Posted to News on 17th Jun 2008, 17:43
Hydraulic control unit supplied and programmed in five days
Moog has supplied and programmed a new hydraulic controller to replace a failed unit on a packaging machine, resulting in a minimum of downtime for the customer and improved machine control and diagnostics.
Following a machine breakdown, packaging company Coppice Alupack had to react quickly to avoid being faced with the possibility of six weeks of downtime, and the potential of disrupting a tight supply chain with a major account. Fortunately Moog was able to help resolve the problem in just five days.
The machine in question is used to mould and shape ovenable board, a food packaging medium that can withstand 220degC for one hour. James Lamin, engineering manager at Coppice Alupack, explains: "Ovenable board is made using a machine equipped with hydraulic equipment that has been in operation for a number of years, and there are only two or three such machines in the country.
"We had a major breakdown, when the hydraulic controller failed. We faced a difficult situation, as we could not get any quick support from the incumbent hydraulic equipment supplier and there where no spares available for several weeks.
"They could only offer to re-program and fit a new model controller - and were talking of six-week lead-times. At this stage we went back to the original machine manufacturer who introduced us to Moog, who they regarded as a pretty responsive company.
"We were fortunate as Simon Furnell of Moog had in-depth knowledge of the original design of this machine. Indeed, he was contacted on a Wednesday and, along with the original machine supplier and a third-party independent hydraulics company, we sat down on site and investigated the problem on the Thursday, placed orders on Friday, worked over the weekend to rewire the machine for the new Moog MSC controller and on the Monday Simon wrote the program for the controller. By Tuesday evening, the machine was back up and running at approximately 80 per cent capacity and we were able to resume production. We chose to let things settle for a few weeks before fine-tuning the parameters to get the machine back up to full capacity.
"Simon and his colleagues then came back and finished the installation, which included fitting a new HMI panel. This provided easier operation and allowed the operators to change settings more easily than the old HMI."
Improved control
The basic hydraulic valves and mechanical components did not need changing, as Moog's MSC controller was fully compatible with the existing system. One added bonus of the reprogramming task was that it allowed modifications to be made to improve the machine's operation. In particular, the machine previously relied on reaching a set tonnage before returning the hydraulic cylinder to the top of its stroke; Moog's MSC controller now allows both tonnage and distance settings to be adjusted.
Lamin states: "This gives us better control during the forming of the container and builds in a certain safety limit in order to counter the effect of excess tonnage at the wrong point in a stroke. The MSC controller knows that if that happens, there may be something left in the tool and returns the press back to its home position. The Moog HMI is also a lot clearer to use and we are able to enter preset parameters and save them. The operator can now just call up a tool from the library and all the settings are updated automatically. This makes changeovers much quicker as well - previously the operator would have to keep a manual log of about 20 settings and have to type them back in."
The original controller used custom-written software that was not Windows-compatible. Now Moog's Windows-based software allows Coppice to plug in a standard laptop PC, which provides much-improved diagnostics and fault-finding. Lamin says he has been able to adjust the control parameters on site, while being guided through the changes over the telephone by Moog's Furnell.
Lamin concludes: "The team we put together both internally and externally certainly did a super-human job. Coppice Alupack prides itself on its responsiveness to customers. It was good to be involved with similar minded companies, as, had Moog not been able to support this effort with both their resource and technical solutions to our problem, we would probably have had to deal with the consequences of not being able to get back to production in the time that we did."
