28 n MACHINE BUILDING October 2024 www.drivesncontrols.com Cabinet-free automation ‘changes the world of machine-building’ The German machine-builder Schirmer Maschinen makes profile processing machines used for a variety of applications, especially for producing windows and doors. The machines can make parts for window frames and sashes in a continuous process from PVC profile bars that are about 6m long. As far as possible, all drilling, milling and punching operations are carried out on the raw bar, followed by cutting and processing of the ends. While the profile bars are being processed, reinforcement profiles are cut to size on a separate line with the option to insert and position them automatically in a PVC profile. This is followed by further processes such as screwing in the profile and reinforcement, drilling, milling, and inserting and screwing in the locking mechanisms. Schirmer was founded in 1979 and employs around 250 people. It specialises in automated machines based on largely standardised process modules that create customer-specific systems with high outputs and flexibility in terms of profiles and processes. The company was reportedly Beckhoff Automation’s first customer, and after being a Beckhoff user for almost 40 years, became a member of the automation group in 2016. Schirmer’s machines have to handle a wide variety of frequently changing profile geometries. The conversion process takes place automatically. “Manual set-up is definitely out of the question for us,” explains Schirmer’s MD, Ludger Martinschledde. Many stops and brackets have to be positioned on a fully automatic basis. “Last year, for example, we implemented a line with a total of 210 axes,” Martinschledde recalls. The electrical equipment that Schirmer has used in its machines to date reflects current standards. Drive amplifiers, power supplies, power distribution and PC-based control technology have all been installed in control cabinets. There are typically several of these stations set up along the machine, with cables routed and connected from two or three process modules. EtherCat I/Os are used in sub-distributors that collect actuator and sensor signals from the process modules. However, combining several process functions in one control cabinet and using sub-distributors to which the signal lines are clamped rather than plugged in, is a compromise for modular machine-building. “This means that most of the electrical installation and commissioning will only take place during final assembly, which is precisely when we are aiming to commission the system as quickly as possible before taking it apart again for delivery,” Martinschledde explains. Schirmer regards the discrepancy between the modular machine concept and the central control cabinets as an obstacle to more efficient project workflows. When Martinschledde and Schirmer’s design engineers heard about an alternative approach that achieves automation without control cabinets – Beckhoff’s MX-System, announced in 2021 – they were intrigued. That is how Schirmer became a pioneer in adopting the cabinet-free technology, with the main aim of optimising lead times and processes involved in machine building. Instead of the control cabinets that used to stand next to its machines, baseplates for the new system are mounted directly onto the steel frames of the process modules. The sub-distributors’ tasks have either also been accommodated in the new system, or have been replaced by decentralised I/O modules (EtherCat Box modules), also from Beckhoff. This combination of the MX-System and EP A German machine-builder has adopted a cabinet-free form of automation for a profile-processing machine used to produce parts for windows. It has found that the new system saves time and space, reduces wiring errors and cuts the number of parts needed. Last-minute changes are also easier, and any problems can be rectified faster. Schirmer’s 14m-long modular machine processes PVC window profiles automatically, using an automation technology that does away with the need for traditional control cabinets
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