No matter if burrs on motor and housing parts or residues of lubricants and coolants – in motor manufacturing precision and cleanliness are the most important things. The company Maschinenbau Silberhorn GmbH located in Lupburg is an international specialist for plants designed for cleaning and deburring machine parts. In the middle of this year Maschinenbau Silberhorn GmbH delivered two complete cleaning lines for an automotive plant in Shenyang, China. SPANGLER Automation was responsible for the electrical planning and control cabinet construction and provided support during the installation and start-up of the control technology both in Germany and on site in China.

In total, three robot cells deburr motor parts with a water pressure of up to 600 bar. About 500 parts run through both lines per day. They are cleaned of residues from the mechanical processing with various cleaning agents as well as preserved at the same time. Afterwards the treated parts are returned to manufacturing or transported to an interim storage.

According to OEM’s preference

A special challenge was the variety and complexity of the plant processes which had to be considered when programming the control. Furthermore, due to the specification sheets of the car manufacturer detailed requirements for control technology and programming had to be taken into account. Again, SPANGLER could actively support Maschinenbau Silberhorn GmbH here and hence contribute to a smooth implementation of the project.

Each potato differs in size, quality and dirt. For an automated processing the focus lies on intelligent manufacturing steps and the adherence to hygiene regulations. This also applies to the new manufacturing line of the Bavarian dumplings expert Burgis GmbH from Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate.

Bavarian tubers

SPANGLER has supported the successful family-run company Burgis with the new building of the manufacturing and has realised the electrotechnical plants. The field warehouse, first step of the potatoes after harvest, was planned in a visionary way. In future, a QR code is generated here with which the pre-cleaned tubers can be sorted again to batches. After their arrival at the main plant the potatoes lose their peel in washing and peeling machines before they are processed to dumpling products in up to four manufacturing lines. During these processes everything is controlled by a central control system which combines the single machines to one intelligent manufacturing chain. The operation can be handled both via mobile devices or via touch panels which are distributed in the manufacturing.

Fast maintenance, hygenic cleaning

The engineering for this project which means working out control guidelines up to the infrastructure was completely carried out by SPANGLER. The sensor technology distributed in the plant is pluggable via a special bus system, the so-called I/O link. This connection technology is insensitive to electrical interference as no shielded cables are necessary. Furthermore, the maintenance effort is reduced to plug and play as new sensors are automatically parameterised via the IO master. The programming of the logic was made with failsafe Siemens PLCs S7-1515F – 2PN. The service switch, the emergency stop pushbutton and the touch displays were carried out according to IP69K certified models. This is designed for permanent operation in a humid environment and the high-pressure cleaning.

Modern energy management

A modern production has to bear in mind an acceptable energy consumption. The energy management system set up by SPANGLER records values of current, water, pressure, temperature and water steam. In this way the customer can collect trends, limit values or reports according to his own demand and thus operate the manufacturing more efficiently.

Hannelore Spangler-Schäfer, Managing Director of SPANGLER: “We are pleased about the successfully completed project and the trust the company Burgis has placed in us. We are particularly grateful for the open communication and the partnership-based cooperation.”

Programming a “digital twin” for a plant in order to simulate the processes of a plant under real conditions will be standard in automation technology in the next few years. There are several advantages. Complex correlations regarding control and material flow can be tested in real time and under realistic conditions. In this way the planning and engineering reliability is increased. Furthermore, the costs and the time for start-ups are significantly reduced.

Virtual start-up at SPANGLER

SPANGLER Automation concluded the conversion of an existing manufacturing plant of an automotive supplier. The plant which exists of three lines was converted to a new control technology and linked with the ERP system. This was carried out without shutting down the whole plant and with a minimum time of standstill. A retrofit with possible interruptions of production would not have been acceptable for the well-known supplier. Taking this into consideration SPANGLER offered a line-by-line conversion, planned and simulated in advance by a “virtual start-up”.

For the implementation the process automation team of SPANGLER designed a detailed “digital twin”. The simulations were connected to a failsafe Siemens PLC in order to thoroughly test the process procedures in real time and to adapt to the manufacturing conditions. The training of the operators could be done already in advance. The new control system which is 33 meters long and has 29 fields was assembled on-site and took over the control without any interruptions thanks to the prior virtual start-up.

Advantages for supplier and customer

SPANGLER Automation assesses the digital twin to be of high potential, not only due to reduced start-up times. Thomas Zenk, Manager Process Automation, explains: “The reduction of effort, either with new plants or with retrofit projects, is a significant advantage in competition for us and our customers.” Due to the positive experience SPANGLER will also focus on the digital twin in future.

