Control Engineering - January 2018 (R) 'I'

Figure 2: A compounding control center houses the extrusion system’s electrical and control infrastructure, including an
Allen-Bradley CompactLogix programmable logic controller (PLC), Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 755 ac drives, and solid-state
relays from Rockwell Automation. A separate utility control center houses the system’s utilities and information server.
year at maximum production capacity. Wilson and
his team wanted the Brazilian plant to mimic what
MCPP already did in other regions in terms of production
speed and quality management.
“Quality was our first priority,” said Wilson. “We
needed to make sure we could maintain tolerances
with the feed systems that were feeding the extruder,
as well as achieve proper distribution and dispersion
of the various ingredients inside the extruder.
Aesthetically, we needed to be able to maintain a
consistent product look as material is compounded
and pelletized.”
Accessing the system remotely would be essential
to help operators monitor quality and quickly
take action in the event of potential production
issues. This would allow U.S.-based MCPP employees
and other outside experts to troubleshoot or
diagnose technical challenges and help compensate
for a lack of local technical support in Brazil.
A modular approach
MCPP chose Indiana-based Apex Engineering
and its subsidiary, Apex Controls Specialists, a
Rockwell Automation-recognized system integrator,
to develop the extrusion system for its Brazilian
production facility.
Apex Engineering proposed a solution based
on its proprietary modular extrusion system. The
material-handling system receives raw materials
including various rubbers, oils, heat stabilizers,
impact modifiers, and pigments. Those materials
are then distributed through a feeder deck down
to the extrusion system, where they are heated
and blended. Then they are sent to an underwater
pelletizing system that produces the final
bead-like product, which is packaged into large
bags and boxes before being shipped to the airbag
manufacturers.
A compounding control center housed the
extrusion system’s electrical and control infrastructure,
which included a PLC, ac drives, and solidstate
relays. A separate utility control center housed
the system’s utilities and information server.
The information-enabled system allowed workers
and outside experts to see the critical manufacturing
intelligence, temperatures, feed-rate
pressures, and feeder motor speeds. Historian
software collected thousands of these data points
throughout the production process while HMI
software and enterprise manufacturing intelligence
(EMI) software allow workers to manage recipes,
monitor processes, and identify and resolve production
issues.
Communications over EtherNet/IP, an Ethernet
protocol by ODVA, allowed information to
be shared throughout the plant and with outside
experts via remote access. This also reduced the
amount of wiring in the facility.
M More
ANSWERS
KEYWORDS:
PLC, HMI, Ethernet
How to save time with
a modular system design
approach
How remote support
benefits facility operations
Optimizing plant
operations with a modular
system design.
CONSIDER THIS
Can your controllers
accommodate new
components within 10
minutes?
The Global System
Integrator Database
helps sort system
integrators by various
engineering specialties,
such as programmable logic
controllers (PLCs) and/or
human-machine interfaces
(HMIs) and other parameters.
www.controleng.com/
Global-SI-Database
www.controleng.com CONTROL ENGINEEERING January 2018 • 19