Automation and controls

The latest data on food processing and packaging machines industry, some cases of significant applications, the Mitsubishi Electric approach to factory automation, an original concept MES system... Suggestions from the "Alimentare l’innovazione" conference (Enhancing innovation in the food Industry).

A year after the official presentation, the Omron Sysmac integrated automation platform has not only won the appreciation of the market, thanks to its speed, ease of programming and reliability, but Omron is relaunching it with new developments in the CPU, input and output modules, the possibility of managing delta robots and the addition of safety functions. L.G.

In the field of packaging, the use of robotics is often the only answer to meet both the performance requests (i.e. the combination of technical characteristics such as speed, productivity, overall dimensions and energy optimisation) and the flexibility requests (i.e. the possibility to adapt differing cycles, products, batches, dimensions and directions).

APPLIED RESEARCH Created following a far-reaching global survey and consisting in numerous models with open architecture that respond to users’ diverse needs, the new Unidrive M range launched by Control Techniques, with one eye on the present and the other on the future, is an innovative line of drives for electric motors dedicated entirely to manufacturing automation.
E.P.

EVERYTHING IN A MODULE How to drastically contain maintenance costs and maximize productivity? B&R suggest the use of predictive strategies based on permanent condition monitoring. A function this totally integrated in its traditional control systems.

PRODOTTI AND STRATEGIES The Omron’s Sysmac platform includes a wide and optimised range of devices integrable in EtherCAT, which enables the automatic, integrated, speedy and accurate control of all machine functions.

A POWERFUL ALLIANCE Sight is the most complex of all the senses found in biological or artificial systems. At the same time vision provides the greatest benefit. There is a good reason that processing visual stimuli consumes the most energy in the brain, involving approximately 60% of the cerebral cortex. Abdelmalek Nasraoui*

In this month's column, we're looking at the subject of diagnostics and preventive maintenance.

The leading end users of the Packaging & Processing world aim for greater flexibility, improved system efficiency, and reduced integration and maintenance costs. This goal can be reached with the aid of centralised control for the entire production site; this in turn requires standardised processes and system data.

SEW Eurodrive offers its partners the double advantage of reducing costs and increasing productivity ... And hence is developing the two concepts in parallel, offering comprehensive and customized solutions that can generate benefits across the board for users, while conscious of the strategic role that automation plays in the industrial field.

«A development system can be successful over time only if developers can simply manage the evermore complex programs». Automation Studio by B&R is in line with maximum software usability criteria.

 
THE FORMULA THE MARKET LIKES Figures up for the second edition of SPS/IPC/DRIVES Italia. Motivated thus the satisfaction of the organizers (Messe Frankfurt), the Parma fair body that hosts the same and all participants (exhibitors and visitors), who gave rise to a three-day event of high-level technology, going further into one of the items most keenly associated with productivity: industrial…

Rexroth proposes its innovative Flexprofile function for axial control for machines with electronic cams not only on a position but also on a timed basis: ideal tools for responding to the problems of a complex production like that of cosmetics.

EQUATIONS If packaging plays a strategic role for companies operating in the field of consumer products and good packaging can be achieved thanks to an adequate motion control... then motion control is strategic. This is demonstrated by Control Techniques’ intervention on the company Mimi’s Mito shrink-wrapping machine.

The topic for this month is the “sustainability” of packaging: a very topical subject that can't just be limited to the research and use of eco-compatible materials, but must include the recovery of energy efficiency during production.

FLEXIBILITY With the aid of Beckhoff electronics, FBA Srl has developed an automatic system able to perform the identification and sorting of parcels of different shapes and sizes, according to parameters that the user defines and modifies to suit specific requirements.

Universal Pack adopts Siemens OPL guidelines to configure machine control and obtain modular, flexible sachet filling machines capable of providing real savings.

BINDING MACHINES Mecwrap has developed a line of ring system machinery for wrapping and stabilizing palletized loads with stretch film. Distinctive features: original mechanics, superior performance and reliability “certified” by the University of Bologna, an excellent cost/performance ratio and extreme ease of use.

The market, demographic changes, and marketing are just some of the reasons why the packaging of food products and drinks is a sector that is continually growing and changing. In particular, there is a progressive evolution in the packaging of fresh products, an area that has always been subjected to the strictest standards and regulations in order to minimise any possible contamination of the…

 
TREND SETTER producing in a sustainable way, finding the right balance between flexibility and increased productivity: This is the objective of all industrial concerns, to which Siemens offers a valuable contribution of technological knowledge and experience. Inspired by the concept of Optimized Packaging Line, the company offers specific and cutting-edge automation solutions for the packaging…