Product category:
Plantwide control
News Release from: Siemens Automation and Drives | Subject: WinCC Scada
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 27 May 2005
Scada system puts the right mix on the
floor
When Marley Floors of Maidstone looked to upgrade an obsolete monitoring and control system on the production line for its premier flooring range, the company turned to Siemens Automation and Drives.
When Marley Floors of Maidstone looked to upgrade an obsolete monitoring and control system on the production line for its premier flooring range, the company turned to Siemens Automation and Drives The four bole mixing room manufacturing facility for the fabrication of hard-wearing flooring was originally controlled using a Promtech system
With the need to increase the flexibility of its offering and operations, Marley decided that control system improvements were required.
Initially the company opted to upgrade the then current system, but faced with the problem that the manufacturer no longer provided parts and support, Marley had to turn elsewhere.
"Having already used Wonderware and Siemens PLCs throughout the site, and having heard about the WinCC Scada package, I was keen to get our local representative on-site to review an appropriate monitoring and control package", said Barry Cole, Control Systems Engineer at Marley Floors.
After analysing the requirements, Siemens designed a system that Marley Floors would be able to install and maintain itself.
This provided flexibility and reduced the downtime often associated with systems integrators carrying out diagnostic procedures.
"Our diagnostic capabilities have been increased dramatically with WinCC".
"If a problem arose with the old system, we would have to stop the entire operation and check every area for the possible fault".
"Now WinCC will pinpoint the precise location of a problem, saving wastage of partly processed materials and money in reduced downtime", said Cole.
The mixing room, which blends, heats and stretches polymers and oil to create sheets of flooring ready for lamination, consists of three silos and various weighing pods.
The measurement of exact amounts of different types of materials is critical in this process.
The WinCC Scada package from Siemens Automation and Drives provides accurate monitoring and control, with the functionality to track the performance of individual process automation components such as sensors for level, temperature and pressure.
The process begins with load cells (weighing pods) being filled with a selected polymer.
When the correct predefined quantity has been measured, the powders are decanted into a holding hopper and mixed.
The oil is added and mixed again for set period of time, and then the material is put into a barrow.
This is loaded on to a weigh platform and according to the type of blend, will have a set ratio of formulation powder and recycled materials added to the contents.
The barrow is then manually manoeuvred to another part of the process, and contents emptied into the next mixer to combine all the material.
The mixer raises the temperature of the substance, also performing a cooking function.
When the correct temperature has been reached, the contents are dropped onto a conveyor belt for transportation to two parallel boles (large rollers for squashing the material).
These squeeze the material to form a long strip.
To create the correct compression and thickness, the material passes through another set of boles to become one large sheet or "web".
This is then cooled and rolled up, ready to be taken to the next stage of processing.
Simatic WinCC's ability to work within Microsoft excel was a major advantage that helped Marley decide that the Siemens Scada package was the most appropriate for the application.
The formulas for each of the 300 variants of flooring were programmed into the excel spreadsheet with no additional training required.
The ease of use also means that additional formulation combinations can be added as product development occurs.
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