These days the quality of the packaging is as important as the packaging lines being multifunctional. Not only must the lines satisfy the highest requirements in terms of productivity, flexibility and reliability, but safety must also be absolute.
Nestlé Purina Petcare is a manufacturer of dog and cat food; its priority is the quality of its products. To guarantee this quality in the future, the company arranged a comprehensive retrofit of its production facilities. The focus was on the modernization of electronics and the safety of the packaging lines. The aim was to increase production to serve the rapidly growing market segments for the Nestlé products.
Real-time Ethernet adapts to existing data transfer structures and uses existing Ethernet to communicate with remote stations.
To manufacture and package pet food, packaging lines need to be flexible and must meet applicable safety standards. Purina Petcare products are generally packaged into rectangular aluminum pouches. The package designs vary, depending on the type and size of the package to be filled. As there are repeated changes in the packaging process, the engineering needed to be flexible. In this case. the PSS 4000 automation system was suitable for the job.
Other criteria for using the system included easy operation and diagnostics via the corresponding software platform PAS 4000. Data transfer via the real-time Ethernet SafetyNET p, which enables all data to be transferred safely, was another key factor. The real-time Ethernet adapts to the existing data transfer structure and uses the existing Ethernet (Modbus TCP) to communicate with the distributed remote stations PSSuniversal I/O and the automation system’s higher-level control systems PSSuniversal PLC. Safety data from the individual stations is transmitted to the installed operator terminals in real-time along with the data from the packing stations.
The PSS 4000 also enables all data to be managed on a decentralized basis. If any areas on a packaging line were to switch to a safe condition in the case of danger, the other areas would continue production so that the overall process is not interrupted.
Pilz Automation Safety
www.pilz.us
Filed Under: ALL INDUSTRIES, Packaging
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