standards. Additionally, the company had maintained production operations of core product lines at the same Cleveland, OH, site for more than a century. It wanted to uphold its commitment to sustainability by maximizing efficiency from existing resources.

To scale more efficiently, Garland needed real-time data insights into how its products are mixed, cured, and cooled. The company follows specific parameters when mixing asphalt, polymer filler, and fire retardants to make roofing products. These parameters then correspond to different temperatures, shear rates, and timeframes for cooling as they go through the manufacturing line. However, collecting each data point manually was inefficient.

“Our existing data collection system was manual and time-consuming. This prevented us from having a comprehensive understanding of our operations,” says Derek Scavuzzo, quality manager at Garland. “We needed a centralized way to visualize our manufacturing processes to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness.”

Garland chose AWS Partner TensorIoT to help implement an innovative data solution. TensorIoT deployed SmartInsights, a customizable end-to-end solution built on AWS for industrial and commercial customers to rapidly connect and extract actionable insights from operational systems. Based on a serverless architecture, SmartInsights uses a variety of AWS services, including AWS IoT Core, AWS IoT SiteWise, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Kinesis, and Amazon OpenSearch Service.

SmartInsights collects the raw data from programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which control and monitor industrial equipment on Garland’s production line using a protocol converter that delivers data into AWS IoT Core. The solution then uses IoT rules to transfer the data into AWS IoT SiteWise. The data is batched and stored in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and Amazon OpenSearch Service. Once the data is propagated through SmartInsights, the solution uses it to provide actionable insights through a centralized, user-friendly dashboard for operation engineers, floor managers, and other staff.

SmartInsights has delivered new visibility into Garland’s entire manufacturing process. As a result, the company can make data-driven decisions for operational improvements, reducing inefficiencies and ensuring high-quality output. “With access to real-time data insights, we could identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies, resulting in a 17 percent increase in throughput within a specific process,” says Scavuzzo.

With centralized visibility into its manufacturing processes, Garland streamlined its production line, reducing waste and optimizing manufacturing efficiency. “By pinpointing areas for process optimization, we were able to reduce scrap rates by 15 percent, which helped us maintain high quality standards and promote sustainability,” says Scavuzzo.

In addition to improving processes on the factory floor, SmartInsights also helped Garland maintain security best practices across the organization. “SmartInsights runs on our own AWS account, so we maintain ownership and control of our proprietary data, ensuring information security and confidentiality,” says Steven Lane, director of marketing at Garland. Furthermore, the company takes on less risk because Garland’s data isn’t routed to a third-party service. This, together with the ability to access data-driven insights, has given Garland’s production team greater job satisfaction due to real-time visibility into performance.

Garland’s newfound efficiencies have led to an increase in manufacturing capacity. This, in turn, has enabled the company to innovate and introduce new roofing products more effectively and stay responsive to customer demands.

The manufacturer’s dedication to continuous improvement and innovation aligns well with its ongoing commitment to AWS. Garland aims to explore further collaborations with TensorIoT to optimize processes and leverage emerging technologies for enhanced operational excellence.