Transportation/Construction Co Increases Throughput & Uptime

An industry leader in developing load transfer solutions for the transportation/construction markets sought out Valin® to assist them with a problem. This company's ability to provide quality, customized, rapid production orders of coated rebar and other load transfer equipment have set the level of expectations for local and regional end-users. To maintain this achievement, they realized that they would need to increase their throughput and minimize down time of their “Hydraulic Bar Line” machine. Furthermore, they required a method to decrease changeover time and tooling in addition to eliminating wiring and cabinet space accommodations.
 
Valin®’s Automation Technical Specialist and Engineering group, in cooperation with Omron’s Engineering Support, collaborated with the engineers at this company to develop a new, state-of-the-art automated Bar Line machine. The solution consisted of Omron’s most recent development, the NJ Machine Automated Controller. Used in conjunction with the Sysmac Studio Software® and rapid EtherCAT® communication network, the G5 series EtherCAT Motion system coordinates all 23-axis of motion with ease.
 
The NJ solution harmonizes motion, vision and logic control in one compact unit. Networking with peripheral devices, like one of the eight G5 Series servo drives, NS Programmable Terminal, or five MX-2 Inverters is made simple with a quick-connect EtherCAT cable; decreasing wiring requirement and time of installation. In addition, Sysmac Studio offers an innovative interface with accessible PLC function blocks for programming in both simulated and real time environments.
 
The onsite technical service, consultation and start-up support from all parties involved was instrumental in securing our relationship with this company. In addition, Valin® and Omron educated the newest employee at one of their sites on the equipment, who was then able to assemble, program and test the entire system on his own!
 
The Valin® solution immediately decreased programming and installation time. It also doubled the Bar Line throughput from 2 to 4 lines per run, with rebar varying from 40-60ft in length. The operator can now easily toggle between eight different bar sizes with little effort on the mechanical change out. The motion profile has been tested with impressive accuracy and precision, and has been synchronized with the rest of the machine components.