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TEXTILE
Innovative Solutions for the Textile Industry
s
October 2003
Turn-Key in Mezzogiorno
Simple and Reliable –
Sitex knits perfectly
Innovative Machines for
Innovative Products
2
CONTENT
TRENDS
3
Investing in a secure future
Thinking Ahead
Partnership with Siemens for a secure future
25
Dying and Finishing
Quality Felt Guaranteed
Textile reﬁnement plant renewed with WinAC MP
27
Gentle Wash Cycle
Post-treatment of textiles optimized with
universal automation
CASE STUDIES
5
Spinning
Universally Wound
28
Modulare machine automation in textile ﬁnishing
29
Success in the Far East
30
Polymers Spun into Fine Fibres
Siemosyn synchronous motors for manufacturing
plastic ﬁbres
8
10
SYSTEM SOLUTIONS
Record Breaking
Closely Spun
4
12
Simple and Reliable
Labels on End
Masterdrives provide perfect labels
18
16
19
20
21
24
31
Optimum Solution with a Great Effect
Productive Platform
Strong in Weak Mains
14
Geared up for All Drive Tasks
One Platform for All
Efficiently Wound Up
SOLUTION COMPETENCE
Innovative Machines for Innovative
Products
13
The Dilo System Group has relied on Siemens
technology and support for years
14
Service & Support
A Close Network
Service and support worldwide
Total Equipment from A to Z
WKC accompanies customers through the whole
life cycle of switch cabinet building
Producing Nonwovens under Pressure
AquaJet production line from Fleissner
Time to Say Good-bye
PRODUCTS
Flexible solution for progressive winding
technologies with the winding calculator
22
Success made by Sitex
Biaxial machines exploit the ﬂexibility of Simotion
Short staple spinning machines
Nonwoven
Fabric
The weaving machine goes modular with
Simotion
From Loom to High-tech Machine
Succcessful Stitch-bonding with Simotion
Best Spinning Results Guaranteed
Technology for tomorrow’s trends
New drives for high performance in the
carpet factory
20
Wound up in no Time at All
Uniform drawing of slivers with integrated
automation
Fabric
Duo perfetto
Spinning
Filament winders place high demands on
automation
Sitex knits perfectly
18
Future-proof and Flexible
Integrated automation solution in the
manufacture of polyester ﬁbres
Circular knitting machines with Sitex
17
Weaving Preparation
High-performance warping machine Sucker
Comwarp with MP 270B Touch
Marzoli-Vouk and Siemens cooperate in the
area of short staple spinning machines
15
26
Turn-Key in Mezzogiorno
Aksa Acrilic relies on Siemens technology for
spinning acrylics
11
Marvelous Printing Results
Revolutionary textile printing technology twinned
with state-of-the-art automation
Neumag is conquering the Asian market for
staple ﬁbre machines
7
High-quality for Strong Brands
Proﬁbus enables the production of high-quality
materials
Totally Integrated Automation in the winder
production
6
Smart and Innovative
14
Made-to-measure Solutions
Chemnitz application center on the road
to success
spectrum textile 2003
TRENDS
3
Investing in a secure future
Partnership with Siemens for a secure future
Thinking Ahead
Manufacturers of textile machines and systems have to bring their
innovations to market more and more quickly and cost-effectively, while also
supplying their machines with precision, speed and ﬂexibility. At the same
time, end users are pushing for a low total cost of ownership, increased
productivity, secure investment and quality. For all those involved –
including the automation supplier – this means: Only those who have the
courage to invest in new technologies will have the best chance of success
in the future.
Norbert Brenner,
Head of Business Development for Textile Machine
Automation
T
oday, the innovation
capability of the automation supplier is
more important than ever,
as is his ability to respond
directly to his customers’
requests. No matter how innovative they are, products
– on their own – are no longer enough.
The motto now reads “Identify trends
and respond accordingly”, be it with innovative systems, intelligent solutions or
unique services.
One of the most important trends in
the textiles industry is the apparent move
towards modular machines and systems.
The dedicated systems still prevalent today are gradually being superseded by a
modular system with standard units and
distributed automation concepts. This offers considerable beneﬁts, particularly in
terms of project duration. In addition, the
use of tried and tested modules in hardware and software results in improved
quality.
Modular machine manufacture
What is more, modular machine concepts
are increasingly replacing mechanical
components with electronic components
(e.g. electronic gears). That means that
single drives substitute the vertical shaft.
The various mechanical machine components can be designed, built and modiﬁed
separately and assembled individually,
thus increasing ﬂexibility and reducing
spectrum textile 2003
“ We are a
competent and
reliable partner
for the textiles
industry. Together,
we want to work
with you to
develop the solutions of
the future”.
prototypes. This not only saves time but
is also considerably less risky: the resulting prototype instantly meets all requirements. Time to market, as well as design
costs, are dramatically reduced as a result.
Ratio potential can also be achieved by offering complete solutions, e.g. a fully assembled, tested and customized control
cabinet that can virtually be delivered
with Plug and Play functionality to the end
customer’s production line.
Together into new markets
commissioning time. With its distributed
automation structures, in conjunction
with the Simovert Masterdrives and
Sinamics drive systems (see also page 31),
Siemens is able to offer integrated solutions for textile machine building.
However, optimum modularity can only be achieved in conjunction with the
Simotion motion control automation system (see also page 32). The central lead
controller, e.g. a Simatic controller, controls the interaction of the entire system.
To save space, the modules are integrated
in Simotion D (drive-based) and automated in the Sinamics drive.
Innovative service concepts for
more proﬁt
“Mechatronic Support” is an innovative
service concept that Siemens is already
using with great success. It enables prototype design – generally a very costly
process – to be carried out using virtual
Another discernible trend in the textiles
industry is the move towards the fullscope supplier, whereby the end customer
wants everything for his new production
line to come from the one source, with
vertical and horizontal integration
throughout the entire process. To be able
to meet these and future challenges, while
at the same time developing new markets
(e.g. Asia, in particular, China), textile machine manufacturers need a strong partner at their side. In Siemens they have just
such a partner, experienced and focused
on the textiles sector. As a “global player”
with an extensive, global service network,
Siemens can support them with individual solutions, efficient systems and inno■
vative service concepts.
4
SYSTEM SOLUTION
Spinning
Filament winders place high demands on automation
Simotion combines motion control as well
as technological and drive functions in
one hardware and software solution. It
masters technological functions such as
calculations for the traversing processes
and the diameters of the bobbins just as
easily as motion control functions – such
as positioning the rotary table and run-off
control. High ﬂexibility is in demand particularly in the textile industry: in addition to fast change-over times, Simotion
is distinguished by the free selection of
reeling modes. To ensure high quality, all
batches can be reproduced at any time
using an integrated recipe memory. With
its graphic programming, the system also
proves itself to be extremely user-friendly.
Simotion has another advantage in store for the user: The Scout engineering
Wound up in no
Time at All
In synthetic ﬁber spinning plants, winders complete the spinning process. The
extremely ﬁne threads are wound from the spinning nozzle onto the oversized
bobbins at a high speed. The bobbins are changed without interrupting the
spinning process. In this area of application, the intelligent motion control
system Simotion shows its advantages: The combination of motion control,
technological functions and logics ensures high ﬂexibility, short change-over
times and user friendliness.
S
pinning speeds of up to 8000 meters
per minute are not unusual in modern synthetic ﬁber plants. They are
a great challenge for the winder that follows after the Spinning process. After all,
it has to remove two to twelve ﬁlament
tows at this speed an wind them. To keep
the spinning process from being interrupted, the full bobbins are changed on the
ﬂy.
Not only are the speeds impressive,
though, but also the dimensions. Weighing up to 35 kilograms, a bobbin can take
up several million meters of thread. The
bobbin build-up determines the draw-off
scuttle of the yarn and the possibilities for
further processing it. Depending on the
application, synthetic yarns have very different technological properties. This already has to be taken into account in the package build-up.
High-capacity winding technology
Today, most ﬁlament winders are core
winders – that means that the tensioning
spindles are directly driven. A powerful
servo motor produces the superimposed
traversing movement. Individual drives
are used with the winding spindles and
the traversing (yarn placement) to attain
maximum possible ﬂexibility in the interaction of the units and thus for the package build-up. A gauging roller measures
the circumferential speed of the bobbins
and reports it to the diameter calculator.
The movement of a rotary table compensates for the increasing package diameter.
The bobbins are changed on the ﬂy: empty
Principle of a ﬁlament winder
Bobbin drive 1
Servo-traversing
Traversing beam
Threads
Gaugin roller
Rotary table
Switch
cabinet
Bobbin drive 2
Servo-rotary table
tubes are accelerated to the spinning
speed, the full bobbins swing away from
the gauging roller, and the threads are cut
and caught by the new tubes.
A good change(-over) with Simotion D
The breakneck speeds in the production
process place very high demands on the
drive and automation system. It must be
possible to replace defective winders very
quickly during operation. This requires
automatic addressing of the new winder.
With its 4-axis control, the drive-based
motion control system Simotion D fulﬁlls
all the requirements of an automation
solution for demanding winder systems.
Ejector
Tube
Chuck
Bobbin
system is a tool that contains everything that users need to conﬁgure
the hardware, parameterize the drives, plan and program the functionality, as well as perform commissioning and testing. Extensive diagnostic tools and simple dialog guidance
make the system transparent and
■
simple to use.
spectrum textile 2003
CASE STUDY
5
Spinning
Total Integrated Automation scores points
in winder production
pe and ﬁber material. The winder naturally changes bobbins completely automatically.
Universally Wound
A challenge for drives
From the controller to the operator panel,
Barmag has automated the Baby ASW with
Siemens components. The winder is controlled by a Simatic S7-300 controller.
Winding yarns with a particular tensile
force is especially challenging for the drives: at the beginning of the package buildup, the drive starts running at a high
speed, and as the bobbin diameter increases, the speed is reduced correspondingly.
The 4 drive axes of the machine are controlled by Masterdrives VC Kompakt Plus
and MC Kompact Plus. With their high
initial frequency, they are almost ideally
suited for this application area. The high
resolution of the speed and actual-value
measurement ensures that the speed setpoint is exactly maintained.
The high-performance hardware perfectly implements the software speciﬁcations. For an exact and trouble-free winding, the program must carry out continuous diameter calculations and compute
the depositing angle of the yarn for the
traversing disturbance method. For the
drives, this means implementing accuracy
in the speed ratio up to the third decimal
place.
The most important characteristics for ﬁlament winders are an optimum
package build-up and ﬂexibility. Barmag Spinnzwirn is a company rich in
tradition that develops and produces high-performance winders for synthetic
ﬁlaments. Since all winders are part of a spinning plant, integrated automation
approaches has proven very successful. This was a reason for the company to
use control and drive technology from Siemens.
A
round 140 years of experience in
textile machine manufacturing
predestine Barmag Spinnzwirn
GmbH for winder manufacturing. In addition, this medium-sized company from
Chemnitz, Germany produces slit ﬁlm
yarn production lines as well as twisting
and air texturing machines. The high export share of 80 percent to all ﬁve continents also demonstrates the quality and
level of recognition of the company.
Barmag carries the compact automatic
winder Baby ASW in its range speciﬁcally
for winding technical yarns. The well-engineered mechanics with reliable, inverted-thread traversing has proven itself
very well in this machine.
