CASE STUDY

A retrofit as a turnkey solution from a single source: situation analysis, conceptual design, electronic design, me­chanical design, installation, commissioning, training and production support.

At the instruction of a customer the task was to implement a ‘Retrofit‘ project for its end customers, beginning with a situation analysis, the submission of an offer, software programming, on-site electrical and mechanical modification, right through to commissioning and production support

Material handling facilities usually comprise the following components that are considered from a retrofitting perspective:

• Gravity roller conveyers, chain conveyors, lift tables, rotary tables, lift-/rotary tables,...
• Lifts
• Shuttle cars
• Scanners
• Scales
• Fire safety system interfaces
• Computer interfaces to the master computer and material flow computer
• SPS Siemens S7 CPU 315-2 PN/DP // CPU 414-3 PN/DP
• Various bus systems: Profibus, Profinet, Ethernet, ASI bus, Interbus
• Numerous control points
• Visualisation with WinCC flexible or PC program
• Pallet tracking integrated within the material handling technology control system
• Routing within the system by the material handling technology control system
• Routing through the material flow computer (MFC)
• System safety by way of conventional relay technology
• Safety by way of secure SPS (S7 Failsafe)

On behalf of a customer, we assumed responsibility for the project management of their entire ‘Retrofit’ project. First of all we established the end customer requirements on the customer‘s behalf. This was followed by on-site analysis and ascertainment of the actual situation and outlining of all the required measures. We then prepared the ‘Retrofit’ offer on this basis and in coordination with the customer. 

Implementation encompassed the following electrical planning, software programming and mechanical machine modification tasks:

• Preparation of a circuit diagram
• Building of new components
• Component design
• Programming an SPS program
• Creation of visualisation interfaces
• On-site modification of mechanical and electrical material handling technology

Following completion and inspection of the quality and operational reliability of the revamped material handling system, we supervised commissioning on-site and provided system production support.

After comprehensive operator and maintenance training, we relinquished the project to our customer’s hotline, which is the first point of contact for any potential queries.

• Elimination of the customer’s capacitive bottlenecks
• Provision of professional know-how, ideas and solution expertise
• Assumption of all electronic design and software programming responsibilities:
  • complete resolution of the interfaces using individual components
  • full accomplishment of the electro-technical task within the respective project
  • complete clarification of the interfaces with other suppliers, e.g. of the laser, motors, etc.

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