System solutions for automated changeover of machine axes and spindles

Cutting down on setup times!

Automated changeover – this term is as commonplace these days as PLC and electrical drives. Changeovers of the axes and spindles in production, especially for packaging, labeling, paper or wood-processing machines, are required time and again.

Machines should be flexibly deployed and productivity increased with short setup times, and this applies to both new machine concepts and the retrofitting of existing equipment. Developing and implementing sustained and functional solutions in this area generally requires both a lot of time and the appropriate expertise.

Especially when the goal is to increase the efficiency of existing production lines, the overall arrangement of the production line, not the individual machines, needs to be considered. It is quite common to find production lines deploying machines from various manufacturers and with various control systems. Increasing the efficiency across the machines requires major investments, especially in programming and hardware.

Increased machine efficiency through reduced idle times
Production machines feature a variety of adjustment options to allow them to be operated flexibly for different products. As a result, product switchovers are constantly entailing changeovers of the axes and spindles during production. Practical experience has shown that the higher the required quality and the more frequently an axis needs to be positioned, the more productive and profitable the employment of a monitored and automated positioning solution becomes.

Control solutions across machines for up to 30 devices
SIKO with their Easy Touch Control ETC5000 demonstrates that these challenges can be met quite simply. With this system SIKO has bundled the know-how of 50 years of changeover into a single product, thereby offering a uniform and complete plug and play solution for OEM customers as well as retrofitters and end users.

The ETC5000 is suitable for the control of up to 30 bus-capable SIKO position indicators and actuators. For example, the ETC5000 combines a HMI touchscreen display with control and the matching software.

Simply plug and play – no programming necessary!
The user can configure and control everything simply and intuitively, from commissioning to future daily use, via the HMI display. Neither programming expertise nor additional software or hardware is required, as special emphasis was placed on the intuitive and uniform operating concept in the early phases of development.

The system guides the user through the individual steps during commissioning simply and straightforwardly. Adding new devices or saving recipes and formats becomes child's play. Mathias Roth, RotoLine Product Manager at SIKO GmbH in Buchenbach, explains: "Especially over the past few years, the operating philosophy in mechanical engineering has been influenced more than ever by consumer products. Almost everybody now knows the simple and intuitive operation philosophies of smartphones and tablet computers. This is where we have set the focus with our ETC5000 and managed to master the balancing act between intuitive control and functionality while ensuring industrial suitability. For example, the ETC5000 can be operated even with gloves and features a front-side protection class of IP65 and/or IP66K in the stainless steel design version suitable for the foodstuff sector."

30 percent less idle time – cutting setup times, increasing efficiency!
The ETC5000 allows for flexible combination, letting the user decide whether electronic position indicators or actuators are more suitable for his application. Electronic position indicators are ideal for achieving higher quality standards with several changeovers daily through the integrated setpoint/actual value comparison. Where both a high quality standard and short cycle times are needed, users rely on actuators from SIKO for changeovers. "Users of actuators in frequent changeover applications state a production increase of up to 30 percent over manual changeovers", says Mathias Roth. Automated field bus compact actuators are therefore the first choice for all users requiring particularly frequent changeovers and, especially, high quality.

Increasing efficiency need not be costly!
When machines need to be upgraded and retrofitted to increase efficiency, high investment costs in hardware and software frequently outweigh the benefits. The ETC5000 radically changes this; the ETC5000 System is not only half as expensive on average as a comparable control system, but also completely avoids the cost of programming. "The end user in particular can benefit from deploying the ETC5000. Because no programming know-how is required, the costs and effort for training activities for the machine operators is significantly reduced. Software costs are completely dispensed with," states product manager Mathias Roth.

Customized user interface
The user interface developed by SIKO knows no limits. The system is freely scalable and customizable. SIKO can customize the user interface for machine manufacturers according to their requirements, for instance to reflect their corporate identity. Subsequent function adaptations are not a problem either: software updates can be quickly uploaded via the USB interface located at the rear. That makes the need to dismantle a device for a software update a thing of the past.

Everything from a single source! From A for Actuator to Z for Z-axis!
The ETC5000 rounds off SIKO's portfolio as system supplier for changeovers, allowing the company to offer all relevant components for the user from a single source. Mathias Roth summarizes: "We offer our customer, whether machine manufacturer, retrofitter or end user, a comprehensive product range, extending from HMI controls and compact actuators to electronic position indicators, and cables and accessories. We simply offer everything the customer needs for changeovers."