The Future of Packaging

PACKAGING PROFILE, PACKAGING PROFILE, PACKAGING PROFILE, PACKAGING PROFILE, Current and future developments in the automation of packaging machines The Future of Packaging Klaus Weyer, Marketing Manager, ELAU AG I n recent years, a fundamental change took place in the packaging machine industry. Mechanical machine concepts belong to the past; electronic machines increasingly dominate the market. In the future, the PC as an automation unit and the servo technology as a drive element will be the key technologies for all electronic packaging machines. The users need simple and innovative automation architecture which reduces life cycle costs while at the same time improving the machine performance. It would certainly be too easy to see a standard only in the interface between control and motor controller. A standardisation includes above all a sensible architecture in hardware and software, the reduction and standardisation of all interfaces and the simplification of the automation solution. The service staff for the machines can just no longer be required to use two or three different programming units and software in order to search and localise an error, should any problem arise in the machine. Standardisation is a Must Key control units such as PLC and motion control simply have to be combined and programmed with one and the same standardised language and a standardised application program. Of course the operating and visualisation software should also be able to access the data in the PLC and motion control. In any case, the automation solution will become increasingly complex. The only way to be able to handle it will be fully digitalised structures for all hardware assembly groups in combination with a guaranteed, extensive flow of information. The most important requirements are software functionalities that fulfil the high requirements in terms of dynamics, flexibility and precise cycle and angle synchronism of the packaging machine. As a result of the ever increasing requirements in terms of flexibility, product quality and machine capacity, more and more electronic packaging machines are being built. The servomotor drives of a machine replace conventional mechanics. Even today, a number of 20 servomotors is not unusual in such machines. And of course it should be possible to use always the same automation concept, whether a machine has 2 or 30 servo axes. It is just as important that hardware and software functionalities are tailored specifically to the technologies of the packaging machines. The Packagers’ Current Demands The conversion of packaging machine technology is in full swing worldwide. Traditional machine building increasingly gives way to electronic control and drive technology, which means dramatic changes in the engineering of new machines. The fundamental change affects not only the machine building, but also the packaging industry. Particularly in the USA, this branch of industry is experiencing unrest and uncertainty. No wonder, then, that the largest packagers, including Procter & Gamble, Hershey Foods and Kraft Foods, want to influence the newly emerging technology of the machines. Above all, they fear a proliferation of different technologies, which the personnel of the packaging industry could no longer master. The wish for standardisation in the field of automation technology is growing stronger and stronger. The aim is to create a certain order with the help of standardised hardware and, more importantly, software. Fig.1 Even today, the share of electronics and software in packaging machines is about as high as the mechanical share. 94 New Food Packaging Profile PACKAGING PROFILE, PACKAGING PROFILE As a rule, packaging machines are part of packing lines and represent only one element in a series of upstream and downstream machines. In order for the packing line to achieve its production capacity, however, very different kinds of information have to be exchanged between the machines via standardised interfaces. The large American packing firms agree that easy serviceability of the machine is the most important aspect. If an error occurs on a machine, there should be a sophisticated error search system that indicates the actual error and thus makes it easier for the service staff to find it. The easier such a diagnosis is, the more widely it is accepted. In any case, however, it must be possible to diagnose errors via modem or Internet, which enables the specialist to look for errors over long distances. Fig. 2 The structure of modern automation concepts for packaging machines Automation solutions with no limits Summing up all the requirements of the packaging industry, they rightly call for a clear and clean architecture of the entire automation technology in the machines. It is obvious that only international standards are suitable for that purpose. One thing, however, can already be said: The commercially available conventional PLC and motion control systems by no means meet those requirements. In view of those requirements, ELAU AG, which concentrates 100% on the automation of packaging machines, developed a suitable control and drive concept. PacDrive, which was developed on the basis of PC technologies, uses only standardised hardware, interfaces and software in order to offer the packaging companies an automation system that uses the same structure for both small and large machines. The entire performance improvement is mapped in the software and dramatically reduces the life cycle costs of a machine