24 n DRIVES January 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com Our drives make your drives Over the past 50 years, Nidec Drives’ manufacturing facilities in Newtown, Wales, have undergone considerable expansion and transformation. As the site grew, raw materials were moved from the warehouse to the site’s module assembly plant manually. Operators transported materials between buildings using forklifts, and internally across three separate levels. This was not only timeconsuming, but also resource-intensive. Given the complexity of interlinking levels in the facility, a bespoke system was considered essential. “We conducted value stream mapping, and by taking an overview of production, preparation, and process, were able to formulate the plan for a conveyor and lift system which would move raw materials around the factory, where they needed to be, and when they needed to be,” explains Nidec Drives’ warehouse and distribution manager, Jamie Evans. He embarked on a mission to find the ideal vendor to implement the latest advances in automated warehouses. “We invested significant time in researching the right supplier to collaborate with us,” Evans recalls. “Through extensive dialogue and interaction with Invar, they emerged as the clear frontrunner.” Invar specialises in intralogistics engineering, and provides turnkey automation systems for clients. Where possible, the automated machinery that Nidec Drives uses at its site – from component store cranes to production equipment – runs on its own Control Techniques VSDs. The company has a motto: “Our drives make your drives.”This applied to the new conveyor and lift drives with Invar incorporating CT drives into its design. The new tote transportation system comprises around 300m of Interroll-powered tote conveyors, as well as three Nerak lifts, spread across three buildings. The conveyor system has two tiers for goods in and out, and the main assembly area. Operators use screens at infeed stations to select a tote’s destination. They scan the tote License Plate Number (LPN), and place the carton onto the conveyor, choosing its destination via an HMI. The tote is then transported to the first lift and directed to an operator station. Once the operator has completed their tasks, the process of scanning the LPN, choosing the destination and dispatching the materials, is repeated. The lift in the store area allows infeed or outfeed from either side, depending on where the materials need to go next. The system can operate on demand, halting completely between tote loads. This energy- and cost-saving ability is expected to deliver a return on investment (ROI) of less than a year. Two types of Control Techniques drives were used for the project: three Unidrives, and 11 Digitax HD M750 servodrives. The M702 variant of the Unidrive controls the Nerak lifts, with onboard Ethernet and dual STO inputs. Several option modules were fitted to the VSDs. The SI-I/O interface module provides extra I/O connections. An SI-Universal encoder module ensures positional accuracy by connecting to a rotary encoder on the lift motor. The module checks if the encoder value matches that of a second encoder measuring position with a laser. If the values align, the drive’s built-in PLC allows it to run. If not, brakes are applied. A PTi210 Easy Motion controller module avoided the need to develop customised software. It was plugged into the drive, then connected via CT’s PowerTools Studio software, to create quick, simple and repeatable routines which the conveyor drives execute repeatedly. For single-axis motion with complex controls such as are needed for conveyors, the PTi210-and-software package offered a cost-effective way to provide simple, fast and effective motion control. Users of any skill level can configure, program, select Nidec Drives has a policy of using its own products in its production facilities, wherever possible. So when it needed it automate the previously manual process of moving raw materials around its Newtown site, it turned to its own Control Techniques VSDs and servodrives. Nidec Drives’ new conveyor system is controlled using its own drives products
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=