Delta helps packaging manufacturer centralise control of facility

As a result of expansion, a manufacturer of plastic bags for food packaging that operates a factory in Poland decided it had too many machines to continue monitoring and controlling them individually. It turned to Delta for a solution for centralised control and management.

The vacuum and high-barrier plastic bags produced at the plant are used in the food and beverage industry. Several heat sealing machines and conveyer systems were in operation at the factory before the expansion. Until now, there was no way to collect and analyse production data from the machines from a single location. A new, customised solution would need to have the ability to collect and aggregate data from all machines, including the new ones, and generate the corresponding reports and graphs.

Since the manufacturer was already using Delta automation hardware, Delta’s DIAView SCADA solution was an obvious choice to implement centralised control and visualisation. Delta’s partner in Poland, Induprogress, was able to deploy a powerful combination of DIAView SCADA and SQLServer to collect production logs and statistics and aggregate that data inside a central database.

The system implemented for the packaging factory allows users to choose individual machines and generate reports that span the selected time period without requiring an operator go to the physical machine and use the HMI. The reports can be generated from the factory’s control room or anywhere else within the plant. The functionality of each machine’s HMI is now also available from within DIAView, allowing remote control and operation. The DIAView system accesses the production information hosted in the SQL database to generate charts and reports.

The Delta solution is built around a standalone instance of DIAView, which is also available in client/server and a browser-based versions. Additional Delta equipment in the plastic bag plant includes an Ethernet switch to enable communication between DIAView and the machinery and four units each of the following:

• DVP SV Series programmable logic controllers
• DVP EN Series Ethernet communication modules
• HMIs
• DVP Digital and Analog modules

In addition, ASDA-A2 servo drives have been installed to enable the bag making and filling processes. VFD-E series Delta motor drives come into play for sealing tasks.

The manufacturer now uses the new DIAView SCADA system to control individual machines and monitor the production line. Trend graphs are available and operators can check for anomalies and generate reports. Some of the metrics available include total machine running hours, average production speed, and machine efficiency. Users can receive different levels of permissions and an operator log stores the history of each user’s actions, making it possible to monitor operator performance. The software interface has also been localized into Polish to make operation even easier for local workers.

“This is a perfect example of how Delta’s broad portfolio of industrial automation solutions can really benefit new and existing customers,” said Ufuk Ozer, product manager at Delta Electronics. “The breadth of our portfolio allows a factory choose Delta products almost exclusively, like the customer did in this case. That makes things a lot easier when it’s time to implement a monitoring and control solution like DIAView. Everything is compatible right out of the box.”