A manufacturer’s packaging line was stopping more often than any other line in the plant. Power dips and a single drive or network fault could stop the whole line.
The plant had kept it running by taking obsolete drives from idle lines and other sites. Then the spares ran out.
The plant also wanted better machine safety on the line. The old drives, the obsolete PLC and the DH+ network could not support current safety functions.
One weekend
Over one weekend, IKONIKA replaced every drive and the PLC in that section of the line. The new drives run on EtherNet/IP and include Safe Torque Off, which stops the motors safely without cutting power to the panel. The PLC moved to a CompactLogix safety controller.
IKONIKA rebuilt the panel inside the same cabinet and kept the original I/O. That saved the cost and time of a new panel. It also meant that once the first part came out, the work had to run through to startup.
The program
The old logic held years of copied and edited code. IKONIKA checked every rung, removed the unused sections, and added diagnostics so maintenance can find faults faster.
Every button on the operator screens stayed where it was. Operators came in on Monday and ran the line as before, with no retraining.
The result
The new system was running by Sunday night. The screens and the cabinet looked the same from outside.
Every drive and device is now on the EtherNet/IP network. IKONIKA also fitted a UPS. It protects the controls from the voltage dips that used to stop the line.
The plant can now add data collection to this line, and the same safety functions to its other lines.
