Network cuts installation time

A Siemens Automation and Drives product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 19, 2007

To cut the lead-time for installation and also improve the control system of the machine, CT Systems proposed the use of ASi Safe from Siemens Automation and Drives.

Dunlop Oil and Marine recently wanted to upgrade the controls of one of its rubber cord calender machines.

Its original estimate of three weeks was cut to just one week when Siemens system integrator, CT Systems (UK) , proposed a Profibus drive network and ASi Safe as a cost-effective and more accurate alternative.

Producing hoses with bores up to 1m in diameter means that products start life as large, flat sheets of rubber at the Grimsby facility of Dunlop Oil and Marine, the world's largest production facility for large bore hoses.

The cord calender machine is deployed to introduce Kevlar strips into the sheet, adding strength to the material's constitution.

The company, a member of the ContiTech Group, had recently upgraded a similar machine using its in-house expertise with mixed success, so when the time came to address a second machine, Dunlop Oil and Marine approached Siemens Automation and Drives, which recommended the services of approved motion control systems integrator, CT Systems (UK) .

"The planned upgrade to the control system of the second machine was critical in terms of our production schedule", explains Roy Robinson, electrical projects manager at Dunlop Oil and Marine.

"We knew it would take around three weeks to hard wire the new system, which includes around 26 emergency stop circuits along the length of the machine".

"However, we only had a one-week shutdown period in which to do as much of the work as possible without disrupting production".

To cut the lead-time for installation and also improve the control system of the machine, CT Systems proposed the use of ASi Safe from Siemens Automation and Drives.

"ASi Safe was a real eye-opener for us", says Robinson.

"Not only did it cut installation time from three weeks to just one, but it also improved the safety of the system to Category 4".

"In addition, because it's now a completely digital system, set-up times to accommodate different materials have been cut dramatically".

Overseeing the project from CT Systems was Chris Haigh, who takes up the story: "We were initially asked to go in because of our experience in motion control using Siemens equipment", he says.

"The motion control side of this project was quite specialised and involved the synchronisation of several drives along the process line length".

The project encompassed the use of Simoreg 6RA70 dc Masterdrives as well as two Micromaster 440 drives, all synchronisation was done using Profibus and feeding back to a Simatic S7 315 2DP PLC.

The system also included a Simatic HMI operator panel 170B and Profibus ET-200S distributed I/O stations on each machine column.

The panel uses 100% Siemens components, incorporating SIRIUS LV series bus bar technology to provide future flexibility for the customer.

"To hard wire a system of this size is a very time consuming process", Haigh explained.

"So we proposed ASi Safe - putting in an ASi network for all of the emergency stops".

"The ASi master CPU resides in the PLC rack so the emergency stop signals can feed back to the system, which identifies which stops are active".

"I know of very few systems in the field containing this level of Siemens equipment, yet the entire installation was completed during Dunlop's one-week shutdown period".

"Such has been the success of the project (completed 12 months ago) that Dunlop Oil and Marine has now given the go-ahead for work to commence on a third machine, this time featuring slightly bigger and a higher quantity of drives".

"The speed of installation using ASi Safe has given the customer the confidence he requires to place further orders", concludes Haigh.

"What better recommendation of this technology could there be?".

Paul Hingley, Communications Product Manager, said: "At Siemens we actively promote our solution partners to our customers in order that we ensure that they have a real positive experience when using Siemens components or technologies for the first time".

"In this case we have combined Siemens TIA (Totally Integrated Automation) with Safety Integrated".

"This concept allows the user to fully integrate both the control and safety philosophy for the system design, increasing diagnostics, system availability and up time while reducing installation and commission costs".