Can Filling And Seaming Machines Control System Upgrade
The instigation for this upgrade was twofold. Butchers Petcare had recently changed their control system standard to Siemens S7. The existing filling and seaming machines were mechanically sound, however the control system was limiting through put. Our investigation confirmed that the existing sensors and PLC scan times were limiting potential line speed improvement.
Stratos Control Systems were engaged to replace the existing 3 PLC systems with a single Siemens S7 300. This controller is compliant with Butchers Petcare common spares holding and engineer skill set.
A Siemens 10” colour touch screen H.M.I. was also selected for operator control and over view. Machine safety was improved by the installation of a Pilz programmable safety system. Safety integrity level (S.I.L.) was determined following a specialist survey.
A key exchange system further improved production line safety, during can size and tool changes. Key project benefits were a 20% plus speed improvement resulting in a payback of under 6 months.