Paper and paper product manufacturer Romiley Board Mill says it is seeing downtime reduced, production capacity increased and costs down, following a recent automation upgrade project.
A spokesperson says that Siemens Industry and Wakefield-based machine builder Spiraltech worked together to address ongoing issues around performance, maintenance and product quality on an existing spiral tube winder and knife unit.
He explains that the production line had experienced problems, including slow cutting and inadequate power for its heavier-walled products. Though modifications had been made, production remained compromised and problematic for the maintenance team.
The automation solution identified by Spiraltech, working with Siemens, involved design of a new generation of machines and associated automation.
A combination of a Siemens HMI, S7-1200 Ethernet switches linked via Profinet to dc S120 Servo drives and Simotion D425-2 motion control now provides precise control and monitoring through a new STW320 spiral tube winder and an Edge 320 in-line servo knife cutter.
"As a result of the new machine design, production has increased fourfold," comments Andrew Nel, sales director at Spiraltech.
"Product repeatability and quick setup and changeover times are also key factors for the company, and improvements to these, too, have now been enhanced by the new machine technology."