The spun yarn is wound onto cardboard tubes at speeds of up to 4500 meters
per minute – depending on the winder ty-
Open for expansions
Barmag
Filament winder Baby ASW
spectrum textile 2003
All components are integrated in Totally
Integrated Automation (TIA). End customers appreciate TIA’s high degree of integration since winders are always part of a
spinning plant. In this way, the machines
can also be easily coupled with third-party
products. In addition, TIA offers an openness in technology that is equally useful to
the OEM and end customers. This allows
Barmag to integrate their own engineering know-how at any time. The plant
operator has the possibility of optimizing
the bobbin build-up and thereby obtaining market advantages as a result. However, choosing standard products from
Siemens was a good decision for Barmag
in another respect as well: their remote
service capability makes it possible to solve problems quickly via remote diagnostics. Furthermore, Siemens is represented
by service points worldwide. As a result,
customers from all over the world have no
■
problem with the service.
CASE STUDY
Spinning
With Siemens as a partner Neumag is conquering the
Asian market for staple ﬁber lines
Success in the Far East
Neumag, a member of the world’s largest textile machine manufacturer Saurer, and world
market leader in the ﬁelds of staple ﬁber lines and BCF machines (Bulked-ContinuousFilament) is well positioned in the Asian market. The company is currently handling the
world’s largest polyester staple ﬁber project. Neumag is supplying not only the spinning mill
and ﬁber line equipment but also the entire engineering and process know-how. The
uniform automation with Siemens components guarantees the customer an integrated
solution from a single provider.
N
eumag has been producing machines and plants for the synthetic
ﬁber industry for more than 50
years. The synthetic ﬁbers are cut in the
staple ﬁber process into ﬁber “staples” after spinning and stretching, i.e. ﬁber sections of an exactly deﬁned length. These
can then be processed further – for example for the clothing industry. The proven
Neumag production process is a synonym
for best ﬁber quality and maximum production efficiency.
Large-scale plants secure
market advantages
The trend in staple ﬁber machines is moving towards large-scale plants with a capacity of 200 tons a day – a trend that Neumag has inﬂuenced decisively. 200-tons-aday lines are an important contribution to
reducing production costs and are therefore what customers prefer.
A big order in Asia for the production
of “cotton-type” polyester-HTHM-staple
ﬁbers will further expand the world leadership of the company in this ﬁeld. Eleven
of these jumbo plants are presently in
production, assembly or commissioning
to produce polyester ﬁbers on the Asian
market.
All inter-adapted
This success is no coincidence. Neumag
employs the ﬁnest in automation and
drive solutions for implementing their
process know-how in their plants. The
powerful, easy to operate controller
Simatic S7-400 is used as a PLC in the staple ﬁber plants. The modular Simovert
Masterdrives VC enable an ideal and low-
Neumag
6
The Neumag Jumbo staple ﬁber machines
spin, stretch and cut the ﬁbers
cost solution over the whole performance
range of the spinning and ﬁber line – even
with different motors such as the permanent magnet-excited synchronous motors
Siemosyn 1FU8 and the standard asynchronous motors 1LA / 1PQ. The robust
Simatic Rack PC 840 puts a high-end device at the customer’s disposal which offers a wide range of extension and expansion possibilities as well as integrated
monitoring functions. A comfortable HMI
concept for the plant is also important to
the user of course. And the process visualization system Simatic WinCC provides
him with the ideal software.
This single-source solution offers the
end user a number of advantages: Apart
from having a single contact for all questions and application tasks, he gets compatible interfaces and is able to save stock
capacity. The customer also beneﬁts from
the three-fold uniformity of Totally Integrated Automation in terms of communication, conﬁguration and data storage. ■
spectrum textile 2003
CASE STUDY
7
Spinning
After being pressed through the
spinning nozzles and being cooled
with conditioned air and several
other processing steps, the ﬁlaments are placed in spinning cans
Siemosyn synchronous servomotor
for manufacturing plastic ﬁbers
Polymers Spun
into Fine Fibers
A
s a technology leader, the Zimmer
AG owns and employs a multitude
of sophisticated processes, covering the entire lifecycle of polymers, synthetic ﬁbers and thermoplasts from production to recycling. Just to mention a few
applications, Zimmer is building plants
and machines for the production of textile
ﬁlaments, staple ﬁbers, tire cord, carpet
yarns and products for further processing
into packaging foils, PET-bottles and technical ﬁlms
Melted, pressed and cut
Zimmer uses the melt spinning method to
produce polyester and polyamides. A PET
polycondensation line continuously supplies liquid polymer to the direct spinning
line. The melted mass is distributed to the
individual spinning points by the spinning bar and is pressed through the spinning nozzles by the spinning pumps with
an even conveyance speed by the spinning
pump drives. This produces ﬁne ﬁlaments
that are cooled with conditioned air, oiled
and collected to form ﬁlament bundles.
After the bundles have been placed in
spinning cans over discharge units and by
reel plaiters, they are ready for further
processing.
For further processing in the textile
area, the ﬁlament is cut into staples. The
staple ﬁber production lines of Zimmer
that are connected to the direct spinning
spectrum textile 2003
mill offer a complete package of technology
for this. One plant in India with a capacity
of 120 tons per day and two plants in China
with a capacity of 150 tons per day each
have been successfully commissioned.
Efficient automation –
economical production
State-of-the-art textiles with consistent
quality and low prices – that means that
production line constructors have to continuously design manufacturing processes
that are more and more efficient. The manufacture of high-quality ﬁbers, in particular, demands high-capacity and fast automation technologies with precise, speedvariable drives.
The Siemosyn IFU8 permanent-ﬁeld
synchronous motor has optimally proven
itself for the drive system of the spinning
pump. It is especially suitable for single
drives in which load-independent, synchronous and frequency-proportional speeds
are required, and for group drive systems
where several motors are controlled synchronously by one frequency converter.
The motor convinced Zimmer with its especially economical operation: it has a
magnetically active rotor and requires signiﬁcantly less reactive power than other
drives. The bearing lifetime and oilservice
intervals for Siemosyn 1FU8 are at least
40,000 hours. As a result, the company was
able to extend the maintenance intervals
for the spinning pump drives considerably.
Another Siemosyn motor is used in the
reel plaiter drive of the discharge unit. As
a frequency converter for the distributed
drives, Zimmer decided on Micromaster
MM 440 with Proﬁbus connection to the
Simatic S7-400 controller. This ensures
continuity on all levels.
The tried-and-tested 1LA asynchronous
motors provide reliable service in all main
drives of the staple ﬁber production line.
Simatic S7-400 and Masterdrives for drive
control, servo-control and setpoint cascad■
ing provide continuity here as well.
Zimmer AG
When synthetic ﬁbers are processed,
one process variant is spinning the
polymers into ﬁlaments in continuous
ﬁber spinning mills. The high standard of quality and the simultaneous
cost pressure in the textile ﬁeld
require a fully developed automation
technology: the Zimmer AG of Frankfurt ensures its competitive edge by
using the Siemosyn motor 1FU8 for
the spinning pump drives.
8
CASE STUDY
Spinning
Integrated automation solution in the
manufacture of polyester ﬁbers
Turn-Key in
Mezzogiorno
One of the leading manufacturers of acrylic and polyester ﬁbers in Europe –
Monteﬁbre SpA – has expanded its production in Acerra near Naples for a
capacity of 50,000 tons per year. The newly installed polymerization, spinning
mill, stores logistics and staple ﬁber plant all meet the latest requirements.
Monteﬁbre got a license for the process technology from Ems Inventa Fischer.
An Italian company did the assembly and installation. Siemens was responsible
for the electrical engineering in the spinning mill and the ﬁber line as well as
for the overall coordination.
T
he Monteﬁbre company became
well-known in 1957 with their brand
name Terital. The products are used
in all areas of application of textiles: technical, medical and household textile applications. A plant for manufacturing the
ﬁbers is located in Acerra. However, the
production capacity in the Southern Italian town was no longer sufficient, prompting Monteﬁbre to launch an expansion
project at the beginning of 2001. In the
new spinning mill, the polymer is spun
into ﬁbers in 30 positions and stored in
cans. A logistics system supplies the cans
at the right time and in the desired quality
to the staple ﬁber plant. Up to 150 tons of
ﬁbers per day can then be further
processed and pressed into bales.
In May 2001 Siemens received an order
for providing the plant’s electrical equipment. The technical details then had to
be discussed with Monteﬁbre and Ems
Inventa Fischer. Siemens also took over
the scheduling of deadlines and was the
general point of contact for everything
concerned with their own scope of delivery. The experienced electrical supplier
planned deadline agreements, electro-
technical installations, acceptance tests
and deliveries so that the building site operations went by without any hitches. Installation began after the complete delivery of all components in June 2002. The
spinning mill was commissioned operation ﬁrst in November, followed by the
ﬁber line.
Efficient and failsafe automation
For automation of the plants, Monteﬁbre
required a central operation and control
system. Simatic S7-400H and WinCC are
the ideal duo for this. Redundant operat-
Automation concept of spinning and ﬁbre plant
Spinning line
Fibre line
Client station WinCC
Redundancy of
server 2
Redundancy of
server 1
1
Main
op-stations
WinCC/
Server
Industrial
Ethernet
Industrial Ethernet
2
PLC:
SIMATIC
S7-400H
PLC:
SIMATIC
S7-400
Plant Ethernet network
TCP/IP
1
1
2
2
PROFIBUS
Machine controls, drives, auxiliaries, ET 200
PROFIBUS
Machine controls, drives, auxiliaries, ET 200
spectrum textile 2003
9
tric brakes mounted directly on the motors ensure safe stopping. Modern MCC
slide-in drawer technology of the Sivacon
type controls and monitors the auxiliary
drives. Trigger signals and messages are
transmitted via Proﬁbus to the Simatic
where they are processed. The highly
compact modular design allows a spacesaving layout without impairing ﬂexibility
in the scope of functions. Accessory modules such as soft starter, right-left hand
rotation and temperature monitoring
modules extend the performance.
ing stations guarantee uninterrupted operation if a station should fail. The redundant Proﬁbus communication with the
Simatic S7 controller and the WinCC operating level ensures high availability. In addition it supplies information for efficient
management.
The main drives in the spinning mill
such as spinning pumps and take-off assemblies consist of Siemosyn permanentﬁeld motors with Masterdrives converters.
Their highly accurate, digital speed control provides optimum operating results.
All drives are linked by an intermediate
circuit and backed up by Masterguard as
an independent power supply so that a
brief power failure or interruption does
not necessarily close down operation.
Distributed systems and
operating safety
Simatic S7-400 with redundant WinCC operating stations is also used in the ﬁber
plant. All drives and the process control
are controlled via Proﬁbus. Distributed
ET200 S reduce the amount of wiring in
the plant and also supply all the information for control and visualization to the
Simatic via Proﬁbus. The WinCC stations
enable direct management, supervision
and logging of production. The operator
has the advantage of being able to output
error messages, reports, diagrams or
curves on printers.
The speed-controlled drives allow a
highly accurate setpoint control. Masterdrives converters supply the asynchronous motors up to 700 kW of power. Elec-
spectrum textile 2003
Market requirements also demand consistent quality documentation throughout
all production stages from Monteﬁbre. A central control computer therefore saves all the data
for production control and quality monitoring. All production
units are connected via Ethernet,
each unit acquiring data according to a method developed by
Monteﬁbre and passing it on to
the control computer.
The spinning mill receives the
data for the next batch and reports back information on completed production runs. This
provides quality-relevant information which can be put together in a quality report at the end
of production as required.
