Page 17 - MetalForming March 2020

Thanks to a new development
environment called Wonderware (avail- able on the new Wintriss SmartPac Pro automation controller shown here), a stamper can use any PC as the UI to pro- gram and monitor all sorts of press-cell equipment, including automation. Won- derware encompasses drivers for Allen Bradley PLCs, Siemens, Fanuc, Yaskawa, etc....allowing a developer to create cus- tom UIs. And, this can be done on a retrofit basis.
thought-out screen interface design.” Today’s UIs offer improved graphics as well, needed for the more advanced graphing and charting functions. “UIs now display more production-related information for the operators and shop-floor support staff,” says Helm Instrument’s Wilhelm, “which provides them with critical information needed to determine solutions to production disruptions. Systems that monitor the life expectancy for a set of contacts or a PLC input module, for example, can display warning messages to alert maintenance to the need to replace the component prior to a failure. This component replacement then can be scheduled during normal downtime
without causing production issues.”
Die Protection, Sure... but Communication and Data Sharing, Too
Stampers are requiring more and more from their press controls—for traditional chores such as die protec- tion and tonnage monitoring, but also for “communication and the ability to
share information and integrate safety data between the other press- line equipment including feed lines, transfer systems and unloaders,” says John Eby, product manager at Toledo Integrated Systems. “With this level of line integration, stam- pers benefit from having a ‘smarter’ control that helps them quickly determine downtime reasons, improve overall press-line safety and improve productivity.”
As noted earlier, use of off- the-shelf PLC components enables the addition of built-in Eth- ernet connectivity with standard pro- tocols. “The desired information (pro- duction and downtime data, for example) can be displayed,” Eby adds, “and made available to the stamper. Another advantage with PLC systems is that we quickly can adjust or change the information being requested to fit the user’s exact needs, and we can dis- play additional pieces of information such as part pictures with important production details, press-control elec- trical schematics and control manuals.” Providing wireless production track- ing represents, for forward-looking stampers, excellent opportunities to track production of almost any machine, including stamping presses. “This tech- nology (which Cieco offers via its Effi- ciency Analysis Reporting System) is transparent to the existing machine con- trols,” says Cieco’s Cejer, “so it can be installed with minimal costs. Stampers can log production, analyze data and view real-time status of every machine.
Data—such as part count, pro-
duction rate, uptime, downtime and efficiency—can be parsed by shift or by job, extremely useful to help managers optimize machine usage, schedule pro- duction more efficiently and ensure operator accountability.
Wintriss’ Finnerty agrees, mention- ing the Hawthorne effect (where indi- viduals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed) as a good way to understand how the production-mon- itoring and data-generating capabilities of modern press controls can provide a quick return on investment.
“When manufacturers install pro- duction-monitoring technology,” he says, “we see an average increase in productivity of about 10 percent, sim- ply because workers know that man- agement is paying attention.”
On the Die-Protection Front
...more is better, says Wilhelm: “We have controls installed provid- ing as many as 128 channels of die- protection inputs, all monitored through the PLC utilizing Ethernet IP communication with I/O-link technol- ogy using a single wire for communi- cation. This allows for more sensors at critical locations in the die, such as punched holes and critical bends. Stampers also can apply additional sensors for monitoring part placement on transfer systems, and part temper-
ature during hot forming.”
The number of sensors needed on
the modern stamping-plant floor has slowly grown over time, notes Finnerty, “as stampers start monitoring things they should have been mon- itoring all along. But this greatly expanded sensor capacity really is needed for just a small percentage
While information is king in complex processes, simplicity and screen design can make all the difference.
So notes Chris Cejer, senior vice president of Cieco Controls, whose Automa- tor II press con-
trol is shown here.
Modern Press Controls
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