June 2019

53 www.drivesncontrols.com June 2019 GAMBICA SUPPLEMENT n radical and unforeseen developments, such as the move from cartons to plastic pouches in the packaging industry. More profitable Batch sizes may be shrinking, but variables such as lead times, volume and throughput, remain critical. The challenge is to produce the goods cost-effectively. In the long run, adaptive machinery does not cost any more than traditional machinery. Improvements in availability, performance and quality ensure effectiveness over time. The resulting reduction of indirect costs means higher profitability in the long term. New-generation conveyor systems use tracks with variable pitch, enabling products to be moved individually. The movements can be synchronised to prevent bottlenecks and eliminate the need for accumulation buffers. The products are moved on shuttles that can be synchronised with other shuttles moving in a different flow. A process that takes four seconds, for instance, can be synchronised with a two-second process on two shuttles. A well planned variable-pitch operation optimises production efficiency. Improved productivity The adaptive machine can increase line productivity – not just by 5 or 10%, but radically. With traditional fixed-indexing product transport, productivity is limited by the slowest station. The adaptive machine solves this by having multiple installations of the slow station. The increased productivity can be substantial and is determined by the difference in processing time between the fastest and slowest stations. With the latest generation of track systems, product flows merge and divide as required. Items can be sorted on an individual basis. Defective products can be easily put to one side. Equipment availability increases along with overall quality. Better reliability If two or more stations perform the same operation, the redundancy can be used to give the adaptive machine an exceptional level of fault tolerance. Traditionally, a fault with one processing station would result in faulty products needing to be sorted out further down the line. The cost for the products as well as their packaging was lost. Using an adaptive machine, the faulty station is simply disabled with a tap on an HMI screen. The transport system stops sending products there and production continues with the usual level of quality, but with a slightly reduced output rate. When working in an expanding market, the installed capacity will eventually reach its limit. This used to mean that a manufacturer had a choice of either adding machinery, or upgrading with more productive equipment. The adaptive machine offers another option – scalable machine architecture. By adding new track segments and additional processing stations, the installed capacity can be upgraded easily with minimum investment. The adaptive machine gives manufacturers the tools they need to service a new generation, where consumers expect to be treated as individuals. Batch size one meets the needs of this generation. n BELOW: The latest track systems can sort items individually, and merge and divide product flows.