The new plant went into operation in May 2003
and increases production capacity in Acerra by
The ﬁber line receives all the
50,000 tons per year
data from the production logistics and also passes on data to
the bale presses. For example,
the energy requirements or the producpleased in retrospect, and, conﬁrms that
tion process can be analyzed or archived
Siemens supplied the electrical equipas a log. The WinCC system provides the
ment like the customer requires it and ofdata and allows preconﬁgured evaluafers service and support for cost-effective
■
tions or custom trend curves of important
operation.“
process variables. The integrated linking
of the devices under the TIA concept with
Proﬁbus serves as a basis. This allows later expansions and adaptations without
any problems. The TIA concept also supports the tight integration of the automation levels and allows access to all information of the PLC, WinCC and the drives
via the Proﬁbus.
Monteﬁbre
Geißelbrecht
Information integration ensures
high quality
sioning of the electrical equipment. Technical clariﬁcation and engineering coordination with the customer and subsequent
acceptance took place according to schedule. Coordination with Monteﬁbre, Snamprogetti and Inventa Fischer worked perfectly. A ﬁrm basis for providing the hardware and software engineering was created for Siemens by joint technical discussions, clariﬁcation of requirements and
deﬁnition of interfaces to other production processes.
Planning commissioning was not easy
on account of the problems on site. A
great challenge for the project management was the ﬂexibility in personnel
deployment and the close cooperation of
the partners. Monteﬁbre is therefore very
Siemens a competent partner
Siemens was responsible for coordinating
and handling the delivery and commis-
10
CASE STUDY
Spinning
Aksa Acrilic relies on Siemens technology
for spinning acrylics
Record Breaking
The use of Simovert Masterdrives VC
in two spinning lines of a Turkish
synthetic ﬁber manufacturer
guarantees high user-friendliness and
precise diagnostic capability in
addition to high accuracy, stability
and maximum speed.
T
he Aksa Akrilic A.S. company founded in 1968 in Istanbul with its plant
in Yalova specializes in the manufacture of acrylic ﬁbers. With an initial production of 5,000 tons, Aksa now produces
250,000 tons a year, 8.5 percent of the
total world production, and is one of
the most important economic forces in
Turkey.
The raw material of the acrylic ﬁbers
is a synthetic polymer which is pressed
through the narrow holes in a spinning
plate. Aksa uses the wet spinning technique in which the polymer solution is
pumped through the spinning nozzles directly into the coagulation bath where the
individual threads solidify.
Convincing Siemens technology
The fast-growing company decided to
modernize build two new spinning lines
mechanically and electronically. Drive sys-
tem modernization were made with
Siemens technology. In addition to the
technical implementation Siemens also
supplied the concept: two 710 Kilowatt
Siemens AFE (Active Front End) feed-return units feed 34 Masterdrives VC with
a common DC bus. The drive consists of
motors of the 1LA type and the controller
is a Simatic S7-400. The second AFE serves
as a standby unit in case the active unit
should fail whereby the speed of the motor remains unchanged.
“One of the main reasons why we chose
the AFE is the suppression of the harmonics at simultaneous high immunity to voltage interruptions,” Mustafa Yilmaz, Managing Director of Aksa A.S. explains.
Simple modiﬁcations
The very speciﬁc demands of the textile
ﬁrm on the system control were met on
the basis of Totally Integrated Automation
(TIA). S7-400 communicates with the
drive via Proﬁbus DP 12 Megaband. The
display is provided by the new S7 software
and the HMI system Simatic WinCC. A
variable-speed setpoint cascade management was particularly important to the
company because it means that the maintenance staff can modify the setpoint cascades and switch the drive on and off
without having to change the control software.
Former solutions more complicated
The system used to have to be shut down
during the changeover to the standby unit
in the event of a fault. In addition, the rectiﬁers generated harmonics, and modiﬁcations of the HMI entailed complex programming.
In a later variation the communication
between the implemented control and
drive technology was omitted: the setpoints were transmitted to the drive via
analog outputs which meant that the resolution and stability were unsatisfactory.
Beneﬁcial development
The project had to be completed within
just 15 weeks – including the engineering.
The short delivery times, high technical
standard and expertise of the Siemens
personnel made it possible to reduce the
production time to eight and the commissioning to seven weeks. The Managing Director Mustafa Yilmaz lists the advantages
of the Siemens system: The user-friendly
structure of the setpoint cascades, the
digital communication of the drive with
the control and the HMI thanks to TIA, the
high safety standards and the effective
diagnostic possibilities with WinCC. He
wrote a letter to Siemens where he expressed his gratitude and promised further cooperation in the future.
■
spectrum textile 2003
CASE STUDY
11
Spinning
ble to achieve considerable energy savings with the ﬂyer while increasing productivity at the same time. Batch change
and machine settings now only require a
fraction of the previously required time.
The user can set all speeds conveniently
on the display.
Marzoli
Universally advantageous
Marzoli-Vouk and Siemens cooperate in the area
of short staple spinning machines
Closely Spun
One for all
The Italian company Marzoli has been shaped by over 100 years of experience in the area of short staple spinning. In order to ensure a continuous
development of their machine range, the ﬁrm has joined together with
Siemens to automate their machines. The coordinated automation components cover virtually all requirements of Marzoli’s spinning machines.
M
arzoli S.p.A. is one of the world’s
leading manufacturers of spinning machines in the short
staple area. Marzoli produces complete,
turnkey plants together with the Vouk
Company they had acquired in 1999. The
delivery program of the company includes
machines for processing cottons, synthetic ﬁbers and blends of these – from bales
to yarn.
can be installed right where they are
needed on the machine. The integrated
Proﬁbus ensures a trouble-free data
transmission with only one communication cable. All interferences that can occur
with direct cabling between the CPU and
drives or distributed I/O’s are therefore
prevented from the beginning. The literally “driving force” in Marzoli’s machines
is an extensive and reliable family of motors, starting with the asynchronous motors 1LA7 and extending to 1FK7 and 1FT6
servo motors. These motors are already
pre-conﬁgured in the Simodrive 611U and
Masterdrives drive families, which guarantees a fast system start-up.
The multi-motor drive concept allows
an optimum arrangement of the drives.
The elimination of mechanics and the new
dimensioning of the drives make it possi-
In order to maintain their position on the
market, Marzoli is equipping their machines such as the card, ﬂyer, draw frame
and combing machine with the latest automation technology. In this case, the
comprehensive Siemens solution offers
the advantage of an integrated and completely compatible automation architecture.
Innovations in hardware and software
can quickly ﬂow into the latest generation
of machines owing to the modularity of
the implemented components and the
transparent programming. With the
Simatic S7 controller, inputs and outputs
spectrum textile 2003
Marzoli
More innovative with modules
The backbone of this integrated automation architecture is the Totally Integrated
Automation (TIA) concept. Many innovations only became possible with TIA. Just
one example: As a result of the bus connection, ﬂyer sensors and cables for detecting the spindle rail could be eliminated. Prototypes can already be supplemented and adapted to changes during
machine development.
Siemens as the one-stop supplier for the
entire machine and plant automation –
this solution was deliberately chosen by
Marzoli-Vouk. Today, the company greatly
appreciates the advantage of working with
a single partner who is responsible for
quality, mutual integration, application
support, and assistance after sale around
the globe.
A constant dialogue between Marzoli
and Siemens ensures that Marzoli’s machine range is continuously improved and
innovated. The results of this cooperation
are presented at this year’s ITMA, proving
how using innovative automation technology can enhance technology expertise in
■
machine building.
SYSTEM SOLUTION
Spinning
Uniform drawing of slivers with integrated automation
Best Spinning Results
Guaranteed
Staple ﬁbers ﬁrst have to pass through a complex process on the way to high quality yarn. The
draw frame plays an important role in quality production here because all failures in the drawing
frame sliver turn up again in the yarn. In order to meet the related high automation requirements,
Siemens offers a high quality solution. A mature automation concept with Simotion and
Sinamics has many beneﬁts for the machine.
S
ix to eight slivers from the card are
fed to the draw frame through an infeed gate. There they pass a measuring device which measures the sliver
thickness. The measured values are
buffered, evaluated and sent to the drawing machine as a speed setpoint at the
right moment. There the slivers are drawn
into a single sliver of constant thickness.
The faster this regulating process is performed, the better the sliver quality. At delivery speeds of 1,000 meters per minute,
great demands are placed on the automation solution.
Efficient drive concept
Up till now, all drive tasks have been accomplished by a central asynchronous
One step ahead with Simotion
and Sinamics
motor. Gears and the appropriate change
gear wheel which allowed individual adaption to the technological requirements
were used to set the different speeds. On
regulating draw frames there was also a
regulating drive which regulated the sliver thickness to the desired setpoint. The
modern automation solution consists of
four single drives which interact according to the required functions. The resolution of the rigid drive assembly opens up
possibilities as yet unknown. For example
delay values can be set which were not
previously possible because the teeth on
the change gear wheels only allowed integer values. All speed settings can be made
quickly without using tools, even from the
foreman’s office if necessary.
The task of the automation is to guarantee
exact speed synchronicity of the four
drives – especially at machine start and
stop and in the event of a power failure.
The Motion Control system Simotion D
and the Sinamics S drive system offer a
fully integrated automation solution from
one provider which is tailor-made to ideally meet these requirements. Logic processing, movement and drives are integrated on one platform; the user only
needs one simple engineering tool for
control and drive. Simotion also offers
the advantage of multi-axial drive control.
The double axis modules used on the regulated draw frame save costs. The proven
DC-bus means that kinetic buffering is not
a problem either. Mechanics can also be
reduced.
The space required for the switch cabinet is a decisive factor for all textile machines. The small dimensions of Sinamics
are therefore an advantage. With the Drive
Cliq interface, Simotion/Sinamics offers
even greater beneﬁts: The highly efficient
interface is responsible for data exchange
between the Sinamics modules and can also be used for remote diagnostics. That is
important because the spinning mills are
to be found above all in India, Asia or China. In these countries, safety in the event
of power ﬂuctuations and a good shortcircuit-ground short-overload protection
is very important. These requirements
have naturally been considered in the de■
velopment of the Sinamics series.
Prior to spinning, the ﬁbres are parallelized in the draw frame
Marzoli
12
spectrum textile 2003
SOLUTION COMPETENCE
13
Service & Support
Service and support worldwide
A Close Network
Hardly any market is more global than the textile market. Textile machine
manufacturers and end customers in the textile industry therefore need
globally active partners who are able to offer comprehensive service and
support at decisive moments and, when necessary, on site.
Instead of replacing a mal functioning
device, in some cases it may be quicker to
repair it. For this purpose, Siemens A&D
maintains a worldwide network of repair
centers. Standard repairs are usually carried out within ten working days, quick repairs within two working days. To repair
larger equipment and installations, there
is a mobile repair service that performs
repairs on site and is also active worldwide.
First aid on the Web
A
&D customer support is based on
four pillars: These are online support, technical support, service on
site (ﬁeld service) and the worldwide
spare parts and repair service. They ensure that the customer receives the necessary support as required.
Customers of the Motion Control division of Siemens A&D can consult approximately 200 technicians in the technical
support centers, eight of which are located in Germany, four in America and one
in China. At these centers, the experienced technicians process around 3000
inquiries a month reaching then via telephone, e-mail or fax, for example concerning the functions and handling of products and systems, interfaces of system solutions, or the layout of drive systems.
Service on site
Over 600 service employees in over 60
service points worldwide support customers just as requested in commissioning and maintenance. They also work on
site to correct faults.
The job assignments are coordinated
by specialist control centers that can be
reached around the clock. An additional
Siemens service is the Repair Service
Contract (RSC). With the RSC Siemens will
ﬁx machine failures on site. OEM and en-
duser do not have to pay extra fees in case
servicing becomes necessary.
