Plastics

Plastics inustry medium The plastics manufacturing sector is vast so it is no surprise that 25% of Optima’s business is conducted in this sector. With such a variety of processes involved in plastic production, broad ranging yet expert control knowledge is a necessity.

From extrusion to coating & laminating, specialist process understanding is needed to guarantee product quality. Critical variables such as speed, temperature and tension are dependent upon a robust control system.

A well-designed control system upgrade can also significantly improve the operating efficiency of a production line and when compared to the price of a new machine does so at a fraction of the cost.

Optima Control Solutions Ltd. have completed more than 30 major projects for the plastics industry. Upgrading control systems on critical production plant for many industry-leading companies.

Installed plant built by OEM’s such as ER-WE-PA, Bruckner, Davies Standard, Riefenhauser, Egan, Windmoller & Holscher [amongst others] form part of Optima’s impressive portfolio of upgrades.

Scope of Supply:

In addition to a number of full-scale engineering projects in the plastics industry we have years of experience in related industries – packaging and converting, to name a few. Some of the service components we offer include:

Detailed site survey – As automation experts we find solutions only to the problems we fully understand. A complete site survey allows us to design the most appropriate control system within budget, deadlines and special requirements.
Panel layout and panel build – The quality of a control panel build is critical to the functionality of a production line. We design and build our panels according to highest standards in order to minimize ownership and maintenance costs.
Engineering of Drives/PLC/Programmable product software – Sometimes, besides complex hardware replacements, a tailored software engineering solution might be the only answer to improving an extruder’s performance. Our automation engineers are experts in writing SCADA and PLC software, some of them with more than 16 years of experience.
Installation – Electrical installation is something we do with confidence. We are able to offer a wide range of installation services such as installation of drive PLCs, remote I/O hardware and cables to the drive controllers.
Commissioning – Total responsibility is what Optima’s experts have besides their valuable engineering skills. We provide on-site and system design commissioning in order to ensure smooth run and minimum downtime of a coating line, for example. Legal safety standards are always met or exceeded when our engineers complete a job. They also make sure that all operator controls are functionally tested.

Previous Projects:

Britton Taco

Cast Film Line

Refurbishment of a ER-WE-PA machine control system
Machine supervisory system
Allen Bradley – RSView SCADA
PLC for machine control
Allen Bradley ControlLogix PLC
Variable Speed Drives
Parker Hannifin/SSD 590+ DC drive controller – DeviceNet communications
Panel Build
Supply of new multi-bay control cubicles and operator desks
Installation & Commissioning
Turnkey project – Electrical, mechanical installation and commissioning

DuPont Tejin Films

Cast Film Line & Coating Head

Refurbishment of a Casting Drum, Stenter, Coating Head and Twin Turret Rewinder control system
Machine supervisory system
Allen Bradley – RSView SCADA
PLC for machine control
Allen Bradley ControlLogix PLC
Variable Speed Drives
Parker Hannifin/SSD 590+ DC drive controller – DeviceNet communications
Indramat DC Servo drive controller – High accuracy speed control with low torque ripple for control of Casting Drum
Panel Build
Supply of new multi-bay control cubicles, operator desks and operator panels
Installation & Commissioning
Turnkey project – Electrical installation and commissioning

Tensar International

Biax Line

Refurbishment of a Geosynthetic manufacturing line control system
Machine supervisory system
Siemens – WinCC SCADA
Two separate WinCC SCADA’s individually controlling entry and exit sections Redundancy provision for either SCADA to control the complete line
PLC for machine control
Siemens S7-317
Siemens ET200S distributed I/O
Variable Speed Drives
Parker Hannifin/SSD 590+ DC drive controllers – Profibus communications
Parker Hannifin/SSD 690+ AC drive controllers – Profibus communications
Safety
2 x Pilz PNOZmulti programmable safety controllers – Safe speed monitoring and hold to crawl functionality
Panel Build
Supply of new multi-bay control cubicles, operator desks and operator panels
Installation & Commissioning
Commissioning of the control system

Linpac Group

Extrusion Line control system upgrade

Refurbishment of a food packaging line control system
Machine supervisory system
Siemens – MP277 HMI
PLC for machine control
Siemens S7-315
Variable Speed Drives
Parker Hannifin/SSD 590+ DC drive controllers – Profibus Communications
Parker Hannifin/SSD 690+ AC drive controllers – Profibus Communications
Panel Build
Supply of new control cubicle and operator panel
Installation & Commissioning
Turnkey project – Electrical installation and commissioning

3M Guinn

GVE Metaliser

Refurbishment of a high speed Vacuum Metaliser
Machine supervisory system
Allen Bradley – RSView SCADA
PLC for machine control
Allen Bradley ControlLogix PLC and distributed I/O
Variable Speed Drives
Allen Bradley PowerFlex 700 AC drive controllers –
ControlNet communications
Parker Hannifin Stepper drive controllers
Installation & Commissioning
Commissioning of the control system

Habasit

Embossing machine control system

Complete control system design including control cubicles, control desk Facia and emergency stop system.

Optima were recently asked to advise on a safety guarding application for one of our customers.

There had been a number of false trips of the laser scanner causing the machine to stop. As a result of this, a plastic chain ‘barrier’ had been fitted as a temporary measure with instructions to operators to not breach the barrier whilst the machine was running.

The customer naturally wanted this rectifying as soon as possible, so Optima performed a short-notice service visit to site.

On the site visit, our engineer noted that the scanner was showing a code which indicated that the front screen required cleaning.

Once the screen was cleaned thoroughly the scanner did not show any faults or errors and was in normal run mode.

However, we performed further checks on the original software to ensure that the scanner configuration still met the requirements of the safety guarding application.

The diagrams to the left show the Warning Field configuration (Yellow) and the Protective Field (Red). Both of these were confirmed to be operational.

The warning field causes the klaxon to operate and the protective field caused an emergency stop of the machine.

We did, however find a few concerns that needed to be addressed.

1. None of the scanner safety circuit had been documented on any drawings.

2. Non-compliance with EN999 ‘Safety of machinery – the positioning of protective equipment in respect of approach speeds of parts of the human body’ includes a formula to be used to calculate the distance from a hazard that a safety zone must be triggered. Based on the stopping times of the machine, the scanner was placed too close to the machine to be effective in an emergency.

We are working closedly with our customer to assist them with this application and help them achieve a safe and effective solution to this.

If you need any support with safety applications or other upgrades, please get in touch.

Industrial Automation and
Control Systems Engineering