The Emirate Dubai doubles the capacities of its main waste water treatment plant in Jabel Ali. Based on a first stage of construction, the plant is expanded to a daily capacity of approximately 700,000 m³. The new volume is based on the demand of about 3.35 million inhabitants. From the former waste water valuable industrial water should be produced which can be used for example for the irrigation of agricultural crops.

Maximum productivity

HUBER SE carried out a partial order for the new waste water treatment plant outside the gates of Dubai. The scope of order was to install new screens, wash presses and grit washing plants. In order to avoid machine failure, SPANGLER has designed the Siemens PLCs S7-400 H redundantly. “The redundant hardware enables faster repair processes, services as well as software updates due to the exchangeability during operation,“ SPANGLER Key Account International Daniel Götz reported.

Safety for the user

As it is not possible to completely switch off the entire plant in case of a failure, the control systems were delivered with an internal separation in the form 4b. Therefore, the operator has to switch off only the respective functional unit in order to be able to work on the plant without any risk. By means of an intelligent motor management data such as current consumption, efficiency and many others can be collected directly from the drive train. Each drive is entirely monitored.

Hannelore Spangler-Schäfer, Christian Brandmüller and Daniel Götz took the opportunity and visited the impressive plant in the Emirates. SPANGLER has already delivered the whole control technology. The service team is currently supporting the start-up from Germany.

In automation technology besides serial fieldbuses Ethernet systems for the data communication are used to an increasing degree. Classical fieldbuses opened a huge potential for the industry but withethernet bus in addition there is a base for integration of automatisation in IT, entirely in line with Industry 4.0. Managing Director Christian Brandmüller explains in which direction the standard in this industry sector will develop.

Challenge in process automation

Ethernet bus is applied for solutions for manufacturing and process automation, for applications in the monitoring area and for the whole range of engine control systems. The planning of such plants is regulated by a special guideline, the same as start-up and approval. The implementation of this guideline should be the focus of all efforts.

Metrological examination – Alpha and Omega

During the planning phase besides the network structure also the network load has to be considered. For this it is important to know the correlations between refresh rate, line depth and network structure. At the end of the planning process all the relevant information about plant structure, topology, choice of components and a selection of the transfer medium should be available. For all further considerations it is also of enormous importance to have an extensive knowledge about the plug connection and communication correlations. This knowledge is the base in order to assess the amount of data which has to be transferred.

Especially after the installation of a plant qualification is important as the cabling in the industrial environment is subject to huge loads. Damages or faults are not visible with the naked eye. More and more complex manufacturing sequences linked with electromagnetic and harsh industrial surroundings caused by the weather require a robust communication infrastructure and the transfer of high data rates under difficult conditions.

The acceptance test is divided into four steps:

1. Visual inspection during approval of installation
2. Acceptance measurement test of the cabling with measurement report
3. Start-up of the PROFINET network
4. Acceptance of the network

Half of the failures are directly connected to the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).

In this process problems are more difficult to find as the transfer of data takes place in a substantially higher frequency range. The frequency range of fault and the frequency range of data signals are in similar dimensions. The faults cannot be clearly defined to EMC anymore as they come up in a changed period of time and thus can be easily mixed up with software faults.

Christian Brandmüller further explains: “Correct EMC does not cost more but leads to an increase of value and safety, as well as the partly refinancing of the investment by reduced effort for repair.“

The solution consists of measurement of leakage, shield and error currents as well as the parallel tests of several potential fault.

Scalable use

SPANGLER has realised an increase of flexibility, efficiency, availability and quality, as well as the decrease of production times and costs with a reference project by a proper control of the real time bus. Brandmüller considers the efficient transfer of big amounts of data to be the biggest advantage, simultaneously keeping the real time ability. Furthermore, a corresponding Scope software had a lot of advantageous applications, among them the visualisation of the plant topology in connection with a meaningful plant diagnosis.

SPANGLER GMBH appointed a new Managing Director on 01.01.2019. Christian Brandmüller changed from Sales Manager to the company’s management.

Continuity and long-term thinking are two values from the SPANGLER mission statement to which the Töging-based company committed itself. An early adjustment for the future was consequently carried out with the appointment of the new managing director. Therefore, this is in accordance with SPANGLER values and objectives.

Extensive experience with contacts to customers

After his apprenticeship in electrical engineering Christian Brandmüller started his career at SPANGLER 25 years ago. In the last 16 years he was responsible for the sales department and since 2009 he was also authorised representative. He can now include his long-term experience with customers, suppliers and partners of the company in his new assignment.

High demand of integrity

“Christian Brandmüller represents exactly the values we as a family-run company stand for: integrity with a high demand to oneself. We are a reliable partner for our customers, suppliers and employees”, explains Hannelore Spangler-Schäfer, Managing Director and company founder. “We are pleased that Christian Brandmüller will support the future management.”