Spare parts and repair service
Machine downtimes due to mal functioning equipment or components certainly
cannot always be prevented. However,
when something happens, a quick replacement must be ensured, in order to
keep the duration and cost of the failure
as low as possible. A sophisticated logistics system ensures that spare parts can
be delivered quickly, even if they are not
available on site. In an emergency, orders
can also be placed outside of the usual
working hours in almost all countries.
While spare parts can usually be
shipped within 24 hours in Western Europe, there are time-consuming and costly hurdles for imports in many countries.
Lengthy customs procedures, for example, can delay the delivery of an urgently
needed component. For this reason,
Siemens A&D maintains regional spare
parts warehouses with locally needed
components in numerous countries – including manufacturing countries that are
particularly important for the textile and
clothing industry, such as China, India
and Pakistan. In this way, spare parts
deliveries are ensured at short notice if
needed.
In addition to “hands-on” services,
Siemens A&D also provides comprehensive, fast information around the clock,
365 days a year with their online support
on the Internet. At one address for all
products and systems, the range of services includes product and system descriptions, and the possibility of directly downloading manuals and software updates.
In the case of smaller problems, the user
can directly search the FAQ’s, where the
most important and frequent customer
inquiries from Technical Support are presented in an easily understandable, product-speciﬁc way and accompanied by advice from specialists. Since good support
always begins with a name, customers will
ﬁnd all the regional and worldwide contacts that are responsible for their con■
cerns in the online support.
Detailed information on the services of
A&D customer support can be found on
the Internet at www.siemens.de/
automation/service&support
Technical
Support
Field
Service
Spares
and Repairs
Online
Support
Direct support
from a Siemens
expert on the
phone
Fast on-site
support all over
the world
Reliable and fast
Comprehensive
support on the
Internet 24–7
1234
14
SOLUTION COMPETENCE
Service & Support
WKC accompanies customers through the
whole life cycle of switch cabinet building
Total Equipment
from A to Z
The Chemnitz Werk für Kombinationstechnik (WKC) offers its
customers custom-made solutions all to do with automation engineering. The electrical cabinet builder offers one-stop service –
from consulting through hardware and software conﬁguration
right up to commissioning.
A view into the Chemnitz switch cabinet production
T
he WKC company founded in 1992 is
one of the youngest and most modern locations of the Siemens group.
Today about 420 employees produce more
than 9,000 electrical cabinets every year
under the motto “We offer every machine
manufacturer complete solutions within
the productivity chain”.The secret of the
Chemnitz company’s success lies in their
wide range of products and services with
which they meet various customers’
needs.
One-stop service
However, the customer beneﬁts, even
more than from the wide range, from hav-
ing just one partner or the whole cabinet
construction life cycle. After customerspeciﬁc consulting, the conﬁguration begins
with the necessary Sinumerik, Simatic,
Simotion or Simodrive and Masterdrives
products. Customized auxiliary electronic
modules can also be developed and produced on the same site if necessary. The
sophisticated material logistics and procurement concepts specially adapted to
meet his requirements and a suitable supply chain management save costs or the
customer.
Every order is accompanied and executed throughout by special customer
teams. Preferential suppliers provide con-
siderable price and logistics advantages.
The machine manufacturer can choose different service packs or electrical testing
which optimize process costs. This means
he gets pre-tested complete equipment on
demand. The supply logistics is also adapted to customers’ needs. One example are
ship-to-line concepts or various customers. WKC ﬁtters provide support or installation and commissioning on request.
The high quality of a electrical cabinet
stands and falls with the production team.
The customer gets a competent contact
partner for all relevant matters. Checklists
in the production and test process guarantee the customer-speciﬁc requirements. ■
Chemnitz application center on the road to success
Made-to-measure Solutions
Creative employees are the basis for every success. Siemens has therefore set up their application
center for textile applications in Chemnitz, the cradle of German textile machine construction.
Numerous projects have already been completed worldwide to the satisfaction of customers.
T
he innovative power and the textile
know-how in the Chemnitz region
are still renowned. Many well-known
companies have their roots here. It is a
nearly perfect location for an application
center that develops customer-speciﬁc
textile technology solutions. Every employee of the center is specialized in a particular area of textile machine construction. Examples of expertise include appli-
cations from spinning through knitting
and weaving up to ﬁnishing machines.
Function objects as a basis
An important task of the engineers in the
application center is to develop the basis
for textile function objects. In the future,
these textile-oriented objects will be made
available in the form of a function library
or serve as the basis for a customer-specif-
ic solution. Together they form a textile
function pool that can be used for speciﬁc
■
project planning.
The director of the application center,
Jörg Kroschinski, will be happy to provide
you with more information.
Tel.: +49 (371) 475-3629,
[email protected]
CASE STUDY
15
Fabric
Circular knitting machines with Sitex have proven effective
Duo perfetto
Orizio S.p.A., one of the world’s most
renowned manufacturers of circular
knitting machines is always on the
lookout for new solutions to meet
their customers’ requirements.
With the piezo-ceramic single needle
selection system Sitex, the Italian
company has found a system that
enables production of new kinds of
materials and patterns.
dous success is Orizio’s high innovation
power.
Tried-and-tested electronics for
circular knitting
The Sitex automation solution which
Siemens developed specially for circular
knitting machines is just the right thing
for Orizio. The company cooperated closely with Siemens in the phase of development of Sitex – and was therefore able to
include the demands and needs of customers in the solution. The circular knitting specialist particularly appreciates
that the control system can be adapted
quickly and ﬂexibly to the individual machine types. In addition, pattern ﬁles of
virtually any size and in numerous formats can be processed, naturally including the ORIDES format from Orizio. The
ﬁrst prototype has been in trouble-free
9
00 employees produce a wide range
of large and medium-sized Jacquard
circular knitting machines for
Orizio. The machines from Brescia sell excellently not only in Europe but also on
the Asian and South American markets.
One of the main reasons for this tremen-
production in three shifts since the beginning of 1998 which is proof of the reliability of the system solution. The Head of
Electrical Design at Orizio, Filippo Oneda,
conﬁrms this: “The electronic single needle selection Sitex runs without problems
and has proven itself in the ﬁeld. Siemens
has turned out to be absolutely the right
choice for us.”
Many new possibilities
Sitex can be used in many different types
of machines. The latest example is the
CMOE, a double-head knitting machine
with electronic cylinder needle selection
which produces double Jersey structures
in Jacquard, Rib and Interlock. Since it has
recently become available in greater diameters up to 48 inches (=121,92 cm), it
will be possible to manufacture new, innovative materials from the home textiles
and automobile industries on it in future.
Mattress covers can now be knitted in one
piece for example. It also opens up totally
new opportunities in the ﬁeld of distance
knitting with up to ten millimeters distance between the two sides of the goods
connected by standing threads. They have
succeeded in platting the standing
threads on the inside of the clothes with
totally new lock designs. This avoids unpleasant irritation of the skin from underwear.
Orizio
A proven partnership
spectrum textile 2003
The results prove that the close and trustworthy cooperation between Orizio and
Siemens has paid off. In the end, the knitters beneﬁt from the pooling of key competencies because practical experience is
included in the electronic development.
Orizio uses the Sitex system in two ways.
On the one hand the machine manufacturer is working permanently on the optimization of existing machines. On the
other hand they are developing totally
new models, for example in the area of
transfer or body. The knitter can then
adapt the range of producible material
types and patterns ideally to market demands.
■
SYSTEM SOLUTION
Fabric
Technology for tomorrow’s trends
Success Made by Sitex
F
ashion trends change almost as
quickly as the weather in April – new
patterns are in constant demand, a
rapid and ﬂexible change in patterns
is, therefore, required. This is precisely
where the advantages of Jacquard circular
knitting with an electronic needle selection system compared to conventional
mechanical Jacquard heads are. The
piezoceramic needle selection system is
outstanding due to its especially high selection speed, which enhances the productivity of the individual machines.
With Sitex, Siemens offers the ideal
solution for electronic individual needle
selection – a solution that has already
proven itself in harsh production. The
total package includes the piezoceramic
needle selection system Sitex M, the control Sitex CK to prepare the pattern and
select needles, the uninterruptible power
supply Sitex S and the drive system with
Micromaster frequency converter and
asynchronous motor for the knitting
cylinder.
In this total solution, all of the components are optimally accommodated to one
another. Aside from savings in logistics,
service personnel training and spare parts
management, the advantage of the concept for textile machine manufacturers is
that they only have one contact person for
the entire system.
Siemens
The optimal, total solution for the electronic equipment of large circular knitting machines is called Sitex. The machines, with their piezoceramic individual
needle selection unit, are faster and more ﬂexible. The connection via internet
dramatically increases the efficiency of the machines: a systematic solution
“Made in Germany”, “Made by Siemens”.
Piezoceramic needle selection
systems Sitex M
Control Sitex CK for preparation
of pattern and selection of needles
More efficient networking
The internet connectivity is regarded as
a special highlight of Sitex. Machines can
be networked with little expenditure for
hardware. They are just a mouse click
away from partner businesses, design studios, the machine manufacturer or other
machines in the knitting mill. It is possible to transmit pattern ﬁles from any computer directly to the desired target ma-
Siemens
16
chine. Even if the control software needs
an update, this can be handled online in a
matter of minutes. Effective production
planning and control are the essence of
any knitting mill operation. With internet
connectivity, this is no problem because
■
all data are acquired and ﬁled online.
USV SITEX S
SITEX CK
PC
Pattern
output
Bending transducer modules for SITEX M
3,5“
Micromaster
Pattern
preparation
Encoder
Rotating needle cylinder
Webholder
Cylinder
drive
CASE STUDY
17
Fabric
Sitex knits perfectly
Simple and Reliable
The Feinjersey company in Götzis knits very high-quality jerseys for equally demanding customers in
Central Europe. In order to cleanly produce the approximately 500 new cloth products per year,
Feinjersey increasingly relies on knitting machines from Terrot with Siemens Sitex CK controllers.
The main requirements that the Austrian
knitters have for their machines are “fast
set-up and changeover, simple operation,
and consistent quality over a long time”,
according to Mathias Schnetzer, the person responsible for gray cloth at Feinjersey. This is very obviously provided by
the knitting machines from the Stuttgart
manufacturer Terrot: around two thirds of
the 60 knitting machines in Götzis were
supplied by Terrot. Schnetzer: “The Terrot
knitted fabrics are more even, smoother
and shinier than those from other machines. Our customers also notice this.”
In order to construct such machines, “a
close cooperation is required between the
spectrum textile 2003
Partners for increasingly perfect materials: Mathias Schnetzer from Feinjersey,
Klaus Kunde from Terrot and Dr. Nikolaus
Herdegen from Siemens (from left to
right)
machine manufacturer and the user,” says
Terrot marketing director Klaus Kunde. In
the case of Feinjersey, this cooperation is
well established since the 1980’s. Equally
important is the cooperation with the automation suppliers.
Increasingly Sitex
On the controller side, Terrot increasingly
relies on the Siemens solution Sitex CK
and Sitex M: a special controller for
jacquard circular knitting machines and
a piezoceramic bending actuator system
for electronic individual needle selection.
This system can also score points with the
enduser: “On the one hand, Sitex CK is
very reliable and controlled. On the other
hand, the controller is very easy to operate. Even knitters without lengthy training
can work with it,” says Mathias Schnetzer.
The latest trends, which Feinjersey also
follows closely, concern the network ca-
Feinjersey
Terriﬁc knitting requires solid
technology
K. Obermann
F
einjersey, located in the Austrian city
of Götzis, not far from Bregenz, was
established around 20 years ago. The
company now has 50 employees and produces jersey materials in the upper quality segment. Only through a combination
of innovative design, high quality and
ﬂexibility towards customer wishes can
textiles still be successfully produced in
Central Europe. One of Feinjersey’s own
developments ensures that they can offer
their customers 500 new products a year,
many of them directly made to measure.
