Free Magazine Subscription
Printer-friendly version
Email to a Friend
Faced with time-to-market pressures, cost concerns, and the ongoing need to update technology, machine builders are looking for sources of expertise – and automation suppliers are gearing up to provide it.
The booming Asia Pacific economy translates into opportunities for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Some of these machine builders operate locally and regionally while others do so on a multinational basis. Whatever the size, location and specialties, OEMs understand the cardinal rules of their business: to build better, faster, more cost-effective machines – and deliver them to customers quicker than ever before.
“When we look at Asia Pacific, we see OEM business growing right across the board, but for different reasons in different countries,” according to Christopher Zei, Vice President of the OEM Business, Rockwell Automation.
Zei explains that OEMs of various size and capabilities are active throughout Asia Pacific. Some operate in emerging economies while other do so in countries with more mature economies. Different market segments, which vary from country to country, are fuelling the growth of the OEM business. Flourishing segments that are fuelling growth include packaging, tyres and textiles.
Many challenges
Globally, OEMs face a range of challenges. Customers are asking for machines to produce higher throughput while also being able to handle variation – i.e. different product units – even though these capabilities are diametrically opposed. End users also want quality machines, at a lower cost, that can deal with the high speeds of flexible automation.
Machines must also adhere to global standards. According to Zei, indigenous and global machine builders in Asia Pacific face additional technological and business challenges, depending on the country and market segment. He cites China and its packaging business as an example.
Machine builders serving China’s packaging business range from local OEMs with first-generation machines – characterized mostly by mechanical components – to global players with third-generation, or highly automated, equipment.
“OEMs with first-generation equipment,” says Zei, “are trying to optimize their machines just to get their costs down. In addition, they are moving toward the next generation of machine design.”
Meanwhile, OEMs with third-generation equipment already possess highly automated machines. Their main concern is in establishing factories in China, so they are focused on identifying and then buying, or partnering with, forwardthinking indigenous OEMs with a desire to evolve their technology.
China’s packaging business has yet another dynamic: large end users that are sourcing machines in Asia Pacific. These multinationals are demanding machines with more capacity and capabilities at lower costs. The combination of the global machine builders and large end users are driving change in Asia Pacific, especially for OEMs of first-generation machines.
Zei explains that in order to be competitive on a global scale, machine builders must differentiate their equipment from others. They can do so by incorporating technical innovations and focusing on quality and time to market.
Technical innovations drive new functions and features, resulting in equipment that provides the necessary higher throughput and productivity rate. Zei notes that OEMs must be mindful not only of the quality of the machines but also the quality of the products being manufactured on the machines. Being able to maintain consistency, high productivity and high throughput are critical to quality.
In addition, OEMs must make an effort to drive time out of building their machines so they can speed time to market. These all contribute to being more competitive.
Accessing expertise
Rockwell Automation says it wants to see OEMs succeed, and this means more than just supplying technology. According to Michael Mann, Director of Customer Segments, the company has a global strategy in place with execution based on language, culture and the maturity of machines and end users. OEM Centers of Excellence (CoE) and a Global OEM Team are integral parts of that strategy.
The centers work with OEMs to prove out concepts and provide support on installing and operating equipment. They also educate OEMs on maintenance issues and state-of-the-art machine capabilities. There are several OEM centers worldwide, including those in China.
Since opening its doors first CoE in Shenzhen in 2004, Rockwell has expanded operations to serve the needs of the China’s OEMs, including a further two centers in Shanghai and Beijing.
According to Christopher Chan, OEM Program Manager, China, the overall mission of the CoE is to collaborate with OEMs to ensure their products are ready for the competitive challenges of the marketplace, which translates to helping them to deliver increasingly advanced machines that also meet the requisite international standards. CoE services can be categorized into four areas:
• Justify/Apply: This area of support typically involves proving out concepts. Chinese OEMs spend less than one percent of revenue on R&D compared to the 10 percent typically spent by US and European companies, and thus having access to external expertise can save OEMs both time and money. Consultants are can address questions on machine exports and global standards.
