Fully automating production processes that were once manual or semiautomatic presents special challenges when the cycle times involved are extremely short With workpiece carrier systems operating on a fixed cycle time accommodating the differences between individual processing stations motion profiles involves setting up multiple stations of a given type to operate in parallel This prompted Goldfuß Engineering GmbH in Balingen Germany to deploy its first Beckhoff eXtended Transport System XTS on a medical pill packaging line The XTS uses software functionality for flexible buffering to deliver a highly dynamic solution that ideally meets the line s transport needs and helps to reduce the number of components to a minimum Goldfuß designs and builds a range of handling and production systems including specialty machinery used in plastics engineering and the food and pharmaceutical sectors To support high speed processes with a throughput of up to 60 parts per minute these systems rely on exceptionally precise feed positioning processing and inspection operations to function effectively XTS offers systems like this a compact transport solution with the flexibility and rapid product changeover capabilities they need At the same time XTS with its advanced software functionality paves the way for entirely new approaches to implementing highly dynamic machine setups and configurations where motion tasks that once bordered on the impossible or would have called for highly complex solutions can now be implemented with unprecedented ease and flexibility As Michael Müller a member of Goldfuß s executive management team and head of special purpose machines sales explains Unlike fixed cycle time workpiece carrier The Goldfuß assembly line for bill bottle caps benefits from XTS s sophisticated software functionality and is both highly compact and flexible to operate Flexibility boost for a pill bottle cap assembly line eXtended Transport System helps to implement innovative design of specialty pharmaceutical machine with minimised hardware needs

Vorschau MGCC Perspectives May/Jun 2018 Seite 30
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