The team uses innovative yarns, the latest
knitting technologies and creative ﬁnishing methods to make sure that their
customers are satisﬁed. These customers
include such well-known names as Triumph, Schiesser, Calida, Bruno Banani
and Arcte. The current trends mean using
more and more high-tech yarns, knitting
even more ﬁnely, and continuously raising the level of difficulty. This is the only
way for Europeans to keep far enough
ahead of the competition from low-wage
countries. In order to do this, a company
has to keep their processes under control
and use state-of-the-art production equipment.
Around 90 percent of the Feinjersey
gray cloth is knitted in raw white and
is only given its color during ﬁnishing.
A Terrot machine with a Sitex CK
controller is shown in the picture
pability of controllers. “Today, our controllers are already network-capable. Together with Terrot, we will be showing
what you can do now with them at the
ITMA 2003 in Birmingham,” says Dr. Nikolaus Herdegen, the responsible Sitex
product manager in the Automation of
Textile Machines division at Siemens. Production machines in a network – this will
be the future for knitting companies as
■
well.
18
CASE STUDY
Fabric
Masterdrives provide perfect labels
Labels on end
The Italian company GEL will be presenting machines for manufacturing textile
strips at this year’s ITMA. Decoratively patterned strips will be produced in
Jacquard technique. GEL has the ideal automation solution with Simatic S7-200
and the Masterdrives MC Compact Plus.
E
veryone knows the colorful little labels with the manufacturer logo or
brand name. You ﬁnd them in almost every shirt or blouse collar or on the
pockets of jeans but hardly anyone knows
how they are made – that they are woven
and parts of endless strips.
The GEL s.r.l founded in 1997 has
ample experience in the manufacture of
these woven strips. Managing Director
Gianluca Prina is and old hand in the business with his 50 years experience. Quality
and service provide the basis for the company’s success in Europe and East Asia.
The relatively compact Italian machines simultaneously weave ten label
strips of 20 mm in width. Up to six weft
colors are possible to create all conceivable patterns. The warp selection is implemented by a Jacquard machine from
Stäubli with which patterns can be
changed quickly and easily.
Flexible and precise
A decisive factor manufacturing of the
strips is the perfect synchronization between the main drive, warp let-off and
material pick-off. The necessary control is
provided by Masterdrives MC Compact
Plus which are optimally adapted to the
synchronous servo motors 1FK6.
The compact, low-cost Simatic S7-200
takes care of the entire I/O management.
Simatic OP7 also provides the user with a
New drives for high performance in the carpet factory
From Loom to
High-tech Machine
The machines made by Schönherr from Chemnitz, Germany, manufacture a
wide variety of carpets at high speed. The changeover to an innovative Siemens
drive concept in the double carpet weaving machine Alpha 360 brought
considerable improvements in terms of higher speed and greater accuracy.
Schönherr’s double carpet
weaving machine
T
he Schönherr Textilmaschinenbau
GmbH, a company with a long tradition that is a subsidiary of the world
leader Stäubli Group manufactures the
double carpet gripper weaving machine,
the most modern and ﬂexible double carpet weaving machine in the world. It allows high-quality carpets to be made to
customer demands. The prerequisite for
optimum quality is a highly precise interaction between all components. The dou-
Multicoloured woven strips are the
result of a perfect machine and
automation solution
well-organized HMI system which allows
intuitive and comfortable operation of the
machine.
Siemens therefore provides GEL with a
low-cost solution for this complex motion
control task. Gel on the other hand appreciates having found a strong, globally represented partner for their international
■
business activities.
ble-tier warp beam assembly can take up
to eight warp beams. The warp beam rack
and thread guide then ensure an exact
running of the thread without crossing of
the pile and warp threads. The warp tension is pneumatically regulated and therefore remains constant the whole time.
The weft insertion takes place by linear
guided rod grippers on both sides driven
by a special cam gear. This guarantees a
quiet, low wear machine operation.
Highly dynamic and accurate
With a new drive concept, Schönherr
achieved high performances and a low
degree of irregularity. The asynchronous
main drive was replaced by a water-cooled
motor which exploits the machine performance much more efficiently. This
means the drive can be built smaller. The
new motor also makes the machine more
dynamic, angles can be traveled more accurately. This ensures exact ﬁlling and
shaft movements and keeps the warp
■
threads taut at all times.
spectrum textile 2003
SYSTEM SOLUTION
19
Fabric
The weaving machine goes modular
with Simotion
Time to Say
Good-bye
The most sophisticated discipline in textile machine manufacturing – the building of weaving machines – is freeing itself of
the vertical shaft: the age of the modular weaving machine has
come. With a system of function modules, a wide range of
combinations becomes possible.
Siemens offers comprehensive
solutions – like for this weaving machine
N
ew weaving machine concepts are
intended to meet the growing demand for high quality woven ware
– cost and time effectively. Based on a
comprehensive automation solution portfolio, Siemens has the right answer for
each individual customer. The prerequisite for this is ﬁnding the most economical mechatronic equipment while taking
into account the diverse techniques: weft
insertion technique (projectile, gripper,
air nozzle), shedding (shaft movement),
patterning with Jacquard machines of
various kinds and handling properties
of such different threads as cotton, silk,
monothreads, hard ﬁbers and wire.
Modules as a basis
From now on, it is possible to adapt the
product range through speciﬁc project
work with the OEM and common market
research so that the weaving process is
improved on the one hand and at the
same time new technological solutions
and markets emerge.
Based on a controller for textile machines, the weaving-technological movement tasks have been deﬁned user-specifically both on the hardware and software
level and implemented in the platform
portal of the Simotion control. This ﬁrst
module which determines a basic weaving
function serves as a foundation for further automation solutions.
Modules such as the so-called winding
computer function module (FM) could
also be integrated in the technological
object by splitting the process chain, i.e.
eliminating the mechanical functions
spectrum textile 2003
linked to the main drive.
The winding computer FM
ensures high-precision axis coordination in the repositioning after a thread
break. The warp and weft
density, thread tension,
binding etc. are converted
into optimized equivalent
axis
drive
parameters
which simpliﬁes changing
of the fabric quality.
The new module concept has already proven itself in machines with difThe fabric is wound with a pre-deﬁned
ferent weaving technolotension after weaving
gies such as in plastic die
weaving machines with
gripper rod weft shot or in
Rejuvenation
projectile weaving machines for ﬂat fabrics.
Servo and asynchronous axes have also
Versatile
been implemented in mixed mode deRegardless of the machine manufacturer’s
pending on the requirement proﬁle. In
philosophy, the Simotion basic project
one case only a regulated drive (asynruns on different hardware platforms. No
chronous warp let-off) is used while all
new application has to be created in Simoother functions are still derived from the
tion either for different machine-technical
main axis or from direct drives. Here too
requirements. With standard interfaces
the basic technological object was adapted
which can be freely combined and exto the existing machine periphery. This
changed, projects which have already
relatively “painless operation” is also recbeen created can be adapted with little efommended for “retroﬁtting” older ma■
fort to the new object qualities. All supchines.
plementary units such as color selector,
shaft machine, Jaquard machine, forward
winding machine etc. can be accepted or
deselected. Actuators and sensors are also
standardized – by bus technology and use
of only one standard voltage.
20
RUBRIK SOLUTION/CASE STUDY
SYSTEM
Fabric
Biaxial machines exploit the ﬂexibility of Simotion
Optimum Solution with
a Great Effect
With the increasing demand for knitware, development in the knitting
machine industry has picked up an astonishing momentum. In mechatronic
stitch-bonding machines like biaxial machines, the technological ﬂexibility
depends on the efficiency of their control and drive technology. Simotion
offers just the right basis for the desired scalable solution with its variety
of integrated technological components.
The right system for every job
Simotion provides the ideal solution for
the wide range of functional requirements
in the knitting machine sector. The openness of the system – in conjunction with a
modern engineering system – allows for
managing, visualizing and transferring
all machine data in a project.
The Motion-PC is the ideal control especially for biaxial machines. It combines
the advantages of PC and controller: openness, ﬂexibility and performance as well
as HMI, PLC functionality, regulating
functions and knitting-technological user
functions. This has the advantage that
functions such as weft insert or standing
thread/nonwoven threading or the wet
knitting process in all its complexity from
now on can be activated simply by setting
parameters in the display and synchronized in relation to the main drive of the
machine.
The machine is operated by an HMI system with touch control. The uniformity of
Totally Integrated Automation also guarantees the modular automation of the machine. This includes the linking to remote
data transmission systems for the purpose of teleservice via Webserver or mo■
dem.
Malimo
I
ndustries such as geo, automobile,
safety or industrial textiles require special knitting properties with an extreme
load capacity. The warp beam regulation
and the take-up beam for example ensure
a uniformly high fabric quality. Other
technological functions can be integrated
modularly in the automation system as required.
Biaxial machine
Successful Stitch-bonding with Simotion
weft can be produced.
With the changeover to the PC-based
solution Simotion P350, the Karl Mayer
Malimo GmbH was able to eliminate the old
chain or belt drives. The control now
optimally synchronizes all the individual
drives – from the warp to the weft insert.
From the needle movement to the rolling of
the goods, the entire main drive is also
controlled exactly by Simotion. Eleven
Masterdrives MC drive axes are also in action.
Fast product changes are in demand
especially for highly specialized technical
textiles. Simotion meets the requirements of
the textile machine manufacturers’
customers. And ﬁnally the high stability and
low susceptibility to faults also speak out in
favor of the system.
Malimo
The Chemnitz company Karl Mayer Malimo
is famous for its leading-edge machines in
the ﬁeld of warp knitting technology. One
example of the company’s capabilities is the
high-performance stitch-bonding machine
Malimo Biaxial NM 130. The versatile
machine can be used to make textile glass
knitware as a basis for ﬁber reinforced
plastics in the large container and body
manufacture as well as for ship hulls and
wind power stations. In the stitch-bonding
process the loosely arranged weft and
standing threads are bonded together by
a third threat system and form the ideal basis
for biaxially reinforced composite materials
due to the stretched position of the
individual threads. Both an exact 90 degrees
parallel lay and a slightly crossed lay in the
Weft carrier Biaxial
spectrum textile 2003
CASE STUDY
21
Nonwoven
Flexible solution for progressive winding technologies
with the winding calculator
Efficiently Wound Up
an optimum build-up of the bale edge, the
bale is force-guided throughout the entire
process, and the winding is done in one
position from the core diameter to the
maximum winding diameter.”
One component – many functions
Efficiently winding web-shaped materials onto rolls – the Bastian company has
been doing this for almost 30 years. The automatic carry-drum winder BWT
206 sets standards for inline winding and cutting of non-wovens. The machine
owes its high capacity and ﬂexibility to the automation from Siemens, which is
based on standard project planning.
B
astian Wickeltechnik GmbH develops, manufactures and markets
high-technology plant concepts in
70 countries throughout the world. Nowadays, the requirements for winding technology are high: manufacturers demand
compact rolls that combine as many running meters as possible on a small diameter (1200 millimeters have proven successful). Bastian produces such ultradensely wound rolls with a combination of
core drive and perimeter drive. Only with
this technology is it possible to achieve a
highly material-speciﬁc winding characteristic – tight at the core with an individual decrease in the tensile force over the
diameter. This prevents the material from
rubbing while being wound and damag.
