Posted to News on 1st Jul 2016, 14:38
Festo and Siemens win PPMA awards for Multi-Carrier-System
Festo and Siemens have won two 2016 PPMA Industry Awards, for Most Innovative Automation System and Partnership of the Year, for the Industry 4.0-ready linear motor track system, known as the Multi-Carrier-System, that was being demonstrated at the recent PPMA Total show. The MCS is a versatile new modular linear motor track system for industrial automation, with the collaboration between the two companies bringing together the extensive controls expertise of Siemens with Festo's linear motor and mechanical guidance technologies.
The Multi-Carrier-System addresses the acute need for flexibility in modern manufacturing and production environments driven by increasingly complex product diversity and high levels of mass-customisation. Its freely definable and configurable linear transport rail can be easily integrated into existing intralogistics systems, with precise synchronisation and seamless infeed and outfeed of transport carriers.
Motion profiles can be defined for each carrier, enabling them to move freely and independently of all other carriers - at speed, jerk-free and precisely. They can be started and stopped at any desired position and moved towards each other without risk of collision, as well as grouped together and moved synchronously at fixed distances. Carriers can also effortlessly transfer between linear motor sections and the standard recirculating conveyor system, so users benefit from shorter set-up times, virtually seamless format changes and reduced maintenance costs thanks to lower wear.
The movement of carriers within the system can be rapidly and easily adapted to deal with different formats, sizes and types of product - down to batch sizes of one. Potential applications include cosmetics packaging, with its huge number of product variants, food and beverage processing with quick seasonal changes, or industrial manufacturing of customised one-off products ordered via online configurators.
Steve Sands, product manager at Festo, comments: "This award-winning collaboration between two industrial automation leaders has resulted in an innovative and versatile transport system for manufacturing and production which delivers flexibility and modularity for machine builders that have to manage large product diversity. We are delighted the judges of the prestigious PPMA (Processing & Packaging Machinery Trade Association) Group Industry Awards 2016 have recognised MCS, Festo and Siemens with two awards, Most Innovative Automation System and Partnership of the Year, citing the innovation, flexibility and impact MCS offers machine builders, deeming it 'excellent engineering' and 'well integrated.'"
Keith Thornhill, Business Manager for Food and Beverage at Siemens, adds: "We are delighted to work with Festo, who are, without doubt, a market leader in industrial automation. This award-winning partnership will increase efficiency and create real value for customers across the UK. The Multi-Carrier-System is a concrete example of Industry 4.0 being realised - radically boosting flexibility in complex manufacturing and production environments."
Follow the link for more information about the Multi-Carrier-System.
