DMC provided a primary Rockwell PLC, which integrated dozens of equipment modules together, many of which had their own PLC, to develop a unified, modular R&D production line.

Architecture

Many of the existing pieces of equipment either had no PLC or had a PLC that was obsolete and no longer supported. DMC selected upgraded PLC hardware and drives to modernize the existing equipment and provide PLC control to equipment that was previously only run manually.

Safety System Implementation

Prior to our work, each piece of equipment could only be run standalone. As a part of this project, the equipment needed to either run standalone or be integrated into a single production line depending on the product they were going to make. In order to safely integrate the equipment into a single production line, the e-stop associated with each piece of equipment needed to be added to a single safety zone.

To accomplish this, DMC specified and procured safety PLCs, safety I/O cards, and PowerFlex 525s with integrated safety. This allowed us to use programmable safety logic and, depending on the selected production line configuration, programmatically add or remove a system’s equipment from the global estop zone. This safety communication was done wirelessly to allow for the varying line configurations. 

Panel Build

For some of the equipment, an additional panel was needed to add controls or to fit the additional safety hardware if the original panel was out of space. Our Control Panel Design and Fabrication experts from our UL Certified DMC Fabrication Studio stepped in and created Rockwell-based panels for the pilot plant. DMC’s in-house electrical design team, along with a trusted partner, provided the modified and new electrical schematics required for this project.

Since we were working with older equipment, new information was often uncovered during the design upgrade. DMC’s Fabrication Studio allowed us to change the system’s design on short notice while still accommodating the client’s timeline throughout the project.

Conclusion

DMC was flexible throughout the project as design changes were required, and we worked through global supply chain delays.

We left the client with a modular production line with an integrated safety system that contains equipment capable of running standalone or as a configurable unit. We also provided them with upgraded and modernized Rockwell hardware for new and existing enclosures.

DMC is a Rockwell Gold System Integrator. Learn more about our Rockwell expertise and contact us for your next project.