Winders of the future
The company has put a new generation of
carry-drum winders for the non-wovens
industry on the market: with production
speeds of 600 meters per minute, a maximum fabric width of 5500 millimeters, a
winding diameter of 1500 millimeters and
up to 60 single webs (minimal webs width
50 millimeters).
The winder BWT 206 has made a decisive contribution to improving winding
technology, as Holger Meyer, marketing
manager of the company, explains: “Individual drives now make it possible to set
the tensile force variably. The winding
shaft has a ﬂexure compensation, loading
and unloading, as well as a core drive. For
Bastian
The Bastian carry-drum winder stand for a new generation of winders
The automation from Siemens has allowed Bastian to realize a high level of
quality. Masterdrive Kompakt Plus drives,
for example, ensure an uniform and tension-free winding. At the same time, the
company only requires one basic functional component such as the winding calculator to produce the most important
winder applications with a single project
plan. Once the component structure has
been created as a menu, universal function algorithms can be adapted very easily
to the individual plant conﬁguration by
parameterization.
The highlight of the winding calculator
is above all its extensive function menu
for controlling the winding functions.
Since wear-free winding requires a precise tension control, there is direct and indirect tension control, tension control
that affects the motor torque and speed
setpoint as well as a diameter-dependent
controller adaptation. The winding density can be controlled and speed-dependent
friction compensation can be performed
using frequency polygons. Acceleration
precontrol, tension precontrol, diameter calculation and
stretch compensation round
off the range of functions. For
user-speciﬁc
requirements,
free functional components
are additionally available that
can be integrated into the basic menu.
The ﬂexible solution satisﬁes mechanical engineers as
well as users: once an application has been created, it can
run on different hardware
platforms, on the Masterdrive
MC and VC systems as well as
on special technological modules for a complex winder ap■
plication.
spectrum textile 2003
22
CASE STUDY
Nonwoven
Needle loom DI-Loom PMF
The Dilo System Group has relied on Siemens technology and support for years
Innovative Concepts for
Innovative Machines
Whether for geotextiles, synthetic leathers, ﬁlter media, in automobile lining materials, home furnishings or
ﬂoor and wall coverings, non-wovens have established themselves among high-tech textiles. Their constantly
expanding application areas require a continuous further development of the production and processing
methods and the corresponding machines. Dilo System Group, a world-renown manufacturer of machines for
the non-woven industry, has relied on a partnership with Siemens for years, with great success in automation
and drive technology.
I
mportant components of modern nonwoven processing technologies are
carding machines and needle looms.
Along with the companies Dilo and Spinnbau, the Dilo System Group from Ebersbach, Germany is one of the most wellknown manufacturers of such systems in
the world. Their innovative solutions –
e.g. DI-LOOP for structuring needlepunched non-wovens or DI-LOUR for ﬁne
needle-punched velour goods – are milestones in the application area of ﬂat and
structured needled felts.
In the case of paper-machine felts, the
hyper-punch technology developed by Dilo has become established as a worldwide
standard. The special feature of this technology is the vertical movement of the
needle bar in the direction of movement
of the processed material. This prevents
incorrect drafts in the felt and considerably reduces the stress on the material. At
the same time, an increase in the needling
speed opens up new possibilities for conﬁguring the system for disposables.
Spinnbau, another company in the Dilo
Group, has done pioneering work in the
area of random card on the card and
is considered the inventor of random
cardtechnology. The web formation on the
spectrum textile 2003
23
Excellent partnership
We spoke to Johann Philipp Dilo about his preference for Siemens.
You are a global company. What does Siemens
offer you in this respect?
Dilo: First, it is not only important for us to be
globally oriented, but for our customers as well.
Naturally, we observe this ﬁrst of all in the area
of support with Siemens. The support is globally
oriented: for example, Siemens ensures us that
personnel and spare parts are continously available throughout the world in the framework of
repair and service agreements.
In Mannheim, Mr. Arnold and his group are
a one-stop service contact for Dilo throughout
the world, right on our doorstep. His strong and
valuable support helps us in all phases, from
implementation to the day-to-day exchange of
information. This is an advantage that we do
appreciate greatly.
What do you plan for the future?
Dilo: The cooperation with Siemens has
completely convinced us. For this reason, we
will continue to rely on the innovative technology and the strong support from Siemens.
And we have nothing further to add to that.
Mr. Dilo, thank you for the interview.
Automation and drive technology
from one supplier
Dilo
Dilo
Mr. Dilo, you have been relying on Siemens
technology for years. Why?
Dilo: I am convinced that I have found an
extremely experienced and innovative partner in
Siemens. The possibility to obtain visualization,
motion control and drive technology from one
supplier brings us enormous beneﬁt.
The remote servicing capability of the
Siemens equipment is also very important to us.
It enables us to perform failure diagnosis and
software updates from Ebersbach throughout
the world. This not only saves us a considerable
amount of money for service work but can
also signiﬁcantly reduce our customer's downtimes.
Spinnbau’s Hyper-Speed-Card for
high-speed card application
card is one of the most important process
steps on the way to a complete non-woven
product. The card thereby lays the foundation for the quality of the ﬁnal product.
With the development of hyper-speed
cards and the construction of super-wide
cards (with up to ﬁve meters working
width), Spinnbau leads the worldwide
trend towards increasingly wider and
more productive installations.
spectrum textile 2003
At Dilo and Spinnbau, they also know that
higher speeds and throughputs also require a greater operating safety and availability of the individual machines and
the entire production line. The machines
from Dilo and Spinnbau achieve the necessary reliability and safety in particular
through the use of automation and drive
technology from Siemens, which is very
important for the hyper-speed card of
Spinnbau. Here, the proven Simatic S7400 controller, supplemented by the application module FM 458-1 DP, provides
high dynamics, extensive functionality,
high clock rates, fast processing of large
amounts of data as well as the mastering
of complicated control sequences in multi-axis drive systems. The system can furthermore be freely planned and offers integrated engineering (Step 7), data management and communication as a result
of Totally Integrated Automation.
The Simovert Masterdrives drive sys-
tem (Vector Control and Motion Control),
which has also proven its worth especially
in the area of plant engineering, helps to
achieve system characteristics that guarantee high equipment availability and
reliable production numbers for the end
user. The motors of the series 1LA, 1FT
and 1FK, which have very good operating
characteristics, long service lives and high
voltage- and current-carrying capacities,
also make an important contribution.
For operation and monitoring, the machines are equipped with a Simatic PC that
transfers and manages technological and
equipment-speciﬁc data on a Windowsbased operating system. The simple and
transparent project planning tool Simatic
WinCC provides the user with a complete
tool for designing the process visualization.
The tailored solutions from Siemens
were not the only thing that convinced Johann Philipp Dilo, the managing director
of Dilo and Spinnbau, and his people. The
cooperation with Siemens also played a
decisive role.
■
CASE STUDY
Nonwoven
Siemens automates AquaJet production line of Fleissner
Producing Nonwovens
Under Pressure
Bonding methods such as water jet technology help to make innovative
nonwoven fabrics with wide applications. The AquaJet method of the Fleissner
company has set standards in this ﬁeld. With automation technology from
Siemens, Fleissner fulﬁlls the high demands for a large product range, reliability
and accuracy of the production lines: starting with the Proﬁbus bus system, to
the drive and control system, right up to the software.
Water pours onto the
nonwoven from thousands
of nozzles. This entangles
the ﬁbers and bonds the
nonwoven
high-grade
nonwovens
qualities is the motto of
the company. For this reason, newly developed ﬁlter
systems and high-capacity
pumps extend the maintenance intervals and thereby
lower the operating costs.
Fleissner has also developed an optimized nozzle
head: because the water jets are distributed over the entire width of the fabric
with an even pressure, the nonwoven is
uniformly bonded. Last but not least, individual products can be manufactured on
Fleissner
24
F
leissner GmbH, with headquarters
in Egelsbach, Hessen (Germany), is
one of the leading manufacturers of
high-performance production lines for
the nonwovens industry. The mediumsized company has consistently expanded
the nonwoven area since the 1960’s.
State-of-the-art methods such as the
water-jet bonding Aqua-Jet from Fleissner
make it possible to produce composites
with different weights and characteristics.
The new spunlace processes AquaJet,
AquaPulp, AquaSpun and AquaSplit are
even capable of producing compound and
sandwich fabrics with cellulose ﬁbers
and microsegment split ﬁbers.
Spunlace ﬂeece fabrics are both
soft and tough and therefore
frequently applied for domestic, medical and industrial
purposes.
Economical production
with
the Aqua-Jet production lines with a multitude of different patterns and surface
ﬁnishes. By constantly implementing the
demands of their customers into ideas,
Fleissner has made the AquaJet method
into a success story for six years now.
Efficient communication,
high-capacity drives
This would not be possible without a highgrade automation from the controller to
the drive, and up to the sensor. The production line’s physical extension of up to
100 meter (= 328.1 feet) long alone requires a high-capacity bus system. Simatic
Net Proﬁbus forms the communication
basis for the entire automation system. A
Simatic S7-400 controller controls the
production line. With the PLC and Proﬁbus, booster sets of other manufacturers
as well as water treatment plants, sliver,
sand, coarse and ﬁne ﬁlters can be integrated. Simatic WinCC allows everything
to be displayed in a clearly arranged way
on the screen and comfortably operated.
High-dynamical drives like Masterdrives VC provide the required power of
several 100 kW for the high-pressure water pumps without any problem. Masterdrives VC Kompakt Plus in particular
prove their strength as especially precise
transport drives – even with very different
nonwoven materials. The compact and
economical Micromasters also demonstrate their versatility: as accessory drives
for auxiliary pumps, fans and ﬁlters.
Easy to service and economical
The leading textile machine manufacturer
Fleissner with its large market share in
China appreciates the reliable and fast
maintenance service of this continuous
and modular automation. For service and
maintenance, they have the choice of remote maintenance or the local service and
support offices of Siemens. As a result of
the uniform solution, they also avoid different supplier systems, thereby saving
considerable time and costs while increasing the quality at the same time.
Project planning and commissioning are also simpliﬁed. And
last but not least, the end
customer proﬁts because
less training effort and
less stockkeeping of
spare parts is nec■
essary.
spectrum textile 2003
CASE STUDY
25
Dying and Finishing
Textile reﬁnement plant renewed by
innovative Soft-PLC Win AC MP
Quality Felt Guaranteed
Textile reﬁnement plays an important role in the manufacture of fabrics. The Italian company Cimi
makes great demands on the efficiency and quality of its reﬁning machines. The company is therefore
eager to snap up innovative technological solutions: In the Flexifola fulling machine the system
control was implemented with WinAC Soft-PLC and the Simatic Multi Panel MP 370.
T
he Cimi company founded in 1963 is located in the
heart of the Biella textile industry. Ideal conditions
for a company with a wide range of products to become a textile reﬁner renowned all over the world.
Textile reﬁnement serves for ﬁnal treatment of the raw
fabric and can be considered one of the most crucial
phases in the production process: It not only makes the
fabric more resistant, it also lends it a softness and glean.
Making woolen felt under extreme pressure
A special method of making a woolen fabric more resistant is fulling whereby mechanical pressure is applied to
a woolen nonwoven fabric which fulls and compacts it.
At the same time the area is compressed and the felt
shrinks.
Cimi was looking for an innovative technological solution for the fulling and fast washing machine. Four carrier rollers, the fulling drum with carriage, an airing unit,
the spray device for moistening and an offset carriage in
the fast washing had to be ﬁtted with a new control system.
The Soft-PLC Simatic WinAC MP for embedded systems
proved to be the ideal solution for these data-intensive
control tasks. It is based on the Windows CE operating
system and unites the function properties of PLC and PC
in one unit.
