Schneider Electric Case Study Highlight Industries, Inc. Grand Rapids, Michigan Packaging OEM Expands Machine Features While Reducing Costs and Time to Build By Erik Barton, electrical engineer, Highlight Industries & Mark Duncan, packaging OEM segment manager, Schneider Electric schneider-electric.com/us
In Brief Goal Build machines at low cost while increasing the technological functionality. That means finding cost-effective components that have expanded capabilities. Solution Modicon TM M241 programmable logic controllers (PLCs), Magelis TM humanmachine interfaces (HMIs), Altivar TM 12 and 312 variable-frequency drives (VFDs), circuit breakers, relays, contactors, switches, and pushbuttons. Vijeo TM Designer Software for HMIs. Results Twenty-five percent savings per panel due to lower-cost components and reduced labor to build and design. Background It s human nature to want more for less and that is certainly true in today s manufacturing environment. Now more than ever, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are feeling pressure from customers to produce machines that are more full-featured but not more expensive. This creates a challenge to add functionality without increasing cost. For OEMs, the solution is often to reduce component costs and find efficiencies in the design and building processes. Those that can balance costs without sacrificing quality will have a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Highlight Industries, Inc., in Grand Rapids, Michigan, manufactures automated stretch wrapping, case sealing, and strapping systems for handling product cases and unitizing pallets. In 2014, the company manufactured 2,300 machines and expects to continue growing by at least 10 percent annually in the foreseeable future. Challenge Over the past couple years, Highlight Industries customers have been requesting more features on their packaging equipment such as advanced diagnostics, secure login, and machine metric information but they aren t willing to pay more for it. This has required some creative thinking on how to improve efficiency and reduce investment costs. We strive to be more competitive by satisfying every customer s needs and at the same time be more profitable, said Erik Barton, electrical engineer at Highlight Industries. The biggest struggle is getting the price down while increasing the technological functionality of the machines. That means finding cost-effective components that have expanded capabilities. Highlight Industries, Inc. 2
Solution To optimize its machine performance, Highlight Industries partnered with Schneider Electric TM to provide a variety of components, including Modicon M241 PLCs, Magelis HMIs, Altivar 12 and 312 VFDs, circuit breakers, relays, contactors, switches, and pushbuttons. As a result, Highlight Industries saves 25 percent per panel due to lower-cost components and reduced labor to build and design. Having a one-stop shop for so many components has several advantages, including cost savings and streamlined purchasing. We started using Altivar drives and had such success that we expanded into using other Schneider Electric components, Barton said. Buying everything from a single source gives us significant cost savings in the long run. Using a single brand of off-the-shelf solutions simplifies purchasing for Highlight Industries and its customers by providing one reliable source for full-featured components at the lowest price. Operator control panel When our customers need spare parts, we don t have to spend time shopping around for the best pricing and features every time, Barton said. We get the best price and all the features we want from the Schneider Electric solutions. Using a common brand for many components creates a more consistent and refined look in the panel, which is important to some companies. Our customers want a uniform panel so they can show it off to their own customers, Barton said. When their equipment appears uniform, clean, and well-designed, it reflects well on them. They don t want to show a panel that looks hacked together. Building efficiency By choosing components with built-in features, Highlight Industries has reduced its time to build equipment by 15 percent. One particular area of savings is in the Altivar drives with modbus for network diagnostics and control. Previously, Highlight Industries manually programmed parameters for each drive. Now, modbus allows the Magelis HMI to send parameters directly to all the drives with the push of a button. View inside control panel Highlight Industries, Inc. 3
Our customers want a uniform panel so they can show it off to their own customers. When their equipment appears uniform, clean, and well-designed, it reflects well on them. They don t want to show a panel that looks hacked together. Erik Barton, electrical engineer at Highlight Industries. Even if a customer needs to change a drive later, they just change the address in the drive, Barton said. There are no other parameters to change, so the change is quick. In addition, using the communication protocols means the machines require fewer wires, I/Os, and terminal blocks, which further streamlines machine building time. The Magelis STU HMI mounts in a traditional 22 mm knock-out hole, so Highlight Industries doesn t spend extra time cutting new holes in the enclosures. The Vijeo Designer software for the Magelis HMI provides capabilities to create custom features and screens that cut down on programming time. The Vijeo software is intuitive and very powerful. I can write specific scripts to get additional functionality, Barton said. I created my own security screen using JavaScript so we can customize our security login procedures. We have more features in our screen that look better and function better than our competitors, and we can create them in a short amount of time. Adding smart features customers demand With the Altivar drives and Magelis HMIs, Highlight Industries can provide more information for operators like machine intelligence (such as shrink wrap usage and film breaks), as well as advanced diagnostics. For example, a drive fault will display the specific details on a problem, so the customer can troubleshoot without lengthy downtime. Close-up view of control panel Highlight Industries, Inc. 4
