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“Using GE Fanuc Proficy software has enabled us to demonstrably increase productivity and significantly improve process quality,” says Martin Siegenthaler, who is responsible for the process automation and system support at Blaser Swisslube AG. “In addition, the software facilitates the daily work of our staff. However, using the system in no way diminishes the importance of their jobs.”
Visualizations make Blaser Swisslube more productive in many areas including the filling system in the lubricant plant. The barrels to be filled are delivered by truck, transferred onto pallets and automatically transported to the filling station using various transfer points equipped with conveyor belts. If faults occurred, the system manager needed to connect his laptop computer to the system control (PLC) and analyze the corresponding inputs/outputs until he located the problem. This was considerably time-consuming and resulted in significant downtime. Today, the visualization allows the manager to obtain detailed information using the causes of the alarms.
For real-time and historical data analysis, the Proficy Historian server is a robust and effective storage system for the accumulated system data and constitutes the heart of the process visualization at the production company. If required, vast quantities of historical or real-time data and operating information can be quickly and easily recorded, archived and distributed. And, GE Fanuc’s Proficy Real-Time Information Portal allows production data to be called up, analyzed and visualized. The portal provides a Web-based overview of important parameters and allows remote access.
“That Web access provides an advantage if a problem with the power station occurs at night or on the weekend,” said Siegenthaler. “In certain circumstances, I don’t even have to drive to the plant, but can simply solve the problem on my computer at home using a VPN and by calling the building attendant.”
At the same time, Siegenthaler has constant access to the historical and current process data from his office workplace during working hours and can monitor current processes or make future decisions based on the historical data. “A plant outage here would come at a high cost to the company and cause supply shortages. Therefore, we have integrated a CIMPLICITY/Historian redundancy solution that will drastically increase the security in this respect,” said Siegenthaler.
On-site support provided by the Balsthal-based B+I Automation AG, the official Swiss sales partner of GE Fanuc, is one reason why the company chose GE Fanuc.
“We have been working with their employees for years and have always received immediate, reliable support,” Siegenthaler says. “And since we believe service and product availability are equally important as the purchase price itself, the decision in the matter was made relatively easily. We of course also looked at rival products. In doing so, we realized that no other products were as convenient to program and configure as CIMPLICITY.”
Siegenthaler sees no major concerns in pending upgrading tasks. Konrad Bussmann from the B+I Automation AG, who has installed and upgraded numerous systems with GE Fanuc products, confirmed: “Thanks to the open architecture, client/server setup and the modularity of the product range, upgrading individual components can be done without any problems.”
About GE Fanuc Automation
GE Fanuc Automation Corporation, a joint venture between GE and FANUC LTD of