Control and monitoring in one unit
The technological heart of the plant automation is
formed by the multifunctional platform Simatic MP370:
spectrum textile 2003
It takes care of visualization and control on a single hardware platform. To do this, the Simatic Multi Panels (MP)
have been extended with the Soft-PLC Simatic WinAC in
comparison with conventional operator panels.
This principle is ideal for the fulling machines. The
machine runs through various phases during the reﬁnement process, every one of which requires a suitable
regulation and control. The optimum quality of the end
product can only be guaranteed by compliance with critical control parameters such as drum pressure, roller
speed, temperature control and liquid dosing. The reﬁner must set special algorithms in WinAC in order for the
machine to adapt the parameters automatically to the
type of fabric and degree of fulling desired by the end
user. The Italians can rely on long years of experience
and know-how for this.
The Soft-PLC has high response speeds in order to fulﬁll the demanding control tasks. For example the measured values must be recorded at regular intervals in the
temperature regulating system of the Flexifola to guarantee the control accuracy.
Space and cost saving solution
But other properties of the functional solution also convinced the textile machine manufacturer. The compact
design reduces space requirements and fast commissioning is possible thanks to a single hardware component.
The company makes further savings by less wiring, low
■
spare parts stocks and optimized service.
CASE STUDY
Weaving Preparation
High-perfomance warping machine Sucker Comwarp
with Muli Panel MP 270 Touch
Future-proof and Flexible
Moenus
Moenus Textilmaschinen GmbH,
Gera, unites the well known brand
names Artos, Krantz, Stentex and
Sucker with more than 150 years of
experience in the ﬁeld of textile
machine manufacture under one
roof. The range of products fully
covers the process of weaving preparation and the wet and dry equipping
of textiles. More than 150 patents
are evidence of the company’s joy of
innovation. The merger of these
proven services makes Moenus a
strong partner for the worldwide
textile industry.
T
he new high-performance warping
machine Comwarp, developed under consideration of numerous customer wishes, is highly suitable for both
staple ﬁber yarns and ﬁlament yarns. It
can be optimally adapted to any area of
application with V and parallel gates. The
modular concept of the Comwarp allows
customer-speciﬁc equipping for warp
beam diameters of 800/1000 and 1250/
1400 millimeters at working widths of
1400 to 2800 millimeters. An extensive
range of options such as gluing device,
ionization, beam lifting device, operating
platform, allows optimum adaptation to
customer requirements. Processing times
can be reduced and availability increased
as a result.
A high-performance machine obviously also needs innovative automation concepts. The proven and highly efficient controllers of the Simatic S7 series together
with Proﬁbus-DP form the backbone of
automation. Together with the patented
duo-length measuring system they enable
residual lengths below 0.1percent of the
warp set regardless of the number of yarn
breaks.
In order to meet the suddenly growing
demand for Asian characters, the modern,
The high-performance warping
machine Sucker Comwarp
Moenus
26
fully graphic-capable Multi Panel Simatic
MP 270B Touch was chosen for visualization and operation. The multi-functional
platform combines the robustness of an
adapted hardware with PC-typical ﬂexibility. The industrial compatibility of this
multitalented panel is underlined by its
extreme robustness and shockproof, dustproof and splashproof housing. Additional functions can be added to the system
without a hard disk for example for remote maintenance and service via the Internet/Intranet. The Comwarp takes care
of the entire data acquisition, recipe management and shift management in the MP
270. The language can also be switched
over online to guarantee it can be operat-
Graphical visualization on the
Multi Panel MP 270B Touch
ed by service personnel in the manufacturing country.
Because of the high quality demands
and the company principle of always developing the best solution for the customer, the innovative products of all four
Moenus brands are already being manufactured and assembled with a view to the
strict regulations of the European standard 8214 (ISO 9000 ff). Long-term quality
assurance and the continuous improvement of all services are the ambitious
goal. In future the Moenus Textilmaschinen GmbH will work more closely with
suppliers who also meet these requirements than in the past. After a tricky
phase which the company group survived
with Siemens as a strong partner by its
side, they can now look forward to meeting the challenges of the constantly
■
changing textile market together.
spectrum textile 2003
CASE STUDY
27
Dying and Finishing
After production the fabrics are reused
to remove harmful substances
with knitted goods. The machines prevent
running creases and give the fabric a
smooth surface. Production costs and
time can also be signiﬁcantly improved in
comparison to rope-form processing in
long liquor.
Benninger
Universally successful
Post-treatment of textiles optimized with
universal automation
Gentle Wash Cycle
T
he ﬁnishing sector is booming in the
textile industry. After all, the clothing industry continually demands
new methods for treating fabric – to give
it color, improve the feel, or to remove
spinning oils from sensitive elasthane
(spandex) materials.
Optimum washing results
After the production process, fabrics have
to be washed in order to remove harmful
elements. Especially mono- and bi-elastic
fabrics and knitted goods need gentle
processing – i.e. the sensitive textile web
must not be pulled. The international Ben-
spectrum textile 2003
ninger Group from Uzwil has enjoyed
ground-breaking successes in this area.
The
Trikoﬂex
drum washing center makes it possible to shrink perfectly
synthetic
ﬁbers (ﬁlaments)
in particular. To
wash elastic fabrics
and knitted goods,
the goods are transported with low
tension
over
a
grooved drum with
a mesh covering. In
this way, they cannot avoid the hydrodynamic water
pressure when they
pass through the
spray section. A center-driven unwinding
arrangement at the entry prevents rolling
edges. The liquor ﬁlm that forms on both
sides of the fabric quickly carries away impurities, and the washing liquor circulates
in two separate liquor cycles. The washing
effect is increased considerably compared
to the standard mesh and screen drums.
The Benninger machines fulﬁl the most
up-to-date requirements for open-width
processing, which scores points especially
Benninger
Modern fabrics repeatedly lead to
new machine developments in textile
ﬁnishing. The Swiss company
Benninger, already very successful in
the ﬁeld of weaving preparation, has
put a washing machine on the market
that gently processes knitted goods
as well as elastic fabric: Trikoﬂex.
Benninger has realized innovative and
customer-friendly automation solutions for this in close cooperation
with Siemens.
The market success of the ﬁnishing specialists is based on optimum process control and intelligent networking of the machines. A universal automation is therefore the core competence of the company.
A competent partner for this was found in
Siemens.
Totally Integrated Automation ensures
seamless integration from the PLC up to
the I/O's. In addition to the AC drives, the
most important elements of the process
automation in the washing plant are the
PLC, the HMI system and the distributed
I/O’s. The washing plant is controlled by a
Simatic S7 414-2; a Simatic OP27 and a PC
670 are for operation and monitoring. The
ET200 distributed I/O’s are connected with
the PLC and the drives via Proﬁbus, and
interfaces to higher-level systems make
the equipment ﬂexible for extensions.
The Trikoﬂex washing center from
Benninger treats elastic knitware with
the greatest care
Benninger customers especially appreciate the possibility of remote maintenance. The have direct online access to a
Benninger service technician via the PLC
and a telephone line. The technician can
then make a qualiﬁed diagnosis without
travel expenses or system downtimes. ■
28
CASE STUDY
Dying and Finishing
Modular machine automation in textile ﬁnishing
Smart and Innovative
Whether with knitted goods or fabrics: economic efficiency is the top priority for all ﬁnishing
processes in wet textile ﬁnishing. Nowadays, users demand maximum ﬂexibility, optimum
proﬁtability and an excellent result along with the best reproducibility from their machinery. The
manufacturers of continuous production lines therefore offer modular machine concepts with
increasingly intelligent drive and automation solutions. As a result, ﬁnishers can optimally select
their machines and react quickly and ﬂexibly to market changes.
T
he requirements for textile ﬁnishing
machines are high. Since increasingly frequent article changes are the
rule in the production process due to
shorter yardages, the machines are required to be highly ﬂexible. Short changeover times help the ﬁnishers to react
quickly to changed requirements. In addition, the replacement of mechanical systems by mechatronic solutions has proven
successful particularly in ﬁnishing. This
is achieved, for example, with drives with
intelligent motion control, such as virtual
masters for “split warp” on stretchers in a
technology package. Here, the drives replace mechanical solutions; the gear is
eliminated.
Clever modularization saves costs
A ﬂexible plant design is indispensable in
continuous textile ﬁnishing. Modular machine concepts with a central or distributed intelligence are therefore gaining
ground.
The modularity of Simotion and Sinamics supports intelligent
drive control especially in ﬁnishing processes
HMI
Simatic S7
Simotion ES
Process computer
A distributed automation structure is
just the right thing, in particular for machines with very many drive locations. In
this case, the machine is split into different axis groups, which are controlled separately. The great advantage to the customer is the modularization, however.
The formation of modules increases the
ﬂexibility for individual customer requirements and the number of variants of a
machine type. Different versions of a machine can therefore be created with only
a few modules. In addition, the
commissioning of the machines is considerably simpliﬁed: individual machine parts
are completely tested before
shipping, so that they only
have to be linked up on site.
Intelligence in the drives
Ethernet
Sinamics S
+ Simotion D
PROCESS FIELD BUS
Plant LAN
Sinamics S
+ Simotion D
Power modules
Distributed
I/O
Distributed
I/O
Textile ﬁnishers want a compact, ﬂexible and easy-to-scale
drive solution that is simple
to implement with a small
amount of engineering. In the
textile ﬁnishing industry, the
call for really intelligent drives
has also become louder and
louder – in other words, for
drives that can control the axis
group of a machine module independently and automatically. In addition to drive control,
the drive should also be able to
increasingly take over motion
control, logical and technological functions. With the drivebased motion control system
Simotion D, the drive family
Sinamics S and the drive interface Drive-Cliq, Siemens
spectrum textile 2003
CASE STUDY
29
Dying and Finishing
meanwhile offers a universal, modular
drive and automation solution for demanding multi-motor applications for
“continuous webs”.
The decisive components in this decentralized control concept are self-sufficient,
coordinated functional units such as control electronics, power electronics, intelligent motors and motor sensors that are
ﬂexibly connected to each other via digitized interfaces. The highlight is the use
of “electronic nameplates”. Each functional unit is electronically identiﬁed and
is automatically recognized by the system.
This makes it possible for the after sales
service to clearly identify and allocate
components as well.
The fast and simple engineering is
another beneﬁt of the Siemens solution.
Convenient and menu-guided software
tools facilitate project planning, commissioning and diagnostics. Above all the
scalability of the components is an important quality criterion for drive products.
“Universally” successful
The market success of the ﬁnishing specialists is based on the optimum process
control and intelligent system networking
of the machines. Universal automation is
a characteristic of future-oriented textile
ﬁnishing companies.
The connection of the drive components to the ﬁeldbus level, the coupling of
further control systems as well as the connection of distributed I/O’s takes place via
the clock-synchrinized Proﬁbus. The plant
is integrated into the existing operating
network via Ethernet, using TCP/IP communication. This consistent networking
reduces the cabling as well as the hardware costs for the automation equipment
and peripheral circuits.
The universality of Totally Integrated
Automation has even more to offer,
though: coordinated system components
considerably reduce number of intefaces.
The uniform engineering tool ensures
continuous engineering. It enables a fast
data exchange among components and
simpliﬁes the planning of multi-axis functions.
Innovative solutions require competent partners. Siemens has many years of
experience in implementing development
projects together with machine manufacturers. Siemens will have further detailed
information on their state-of-the-art, ﬂexible automation concepts at the ITMA in
■
Birmingham.
