The case of Veripack

From Siemens. The solution based on s7-1200 PLC and servo drive Sinamics S110 provides flexibility and efficiency to processing and packaging lines. Some applicative case studies emphasize the benefits.

In an increasingly global market, characterized by a high level of competitiveness, the Italian food & beverage processing machine and packaging line manufacturers have in recent years understood that the key to their success lies in being ever a step ahead in terms of technology, quality and performance.
Siemens, always close to its customers, provides a specific solution for each requirement by on the one hand exploiting the expertise and market presence of its new PackTeam structure and, secondly, by offering products that optimize the technical and commercial benefits all to the advantage of their partners.
The solution based on s7-1200 PLC and Sinamics S110 servo drive is a clear example of this philosophy, a “smart” concept that meets the increasingly demanding expectations of the market, whether dealing with thermoforming, end of line, or be it systems for the food processing sector.
A significant example of its effectiveness is offered by applications in Veripack (Packaging Division of FNC group), a major manufacturer of automatic installations for vacuum and modified atmosphere packaging.

A union of experience and innovation
The collaboration of Veripack and Siemens has resulted in the creation of the Vision XL heatsealer, a larger and higher performing evolution of the first machine in the Vision series.
Vision XL seals the cover of a food container with plastic film. It’s made from stainless steel and  is designed in order to guarantee maximum reliability, the machine is simply constructed, requiring low maintenance. «When we launched this new project - explains Mirko Averara, engineer and Veripack’s technical manager - we set ourselves some high objectives in terms of productivity, flexibility and diagnostics, but at the same time we wanted to optimize the costs of the electric components. Thanks to an architecture based on s7-1200 PLCs and S110 servo drives with brushless motors, we managed to reach all our objectives».

Focus on the machine and automation
The heatsealer offers a simple format changeover managed via a KTP600 operator panel and reaches the surprising speed of 1.2 m/s (18 cycles/min) thanks to the 1FK7 brushless motor, powered by a Sinamics drive system and managed by the controller via PROFInet.
«The real advantage is represented by PROFInet, which natively offers total machine integration by enabling reduced and simple wiring and laying the groundwork for also managing tele-assistance for the entire application» adds Averara. All this while also optimizing the level of bulk in the cabinet with the help of the s71200 PLC which, in spite of its compact dimensions, nonetheless supplies excellent calculating capacity.

The S7-1200 also represents the present and future of Siemens products from the point of view of programming, having been based on the new TIA Portal engineering platform that enables configuring and programming both the PLC and the HMI.
Vision XL is also equipped with Sinamics G110 inverters for managing the plastic film reels and subjection minibelts. Another important aspect of Veripack is represented by safety: through the Sinamics philosophy of Safety Integrated it is possible to manage safety functions in category SIL 2, performance level d, for example Safe Torque Off (STO), previously based on a standard wiring solution, but soon to be manageable via PROFIsafe secure protocol using Profinet with the new s7-1200 fail safe boards.

Looking far into the future, Veripack has thus aimed for the top by collaborating with Siemens, which, in addition to guaranteeing specialized and competent technical support, has managed to offer state-of-the-art solutions that are continuously evolving, in such a way guaranteeing maximum market competitiveness over time.