• Install/Operate: Focusing on machine conversions and commissioning, the CoE aids in the installation of machines and in the training of OEM technicians so that they can provide internal support to their companies.
• Maintenance: Educating OEMs on providing machine support and providing technical manuals and documentation to accompany machines.
• Improvement: Bringing OEMs and end users up to speed on the latest machines. Initiatives have included providing customized demos in textile factories so that employees can try out equipment; helping OEMs in the tyre industry upgrade their motor skills; and providing expertise to packaging OEMs that need to upgrade PLCs and motion control units.
Rockwell also connects OEMs with its partners, who provide products such as pneumatics or gear boxes that can be integrated into the automation architecture. “This is an example of how we help machine builders put together technical solutions that solve their application needs,” explains Zei.
Stressing his commitment to ensure the success of machine builders, Zei says. We have the global presence, support structure, experience and applications to help OEMs not only with single applications but also with plant-wide automation.”
Based on information supplied by Rockwell Automation.
Meeting Stretch Goals
A revitalized control system allowed this Chinese manufacturer of stretch blow molding machines to boost productivity and performance.
Tech-Long Packing Machinery is one of China’s leading beverage packaging original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Located in Guangzhou, the company supplies a range of packaging equipment – such as filling and capping lines and blow-molding machines – to local producers and international beverage companies with established plants in China.
Recently, Tech-Long began to develop a new generation of their popular stretch blow-molding machines. Development goals included completely automating the machine and increasing productivity by 20 percent.
Although the company was able to improve the mechanical operation of the machine, the existing automation control system was not providing the necessary performance gains. It comprised a stationary, supervisory PLC wired directly to a second PLC located on a revolving workstation. Because the communication between the two PLCs was unreliable, the stop-and-start control for the molding process could not be based on signals from the mold cavities. Tech-Long engineers had to determine process time and program the system accordingly.
In addition, engineers had to reprogram each parameter within every mold cavity each time a machine was adjusted. Furthermore, 16 temperature control meters within the machine’s heating oven were not integrated with the PLC and could only be tested and monitored manually. Drives controlling the machine’s motors were also not integrated in the system and could only be monitored onsite.
Having been contacted by Tech-Long, Rockwell Automation engaged the services of its OEM Centre of Excellence in Shenzhen, which helped to develop a solution based on the company’s Integrated Architecture components.
Renewed machines
Tech-Long replaced the supervisory PLC with the CompactLogix controller, and the existing PLC located on the rotating equipment with the Universal Remote I/O link. The remote I/O station is mounted on the rotating machinery and communicates with the controller via a DeviceNet-compliant slip ring, ensuring continuous electric current transfer between the rotating station and CompactLogix.
The temperature control meters on the machine also were eliminated. Instead, CompactLogix uses PID loop control to maintain the appropriate oven temperature. PowerFlex drives, which control the main motor plus the in-feed, feed-cleaning and heating oven motors, also connect to CompactLogix via DeviceNet.
Through Ethernet, the CompactLogix controller shares its data with the monitoring solution, based on RSView32 software running on a rugged the VersaView 1500P display computer, to provide a detailed window into each part of the machine’s process.
Since the CompactLogix controller’s tag-based memory model supports user-defined, multidimension data structures, Tech-Long engineers can set the parameters for one bottle cavity and then replicate them for all other cavities. The stable communication between controller and remote I/O station now allows engineers to simply program the machine to stop and start based on data received from the bottle cavities. And instead of verifying temperature readings from 16 different meters, engineers can test the temperature control via the operator interface.
The new control system has helped Tech-Long reduce overall programming time by more than 33 percent. And machine output has increased by the desired 20 percent, from 1,000 to 1,200 bottles per cavity per hour.
