FEATURE MOTION CONTROL & LINEAR MOTION
For manufacturers across many sectors, the coming years are set to be characterised by a need to offer a flexible, accurate, timely and productive production process to satisfy the increasingly complex demands of customers and consumers. Keith Thornhill, business
manager, food & beverage, Siemens UK & Ireland,
outlines how the new Multi- Carrier-System (MCS) could help
high productivity and high performance will be invaluable. INTRODUCING MCS W
ith production flexibility needing to keep pace with the changing
habits and requirements of retailers and consumers, manufacturers are seeking production systems that combine flexibility with increased efficiencies and productivity gains. With the cost effective production of
mass customised products lying at the centre of Industry 4.0 – a process that marries the use of intelligence-led data streams with the ability to manufacture to a highly efficient and cost competitive level – manufacturers face the increasing challenge of how to quickly work to ever-evolving market demand and not just to trends.
CUSTOMISING PRODUCTS Going forward, it will be important to satisfying complex product diversity and shorter life cycles, while being able to quickly customise products and adjust manufacturing processes to deliver a variety of options to satisfy consumer choice. Think, for example, of the variety of choice within some consumer goods categories such as cosmetic packing and its huge variants. Or in food and beverage processing where there is a need for quick seasonal changes and varied pack formats; or even in industrial manufacturing of customised, bespoke products. These all place significant demands on the production process, so a system that can aid customisation through flexibility,
16 NOVEMBER 2016 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Ticking all the boxes, the new Multi- Carrier–System (MCS) – which secured an award for the Most Innovative Automation System and Partnership of the Year at the PPMA exhibition – is an innovative new solution for the packaging industry. This is a linear motor track system that provides a flexible and modular transport solution for industrial automation purposes. It is based on a collaboration that combines the extensive controls expertise of Siemens and the linear motor and mechanical guidance technology of Festo. The MCS works to underpin an
The carriers can even transfer between linear motor sections and a standard recirculating conveyor system, so that production can benefit from shorter set-up times, seamless format changes and reduced maintenance costs thanks to lower wear on the system. Control is provided by the Siemens
“The Multi-Carrier-
SIMOTION controller, which not only controls motion of the transport system but it also co-ordinates motion with the other servo-driven machine modules, reducing the number of interfaces.
System (MCS) is a linear track motor system that provides a flexible and
overarching objective that puts flexibility at the heart of the production process. It is based upon a configurable linear transport rail which can be easily integrated into existing intralogistics and standard conveyor systems and offers precise synchronisation and seamless in-feed and out-feed of transport carriers. The movement of the product carriers within the system can be rapidly adapted to deal with different formats, sizes and types of product – even down to batch sizes of one – or to handle the particular requirements of seasonal demands. Motion profiles can be defined for each
carrier, enabling them to move freely and independently of all other carriers at speed. They can be started and stopped at any desired position and moved towards each other without risk of collision, as well as being grouped together and moved synchronously at fixed distances.
modular transport solution for industrial automation processes”
THINKING OF THE FUTURE The MCS offers a level of accuracy and flexibility that can only assist the manufacturing and production process. Through total control and modularity, the system can address issues such as ongoing productivity targets by allowing the process to do more in less time, while at
the same time offering businesses the option to introduce as much or as little of the system as is required. Furthermore, not only is the MCS totally supportable into the future, but there is the benefit that users can customise and add to the system as their needs change. The MCS will help to make production processes more flexible inside the machine, as well as synchronised with the overall process. Capable of being adapted very quickly to all manner of formats, sizes and product types, at the same time with an eye to the future, it can also be an important, strategic step toward modularisation of machines and production plants.
Siemens UK & Ireland
www.siemens.co.uk/en
A flexible
solution for the packaging industry
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