FEATURE DRIVES, CONTROLS & TRANSMISSIONS
CONTROLS DELIVER SPEED and efficiency for packaging machinery
A manufacturer of VFFS equipment specifies Omron Electronics control systems to ramp up efficiency, reliability and energy savings while boosting machine speeds by 30%
A
UK manufacturer of vertical form- fill-seal (VFFS) equipment has
boosted machine speeds by 30%, ramped up efficiencies and is about to launch a continuous-motion range incorporating equipment from Omron Electronics. Line Equipment builds equipment from
horizontal FFS to volumetric dosing, flow wrappers and auxiliary systems. However, the bulk of the 37 machines it constructed and sold last year were VFFS bagging machines used by leading food brands. In addition, the company carried out 10 machine upgrades during 2014, retrofitting the latest control systems from Omron, the company’s sole supplier of servo drives, PLCs and other control equipment for the past 10 years. “Sometimes customers ask us for other brands’ control systems and we have to say: sorry, we only use Omron,” says managing director John Blashkiw.
EFFICIENCY, SPEED, RELIABILITY, LOW MAINTENANCE “The programme ticks all the boxes in terms of efficiency, speed, high reliability and low maintenance. The majority of our sales are into the food industry: packing everything from carrots and frozen veg to sweets, spices or crisps. Customers will often ask about speeds before cost. “Over the past three years or so with our all-servo machines throughput has risen dramatically from 70 to 100 bags per minute (bpm).”
will generally have to hit at least 98% efficiency. That’s pretty much the industry standard now.”
Energy savings are a further incentive for a move to the latest servo drives. “If you look at the energy requirements of a pneumatic machine the jaw closing mechanism on a VFFS machine which is just one part of the cycle needs 15 cubic feet per minute (cfm) of compressed air,” explains Blashkiw. “That’s a compressor continuously working in the background.” The actual savings made will depend on
the specifics of an installation; the same is true for payback times. Reliability is an additional factor.
That leap in speed came largely thanks
to the upgrade some 18 months ago from Omron’s CJ1 PLC to the faster, next- generation CP2. Furthermore, line efficiencies have benefitted. “We’ve had no problems since we’ve been using Omron components,” says Blashkiw. “When we install a system it
Over the past three years or so throughput of all-servo machines has risen from 70 to 100 bpm
HIGH RELIABILITY “Using Omron’s control system, even on the coldest winter’s morning you’ve got an almost 100% guarantee that the equipment will start up,” says Blashkiw. In addition to the PLC G5 servo drive and SmartStep servo drives, Line Equipment integrates Omron’s NS8 human machine interface (HMI). “As well as the speed it reports the diagnostics and seven-day production tables so you can see the number of filled and empty packs. Integrating heating controls into the HMI means that we don’t have fit in secondary controls.
PLC INTEGRATES I/O FOR SPEED AND FLEXIBILITY
Bosch Rexroth’s IndraControl XM21/22 PLC offers easy and flexible system configuration with modular I/O expansion; high performance data processing; scalable firmware for motion logic applications; and easy and flexible system configuration with modular I/O expansion. It combines the speed of the Sercos automation bus with Rexroth’s IndraControl S20 input/output (I/O) series for one functionally complete and scalable control system. Ideal for all factory automation and motion logic
applications the platform is easy to configure and features high performance real time data processing capabilities. The controller is available with either an IntelR 600 or 1,300 MHz ATOM processor along with an on-board Sercos master featuring a cycle time of 250 μs. By integrating the company’s modular IndraControl S20 I/O series into the controller Rexroth adds to the flexibility of the
20 JULY/AUGUST 2015 | FACTORY EQUIPMENT
control system. Optional extension modules further expand the integration options while a service- friendly design reduces installation costs. Decentralised I/Os, drives and additional system
machinery are connected via Ethernet-based Sercos as a universal automation bus for system-wide networking. Enhancing the scalability, the XM controller uses Rexroth’s standard IndraMotion MLC system firmware for motion logic applications. Compatible with a wide range of control
topologies, Rexroth’s IndraControl S20 I/O units feature short module reaction times of 1 μs per module for efficient production cycles and real-time signal processing of measuring systems and intelligent sensors even under extreme conditions.
Bosch Rexroth
www.boschrexroth.co.uk
T: 08457 201201 Enter 312
OFF-THE-SHELF PLC AND HMI “The fact that we are using an off-the- shelf PLC and HMI is a selling tool for us. The customer does not have to come back through us. It’s a quick fix in the event of a breakdown, for example.” Omron’s drives and controls allow Line Equipment to offer systems which are low-cost as well as reliable. Nor is it only the electronics which are reliable. “Omron’s backup and support is second-to-none,” concludes John. “We’re well on the way to developing our first continuous-motion VFFS machines which will use Omron controls. With the support of our supplier we hope to have a machine ready to show at the PPMA Show in September this year.”
Omron Electronics T: 01908 258253
www.industrial.omron.co.uk Enter 313
/ FACTORYEQUIPMENT
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