FEATURE MACHINE BUILDING, FRAMEWORKS & SAFETY
Easy to select, easy to connect, easy to configure
Warren Harvard, product manager for electric drives at Festo, discusses the challenges facing machine builders and what can be done to improve the process of specification, allowing for easier selection, connection and configuration of electric drives solutions
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FACING TODAY’S MACHINE BUILDERS? For special purpose machine builders, being able to specify a solution quickly and easily, with total confidence in the performance, is key to winning business in an efficient manner. For the replicating machine builder, the challenge is to find a way to build a standard solution that can be re-configured easily and cost effectively to meet customer standards in terms of fieldbus and connectivity protocols. In both cases it is a highly competitive environment. Cost is critical but it is often the first to respond with a quote that gains the advantage. However, there is an inherent conflict between reducing time and reducing cost. Shopping around multiple suppliers can identify lower cost components; but the all-important final price often masks the associated engineering sourcing, procurement, design and compatibility costs. Building a solution using multiple
components from different suppliers is actually complex, time consuming and risky. There is always the potential that a mistake has been made - particularly when trying to ‘marry up’ different manufacturers’ data, which is frequently presented in different formats and units. The potential for issues to arise around compatibility and connectivity is high and, with multiple suppliers involved, it is often unclear where ownership of that risk lies.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE END USERS? Time pressures and a desire to avoid risks can lead to disadvantages for the end user. It reduces the opportunities for machine builders to consider all the options and add real value at the design stage. Instead, the tendency is to stay with a proven specification and often to adopt a ‘belt and braces’ approach. This can mean that the recommended solution is not optimised, may be over-engineered to provide a safety factor, and is more expensive than it needs to be. As a result, the end user can get a less efficient, more complex solution than necessary, creating potential service, maintenance and lifetime cost issues. Electrical positioning systems are a good example of this. They are commonly used in
16 OCTOBER 2017 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
does not require it and when there are other, more cost-effective technologies that can be used. For example, if dynamic movement requirements are not onerous, closed loop stepper motor technology offers the same control and can manage similar loads to servo systems, at a lower cost.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE THIS SITUATION? Suppliers need to make it easy for machine builders to match components in order to deliver the required performance. Manufacturers of electric drive components can play an important role in this by providing the tools and products to make it easier for designers and machine builders to make the right choices. There needs
almost any machine that needs to position and move objects. Typically consisting of a positional controller, motor, gearbox, mechanical axis, cables and connections, their overall system performance is a result of the combined performance of the individual components. Machine builders frequently source these different elements from two, three or more suppliers; introducing questions around performance, compatibility and connectivity. Because of this, it is often easier, quicker and safer to stick to previously used solutions, rather than look for new ones. The effort and risk involved in deviating from a
known solution is a real barrier to cost and performance optimisation. As a result, a machine builder may choose to stick to a known servo electric system that provides top end performance even when the application
to be more of an understanding of the designers’ needs by the component manufacturer so that they can provide fast, knowledgeable support through the specification, buying and machine- building process. Festo, for example, offers a wide range of
motion solutions, from simple positioning to high-end servo electrics. The company’s overall approach is to focus on the needs of the machine builder, making it quick and easy for designers to select the various components and understand their combined performance and overall costs. Festo do this by supplying all the elements in the control chain that are needed to make the solution work, both mechanical and electrical. The result is an integrated and joined up solution - easy connectivity, guaranteed system performance and compatibility, plus technical and customer support. Machine builders and designers can also take advantage of a free simulation tool that provides a range of technical solutions based on the application requirements. The results provide guaranteed performance, known costs and, critically, the opportunity to make fast, optimised risk- free decisions. A good example of Festo’s ability to offer
performance oriented solutions is its optimised Motion Series (OMS). Based on closed loop stepper motor technology, the
optimised motion series of electric drives has been developed to provide easy to use, multi- position control at a highly focused price point. OEMs and machine builders can order a complete electric drive system using one product code and get all the components with it.
WHAT ABOUT CONNECTIVITY? The OMS Series uses Festo technology to facilitate connection to various end user protocols. Machine builders can therefore design a standard electric drive system that, with a simple inexpensive change to the connectivity node, can communicate directly with a wide range of systems, such as: I/O-link, CANopen, DeviceNet, EtherCAT, PROFIBUS and PROFINET. Festo also has an online software tool called Positioning Drives that is freely available and can help OEMs to select the optimum electric drive package for their application.
Festo
www.festo.com
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