28 n MACHINE BUILDING October2026 www.drivesncontrols.com Open Ethernet network helps to produce egg cartons more efficiently Huhtamäki is a Finnish packaging manufacturer with a history stretching back more than 100 years. It employs 17,400 people at more than 100 locations in 35 countries . Its sales in 2025 totalled €4bn. The company specialises in sustainable packaging designed for recyclability, compostability or re-use. For example, at its Franeker plant in The Netherlands, Huhtamäki turns recycled paper into more than 11 million egg cartons every week. To keep this production moving around the clock, the factory relies on highly automated lines that must be stable, easy to maintain, and adaptable to future needs. To support this aim, the site been upgrading its automation systems from older serial networks to the open CC-Link IE Field industrial Ethernet technology that offers faster performance with gigabit bandwidth and better diagnostics. The change has streamlined maintenance through clearer diagnostic data, reducing complexity, and cutting troubleshooting time. As a result, the network will now become the standard for future upgrades at the site. “We try to avoid making constant changes,” explains Albert Bruining, an electrical engineer at Huhtamäki. “We want systems that will still be working 10 years from now. When we do update our technology, it needs to offer clear, long-term benefits. That was the case with CC-Link IE Field.” The Franeker facility designs and build much of its machinery in-house using Mitsubishi automation hardware, including iQ-R series PLCs. The engineering team is responsible both for maintaining legacy equipment, and for developing new systems. The network was introduced as part of a larger control system upgrade, which also involved updating the PLCs, inverters and HMIs on a legacy machine. Moving to the new network has brought benefits including improved fault diagnostics, a more flexible wiring, and simpler hardware configurations. These have made both commissioning and long-term support significantly easier. One of the main reasons for moving away from the previous networking set-up was the limited availability of diagnostic data. “With our old systems, you could tell whether a device was online or not – but that’s about it,”Bruining recalls. That meant that in the event of a fault, it was harder to pinpoint the cause. With CC-Link IE Field, diagnostic information is easier to integrate with PLCs and HMIs. That means clearer error messages for maintenance teams and faster fault resolution. “If there’s a communication error, the HMI can tell you exactly which node or cable is involved,” says Bruining. “That makes troubleshooting much quicker and more efficient.” This level of insight is valuable in a 24/7 production environment where downtime has a major impact on throughput. The move to the new network also offered installation and maintenance advantages. Unlike serial networks, which rely on daisychained connections, the Ethernet-based structure allows for star topologies using standard switches. This means that a fault in one cable won’t take down the entire network – another important factor in ensuring the availability required to keep an operation on the scale the Franeker plant running. The use of standard cabling also proved beneficial. “With our old technology, you needed special cables that weren’t always easy to source,” says Bruining. “With CC-Link IE Field, we can use standard high-quality Ethernet cables, which makes sourcing and logistics much easier.” In addition, newer Mitsubishi drives come with CC-Link IE Field built in, eliminating the need for expansion boards. The Franeker plant has adopted CC-Link IE Field as the standard for future automation projects at the site. As older machines are phased out, the new network will be rolled out more widely. n A Dutch plant that manufactures more than 11 million egg cartons every week from recycled paper, has upgraded its automation networks to an open Ethernet-based system offering improved fault diagnostics, a more flexible wiring structure, and simpler hardware configurations. Huhtamaki’s Franeker plant manufactures more than 11 million egg cartons every week from recycled paper.
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