Matsushita takes a helping hand with CE marking

A Pilz Automation Technology product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 23, 2004

When Matsushita came to install a new semi-automated cell at its factory in Port Talbot, South Wales the design of the safety-related electrical control circuits had to be modified to local demands.

Matsushita's factory in Port Talbot, South Wales, manufactures Panasonic automotive loudspeakers.

These are assembled in small batches in a semi-automated cell for which most of the design was completed in Japan.

Nonetheless, the design of the safety-related electrical control circuits had to be modified by the local engineers to enable the cell to be assembled, CE marked and commissioned.

In order to meet the target date for bringing the cell on stream, work to revise the control circuits had to commence before the equipment had arrived in the UK.

Furthermore, modification of the existing design was likely to be far more complex than designing the circuits from scratch.

Due to the pressure on the engineers from other commitments, coupled with limited experience in control circuit design, it was decided to call in expertise from outside.

Matsushita had already put some of its engineers through a machinery safety training course tailored by Pilz.

After the course it was felt to be prudent to ask Pilz to become directly involved with the safety circuit modification and CE marking process.

This approach proved to work extremely well, with the Pilz engineer able to propose a solution that required no alterations to the PLC program and very few changes to the electrical control circuit.

For example, one of the key elements of the scheme was the use of blocking valves on the potentially hazardous pneumatic axes, together with a monitored dump valve.

Neil White, the Senior Project Engineer at Matsushita, comments: "Bearing in mind we were working from a set of rough electrical schematics and a video that had arrived from Japan, a 'bolt-on safety' approach with minimal changes to the existing wiring and software was ideal.

We certainly did not have time to delve into the pneumatic control aspects of the cell, so I am very satisfied with the elegant way in which the safety has been upgraded.

This type of practical support was just what we needed and it highlights the fact that the Pilz engineer was an experienced hands-on practitioner, not just a desk-based expert in the theory of machinery safety - though he clearly knew the Machinery Directive inside-out".

The engineering assistance from Pilz extended beyond the proposal of solutions to include the preparation of electrical schematics and the completion of the documentation necessary to enable the technical construction file to be drawn up so that the cell could be CE marked.

Additional technical support has continued throughout the commissioning process by means of telephone, e-mail and site visits.

White concludes: "While we could have completed the work in-house, it is doubtful that we could have hit our target date for commissioning the machine.

Our own engineers are exceedingly busy, so it suited us very well to entrust this vital part of the project to somebody who probably knows more about machinery safety than we ever will".