Ranked number two on the world market, Norden Pac offers its customers integrated technologically advanced packing systems with a high degree of customer adaptation. Bodycare products (cosmetics, toiletries and toothpaste), pharmaceuticals, foods and industrial market segments account for the majority of its business with the company providing global sales and service support on all major markets and continents. Exports account for 98% of its business.
Norden Pac's goal is to be number one in its industry within a couple of years. To reach that goal requires quality, performance and simplicity, says Norden Pac's quality and project manager, Jonas Ewing. "These are the three areas we are going to focus on in order to become world leader. Today, the demand for complete and structured documentation is a necessity. As a result, quality has become a principle question within our concept," emphasises Ewing.
"Our goal of manufacturing a machine able to fill 500 tubes per minute placed major demands on system performance. For example, such a machine works with up to 44 servo axles. There are very few machines in Europe with that kind of capability. However, a focus on both quality and performance runs the risk of the machines becoming enormously complex. We have seen this trend in previous machine generations where newer models did not become easier to operate. Therefore, we have set our focus on simplicity for the user. By simplicity we mean that the machines will be designed for easier handling."
All information in one unit
The new Norden Pac tube filler, the NM/NP 50025, is a 3rd generation machine - 3G. Unlike its 1st Generation (mechanically controlled) and 2nd Generation (semi-mechanical controlled) predecessors, this 3G machine is completely operated by an electronic servo. "The heart of today's 3G machines is the application software we have developed called EasyWare, in combination with the hardware from the servo supplier ELAU," says Ewing.
What makes this system so special is that Norden Pac has connected all the automation components together into a single unit - a network based on ELAU's components. This makes it possible to display all information from the whole system on one operator panel - Cimrex 91 from Beijer Electronics.
For some applications it is easier for an operator to press directly on a touchscreen rather than using function and cursor keys. The Cimrex 91 is suitable for these applications. Coming with a large resistive touchscreen, the backlit 26,5 cm TFT display gives excellent contrast and brightness. Pictures and symbols are shown in high quality and 640 x 480 pixel resolution, which together with the 256 colours makes it possible to achieve very detailed background pictures. The operator terminal is easily configured with the Windows based programming tool Cimrex Prog that is used for all 13 terminals in the Cimrex series.
The real difference with respect to previous systems is that the servo steering controls the whole machine and we do not have any PLC or anything similar to it. "We have chosen to call our control system a machine control concept, since our servo unit controls both the servo as well as what a traditional PLC normally does. This is one of the primary characteristics of the 3G machines."
Testing and standards
The whole 3G concept is based on three main principles: performance, simplicity and especially quality. For Norden Pac this means that a lot of time is spent on testing.
"In the past, all machine manufacturers had problems with errors during the development of new machines," says Ewing, "As a result the customer often faced the same errors. In addition, as the complexity increased there was a greater need for testing to keep up with development and keeping defects to a minimum. This is one reason our development of EasyWare is based on a set of standards. If our suppliers have their own solutions for different operations, it can create problems for us during integration of their products into our system. That is why Beijer Electronics plays such an important role in Norden Pac's successful climb. The Beijer Electronics operator panel and machine control concept are both integral parts of our standardised system. We use the Cimrex operator terminal as a mini scada, thus Beijer Electronics is indispensable to us."
"When we were developing the operator side of our concept, we realised that we would not be able to stay in the traditional terminal environment which had a lot of text and 'poor' viewing of the applications that were shown on the terminal. What we wanted was a more complete view of the pictures and then the scada system was called to our attention.
So what we have done is to design a mini scada system located inside the Beijer Electronics Cimrex 91 operator terminal. There are a number of advantages to the Beijer Electronics terminal. First, the terminal is able to handle such a high performance level that we have been able to build a mini scada in it. This gives us the ability to get the same structure possible in a real scada system in an operator panel. By doing this, we also avoid having to work with Windows upgrades/patches or similar kinds of programs that have often caused us problems.
With these developments we have demonstrated to ourselves and perhaps to Beijer Electronics as well, that a lot more can be done with the Cimrex 91 operator terminal than we previously thought. It allows a number of large applications to be programmed and used over a long period of time. Occasionally, we have contemplated the need for switching over to a scada at all. Naturally, there are a number of advantages with a scada system. However, for us as a machine builder with consecutive production, this jump in price can be unfeasible: A successive cost increase of approximately 6000 to US$8000 per machine cannot be justified without a significant increase in product quality or functionality. Against this background we see the operator terminal as an optimal solution for us. We get exactly what we need with this mini-scada."
Language versions important
"As most of our production is exported worldwide, it is especially important for us to have a wide variety of language versions for the terminals. Language management must be cost effective or we could wind up with some high costs due to complicated work methods for installation of new text.
Consequently, it is very satisfying that Beijer Electronics has a well developed function that makes it simple to change text and implement new languages with the addition of an extra column in an Excel file. In addition, we have now developed text for both Chinese and Japanese, which we believe will be a major success for us. Being able to work in the local language is a tremendous help to the customers and us in a number of our markets. On the whole, Beijer Electronics' excellent support combined with high performance products make us more than satisfied," says Ewing.
| Tel: | +27 11 312 5252 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.varispeed.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about Varispeed (A Division of Hudaco Trading) |
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version