With hemp stalk processing becoming popular, it’s subject to an economic challenge at a basic level: decortication
Up to date, decortication has functioned as a single-step process where stalk enters from one end and delivers three outputs (dust, bast and hard) from the other end. Every end-product is separated before proper packaging in bulk loads or bags ready for sale to nearby patrons, thus controlling transit expenses.
The present process depends on consistent human interaction and coordination. It also delivers extremely low margins.
Without tightly controlling productivity within the entire production system, it could be affected by unprecedented production issues. These problems are caused fundamentally by jammed infeed conveyors and pipes in the production process. Most of the issues occur due to fiber jamming within the decortication unit.
Other bulk volume decortication crops report losing around 20 percent of their day-day production, thanks to unexpected problems such as delays in acquiring parts and replacing them.
Predictive Maintenance
Automatic Predictive Maintenance has revolutionized the practice of production maintenance through allowing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) program to control, monitor and synchronize information, digitally-dependent production equipment and communication technologies
AI’s systems help minimize downtime while boosting productivity by:
- Predicting the appropriate time to swap parts
- Predicting the tenure of a component
- Using sensors to track operating equipment’s condition and consistently evaluating data to enable organization plan and service parts when required, rather than depending on routine service times
- Ascertaining the proper time to conduct every service
- Monitoring duration, expenses and downtime related to each component or operation failure to identify trends and patterns
Hemp’s potential is with the Automatic Predictive Maintenance that will be greatly significant to hemp stalk processing. However, this is only possible in AI-dependent production environments.
For the past two decades, AI has appeared in each advanced manufacturing; thus, sophisticated manufacturing technologies supported by machine learning and AI will be absorbed in the hemp stalk processing sector.
