MATERIALS PREPARATION | TECHNOLOGY
while producing extremely stable, low-dew point drying air. The powerful standard control in the large D Series line also opens up new, cost-saving control options for users of Conair’s ResinWorks centralised resin-handling and pre-conditioning system. The company says that when a large D Series dryer is combined with a ResinWorks sled (sleds contain multiple, temperature-controlled hoppers), it is possible to manage the entire sled directly from the dryer. That means you can control or monitor drying temperatures, trending data, energy usage, auto- start/stop or other features for each hopper. There is no need for separate controls on each hopper. If a control is required or desired, an HMI can be applied to each hopper. This allows for individual control of each hopper locally but also unlocks more feature capability for the entire system. The latest Conair ResinWorks central drying and
pre-conditioning system gives users the option to equip each drying hopper with its own 4-inch colour touchscreen HMI, enabling independent operation, data monitoring, and other advanced control features. “This option allows users of new ResinWorks systems to implement advanced control features on a per-hopper basis, even if they are using an older Conair dryer - or certain com- petitive dryers,” says Zambanini. The new HMIs, part of a control system upgrade reaching across Conair’s dryer line, offer much simpler, plain-text interaction with hopper features, settings and help information. Conair has also added two new capabilities –
centralised, full-featured machine controls and programmable performance indicators – to its latest update of SmartServices, an Industry 4.0 solu- tion for auxiliary equipment monitoring, manage- ment and analysis. The development of these latest capabilities was shaped in part by the experience and input of processors running six-month trials with the programme, first announced at NPE 2018. The company says that Smart Services continues to evolve as a web-based portal, supported by cloud-based data processing capabilities. It helps plastics processors manage data generated by dozens or even hundreds of pieces of plant equipment into actionable information. The system collects machine data through a network of compact data hubs that transmit it into the secure, cloud-based SmartServices database for process- ing and presentation in the user’s HMI, where it appears in a dashboard format. “Now, through the portal, authorised users can access the complete control system of individual auxiliary machines and execute functions from a
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remote location the same way they would if they were present at the machine itself,” says Alan Landers, SmartServices project leader for Conair. “This capability is not only valuable to a manager monitoring processing operations, but is of particular value for maintenance and service personnel. For example, the system can page a maintenance supervisor anywhere, even when he is at home. The supervisor can launch the portal, open the machine control, clear the alarm, figure out the problem, and correct it without leaving home.” Another new feature lets users customise and
program KPIs that can alert them to anomalies. “Through the portal, you’ve got the capability to reach into everything and look at all of your machines. Some of our users do exactly that on a daily basis,” says Landers. “But other users, pressed for time, told us that they don’t want so much to reach into the portal as to have the portal reach out to them. For them, Conair now offers user-pro- grammable KPIs. They now can choose a specific KPI, set custom performance thresholds, and ask the portal to notify them – or others on the team – and report only when a machine performs outside that threshold. If a SmartServices user wants to keep a close eye on dryer dew point readings, he can customise the dew point KPI to specify a high and low limit. If any dryers vary outside that range, the portal will send him a notification indicating the variation, with a link to the dryer that is involved.” Piovan has developed the GenesysNext, a high performance, fully automatic, single-hopper drying system that optimises the production process of PET preforms. The company says that it has been specifically designed to optimise energy consump- tion, due to a new configuration of the regenera- tion circuit and a heating power recovery system. The dryer also features the PETformance system,
Above: SmartServices from Conair is an Industry 4.0 solution for auxiliary equipment monitoring, management and analysis
March 2020 | INJECTION WORLD 43
IMAGE: CONAIR
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