The Intriguing Challenge
Challenges can arise in various categories, and some present intricate scenarios. Consider a production process where the throughput of articles approaches the cycle time of the controlling PLC. Such a challenge is likely to engage and motivate engineers, including the highly skilled professionals at CoNet.
Van Dam’s Impressive Printing Machines
Van Dam, an Amsterdam-based company, specializes in the manufacturing of dry offset printing machines. These machines possess the remarkable ability to print plastic packaging material at high speeds. While high-speed printing is not a novel concept, these specific machines have an additional requirement. They must be capable of printing a base coat and finish on the plastic packaging material while maintaining exceptional speed. In fact, the throughput of articles needs to reach an impressive 600 units per minute, equivalent to 10 units per second!
Upgrading the Interface
The existing Van Dam machines are equipped with a Siemens HMI interface that includes push buttons. However, Siemens has discontinued these components. As a result, Van Dam has made the decision to overhaul the interface. The new machines are engineered with Siemens Touch Panels (TP1500), which necessitated the complete conversion of the machine control to TIA Portal, as these panels can only be programmed using this software.
Get in touch today at sales@conet.nl!