Proﬁbus enables the production of
high-quality materials
High-quality for
Strong Brands
Polo shirts from Lacoste stay in shape even after being washed many times.
The US company Tube-Tex produces textile ﬁnishing machines that ensure a
high quality for shirts branded with the famous crocodile. In these machines
networking with Proﬁbus creates the basis for extremely high ﬂexibility and
reliability.
I
n the production of tubular knitted fabrics, the “preshrinkage” of the fabric is
an important intermediate step. Before
material is cut to length and sewed, it ﬁrst
has to be shrunk to the right width so that
it will not change any more later.
Well-known companies such as Hanes,
Fruit of the Loom and Jockey appreciate
the more than 70 years of experience of
Tube-Tex in this ﬁeld. Since more than 65
percent of the machines are destined for
export, the company was looking for an
automation solution that would be easy to
service throughout the world and also extremely adaptable.
spectrum textile 2003
Flexible and customer-friendly
The right solution was soon found with
Simatic and Proﬁbus. Components from
different manufacturers can also be decentrally connected to the bus system.
PLC programming, engineering and the
TeleService adapter are combined in the
Step 7 software package and can be connected with third-party products via
Proﬁbus.
As the fabric moves through the machine, a Simatic S7 PLC controls seven
synchronized drives that rotate at different speeds. In order to obtain an optimum
preshrink quality, a constant speed ratio
has to be maintained.
Once the machine operator has optimized the fabric, the machine settings can
be saved as a recipe. The width monitoring and controlled shrinkage of different
materials are also managed via the recipe
input. Thanks to Proﬁbus and TeleService,
Tube-Tex can now also quickly help faraway customers who work with components from different manufacturers. In a
simple telephone conversation, Tube-Tex
technicians were even able to get the machines of a ﬁnisher in Pakistan running
■
again within a few minutes.
30
CASE STUDY
Dying and Finishing
Revolutionary textile printing technology twinned with
state-of-the-art automation
Marvelous Printing Results
The world’s very ﬁrst digital inkjet
textile printer employs the entire
know-how of the Reggiani company
in Bergamo. The aptly named
machine DReAM convinces with
high speed and optimum resolution.
In addition to the newly developed
inkjet print heads,
the considerable
performance of the
machine is due to
the drive-based
automation solution
with Simovert
Masterdrives MC.
holds the fabric exactly in position. Synchronized with the new inkjet print heads
from Aprion, the DReAM reaches a speed
that was not previously considered possible: 492 feet (= 150 meters) per hour, at a
resolution of 600 dpi and a printing width
of 63 inches (= 1600 millimeters).
The six-color inkjet print heads have
512 spray nozzles each. Inks developed
T
he Reggiani Macchine S.p.A. can
boast 50 years experience in the preparation and printing of
fabrics. The products
range from the ﬂat
printing machine PRIMA and the rotation
printing machine UNICA through the pattern
table UNISTAR to the clamping frame
TERMA for the pre-treatment and reﬁnement of fabrics.
Machine of the future
Innovative ideas are the basis for Reggiani’s success. With the development of
the digital fabric printing machine DReAM
the company planned to anticipate market
requirements with the latest technology.
The cooperation with efficient partners
such as Aprion Digital and Ciba Speciality
Chemicals Inc. resulted in a machine
with sensational printing properties. Its
sophisticated technology is based on a
proven Reggiani transport system which
specially for the machine such as reactive,
acid, pigment and dispersion inks allow
a wide variety of patterns. The loading device for the ink allows cartridges to be
changed without interrupting production.
The equipment of the machine makes it
particularly suitable for making designer
fashion articles – even leather can be
processed without any trouble. In addition, the cost-efficient production of
medium-sized quantities is possible.
Precise control for perfect printing
To ensure the high quality standard also
in the automation, Reggiani looked for a
competent partner who also guaranteed
worldwide technical support. The export
percentage of the company is after all 70
percent of the total production. Owing to
past good experience, Siemens was contracted to supply the electronic components for the switch cabinet and machine.
In printing machines, a perfect print result depends on exact control of the individual axes of the printing roller. Simovert
Masterdrives MC has
proven ﬁrst choice in
this ﬁeld due to their efﬁcient control and reliability. The frequency
converters with brushless servo motors control the rotation axes
which are responsible
for
controlling
the
movements. A linear
motor is responsible for
driving the print head.
The asynchronous motors which regulate the
temperature of the drier
up to 100 degrees Celsius as auxiliary drives
for example are also controlled by converters.
Two Simatic S7-315
2-DP CPUs connected
with the periphery via
Proﬁbus and AS-Interface are used for
controlling the machine logic. Communication between the two central units takes
place via Multipoint Interface (MPI).
A PC is responsible for verifying the
data and checking the functionality of the
DReAM. The future equipping with teleservice will enable quick intervention over
long distances allowing Reggiani much
greater ﬂexibility of action. The PC can
also improve the form and color of the
printing results. Thanks to various graphic formats such as .tif for example. all the
important data for the desired appearance
of the print can be transferred by an exter■
nal PC.
spectrum textile 2003
PRODUCTS
31
Sinamics is the new drive series with a common hardware and software base
Productive Platform
With Sinamics, Siemens places its drive
solutions with integrated engineering on
a common hardware and software basis.
For Sinamics S120, Sinamics G150 and
Sinamics G110, uniform conﬁguration
and commissioning tools create synergies
and efficiency above and beyond the various family members.
The modular drive system Sinamics
S120 is suitable both for single axis and
for multiple axis applications and solves
all drive tasks universally in one machine:
With powers of 1.6 to 107 Kilowatt, Sinamics S120 covers the power range for dynamic to highly dynamic applications.
Sinamics G150 regulates the speed of
low voltage asynchronous motors with
powers between 75 and 800 Kilowatt. Up
to 50 percent less energy and footprint
are required, distinguishing the Sinamics
G150 from comparable drives. Its extremely simple handling simpliﬁes not
only assembly and operation but also
service. The smallest frequency converter
for variable speed drives in the Sinamics
series is Sinamics G110. It is suitable as
a drive in the food, textile and packing industries for single-phase mains of 200 to
240 Volts with a power range of 0.12 to 3
■
Kilowatt.
Simovert Masterdrives with intelligent feed-return unit
Strong in Weak Mains
There is an ideal drive solution for plant
operators with weak mains (or high mains
requirements): Simovert Masterdrives
with AFE.
The high proportion of harmonics usually generated in electrical systems is effectively eliminated by the AFE. Current
and voltage are fed back into the mains in
almost ideal sinusoidal form. The power
factor cos ϕ can be speciﬁed individually
between 1.0 and 0.8. An additional equip-
spectrum textile 2003
ment for the mains compensation is
therefore unnecessary.
The AFE ensures optimum return feeding capability especially in weak mains: If
the mains fail completely in return feed
mode, active switching off ensures that no
inverters are tripped. And there is another
property of the AFE which helps to maintain operation of your system on weak
mains: The current converter operates as
an ampliﬁer with a higher intermediate
circuit voltage in relation to the peak value of the mains voltage. In this way even
strong mains ﬂuctuations can be compensated and plant standstills avoided.
AFE – An investment which often pays
in view of the costs of production failure
■
and mains compensation!
PRODUCTS
Siemens offers a wide range
of gear motors
Geared up for
All Drive Tasks
Siemens offers a full range of gear motors
for a wide variety of drive tasks: from helical through offset shaft and bevel up to
worm gearboxes. Thanks to the modular
assembly concept the motors can be
adapted to requirements by adding on encoder, brake or external fan.
Helical gearboxes have a coaxial structure and offer various assembly possibilities with their housing design as a ﬂange
or mount version. Offset shaft gearboxes
recommend themselves with their compact and good geometry as the optimum
solution for space-saving drive tasks. Bevel gearboxes are angular gears and are
therefore suitable for the most difficult installation conditions. The low-cost worm
gearboxes are also angular gears but with
a lower efficiency. You will ﬁnd further information and technical data at:
www.siemens.com/gearedmotors
Publisher
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft,
Automation and Drives Group (A&D),
Frauenauracher Str. 80,
D-91056 Erlangen, Germany
Group Executive Management
Helmut Gierse, Anton S. Huber,
Alfred Ötsch
Editorial Responsibility in Accordance
with the German Press Law
Peter Miodek
Responsible for Technical Contents
Werner Schmolke
Telephone +49 (0) 9131 98-2959
Telefax
+49 (0) 9131 98-11465
E-Mail: [email protected]
http://www.siemens.de/textil
Simotion – The Motion Control System for Multiple Axes
One Platform for All
Simotion integrates motion control, logic
and technology functions into a single
system. This eliminates the time-critical
interfaces between individual components and leads to a more efficient engineering. The range of solutions offered by
Simotion extends from simple speed control units right up to complex multi-axis
machines, where a large number of individual axes must be designed and put into
operation.
Simotion comprises three separate
components: engineering system, runtime software and various hardware platforms as the target system. The Scout engineering system handles motion control,
logic and technology tasks in a single, integrated system. It also provides all necessary tools – from programming and parameterization, through test and commissioning, right up to diagnostics. Applications that are created using Scout can be
run on any Simotion hardware. The user
can select the most suitable platform for
his particular machine. In full accordance
with the concept of Totally Integrated Automation, the Scout engineering system
relates to a common database. With its
downloadable technology functions, the
runtime software is both ﬂexible and scalable, allowing several motion control, logic and technology functions to run in parallel on one control unit. This modular
structure enables the overall functionality
to be tailored exactly to the requirement
proﬁle of the machine in question.
Simotion runs on three hardware platforms:
Publishing House
Publicis KommunikationsAgentur GmbH, GWA
Corporate Publishing
P.O. Box 3240, D-91050 Erlangen, Germany
Telephone +49 (0) 91 31/91 92-501
Telefax
+49 (0) 91 31/91 92-594
[email protected]
Editorial staff: Dr. Beate Bellinghausen (editor
in chief), Robert Engelhardt, Gabriele
Stadlbaur
Layout: Jürgen Streitenberger,
Rainer Degenkolbe
Copy editors: Regina Severing,
Olaf Wolff (copy chief), Sabine Zingelmann
DTP: Doess, Nuremberg
Printed by: Wuensch Offset-Druck GmbH,
Neumarkt/Opf.
Siemens
32
Simotion offers three different
hardware platforms to suit many
different applications
Controller-based Simotion C in the S7300 design is modular and ﬂexible to use.
The PC-based version Simotion P combines motion control and visualization
and monitoring features on one platform,
and is thus available for more advanced
tasks.
The compact, drive-based variety Simotion D is already integrated into the drive,
making it ideal for distributed automation
structures.
■
© 2003 by Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Munich and Berlin
All rights reserved by the publisher.
This edition was printed on environmentallyfriendly chlorine-free paper.
The following products are registered
trademarks of Siemens AG:
AS-INTERFACE, ET 200, MASTERGUARD,
MICROMASTER, MP370, SCOUT, SIEMOSYN,
SIMATIC, SIMATIC S7-200, SIMATIC S7-300,
SIMATIC S7-400, SIMOTION, SIMOVERT,
SINAMICS, SINUMERIK, SITEX, SIVACON,
TOTALLY INTEGRATED AUTOMATION (TIA),
WinCC
If trademaks, technical solutions or similar are
not included in the list, ist does not imply that
they are not protected.
The information provided in this magazine
contains merely general descriptions or
characteristics of performance which in case
of actual use do not always apply as described
or which may change as a result of further
development of the products. An obligation to
provide the respective characteristics shall
only exist if expressly agreed in the terms of
contract.
Order No. E20001-A250-P620-X-7600