The diagnostics displayed on the HMI are a big selling point because a maintenance technician doesn t necessarily need to open the panel to see what s wrong. Barton said. It s safer and reduces the chance of arc flash issues. With faster design and lower costs, Highlight Industries can afford to differentiate itself from competitors by building in advanced standard features on the fully automated stretch wrappers. These features include modbus communication with the drives and multiple recipe setups from the touch screen. Design flexibility Using compact and versatile components allows for more scalable, flexible design. Thanks to the smaller size of the Altivar drives, contactors, circuit breakers, and relays, Highlight Industries can maximize functionality in less space. The Schneider Electric components are smaller and more functional, so we can fit more into our panels, Barton said. This allows us to increase efficiency in our design and build phases because we are more scalable, so we don t change the enclosure size for each customer. The Modicon PLCs are flexible because they allow for more functional block diagrams and the use of structured text, which is an easier program environment for mathematical functions compared to ladder logic. View inside control panel Such flexibility helps Highlight Industries easily meet global standards on its film testing equipment, which is sold to companies around the world. In addition to meeting ratings such as CE, UL, CSA, and CCC, the Altivar drives can handle a wide range of voltage inputs, so they can be used in the packaging machines regardless of the country where they will be delivered. The Altivar drives allow for 480 volt or 380 volt inputs, so we don t have to change the design for different countries, Barton said. That is significant time savings when we are building machines for global customers. Highlight Industries, Inc. 5
Critical Keys to Project Success Using a single source supplier for all automation and control components Finding innovative products that improve performance and optimize costs Partnering with a supplier with a well-known brand and global capabilities Reliability is peace of mind Although price and features are important, a machine s quality is only as good as the components inside it. Downtime due to unnecessary failures will make or break an OEM s reputation. Highlight Industries has seen a reduction in service requirements once machines are in the field. Many components now last longer without maintenance. Contactors and circuit breakers that previously needed to be changed every five years now last the life of the machine. The Schneider Electric contactors and relays can handle generally more current and have higher product life, Barton said. The contactors are magnetically closed and opened, so that helps keep the arcing down and extends the life compared to traditional contactors. Highlight Industries will continue investing in technology, finding more efficient ways to make differentiated products. Schneider Electric is a great partner for us. High-quality components at a reasonable price help us achieve our goals, and we expect things to keep getting bigger and better. Erik Barton, electrical engineer at Highlight Industries. Schneider Electric is a great partner for us, Barton said. High-quality components at a reasonable price help us achieve our goals, and we expect things to keep getting bigger and better. Close-up view of control panel Highlight Industries, Inc. 6
Schneider Electric provides inspired and comprehensive energy solutions that transform the way businesses manage their environment, efficiency, and costs. As the global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation, and data centers/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications. Schneider Electric is dedicated to making individuals and organizations energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive, and green from Power Plant to Plug TM. Schneider Electric is a proud member of PMMI and OMAC. To learn more about Schneider Electric solutions for the packaging industry, please visit schneider-electric.us/sites/us/en/solutions/oem/packaging/packaging.page To learn more about Highlight Industries, visit their website www.highlightindustries.com/ Schneider Electric 8001 Knightdale Boulevard Knightdale, NC 27545 Tel: 888-778-2733 www.schneider-electric.com/us 2015 Schneider Electric. All Rights Reserved. Schneider Electric, Modicon, Magelis, Altivar, Vijeo, and Power Plant to Plug are trademarks owned by Schneider Electric Industries SAS or its affiliated companies. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. www.schneider-electric.com 998-19124752_US July 2015