The magazine “Kunststoffe” published a three-page article about Gabler Thermoform in its July issue. The article which is entitled “Open control for more efficiency – thermoforming on the way to digital transformation” describes how digitalization has helped increase the performance and efficiency of Gabler Thermoform machines.
In this article, the SWING 3 is used as an example to demonstrate the positive future-oriented further development of these machines. It enables all core components to interact more efficiently, flexible production of both deep and shallow products which can be stacked either horizontally or vertically at one machine. This flexibility is supported by an integrated tool-changing system. “The forming area of 600 x 271 mm is much larger and the punching force of 290 kN has more than doubled, which significantly increases the output of the trim-in-place machine”, the editors added. This allows products to be manufactured reliably from more demanding materials, such as PET or recyclable and biodegradable plastics.
The Open Controller of the Simatic ET 200SP I/O system, which controls the interaction of all components and functions of the SWING 3, was also highly praised. The open “all-in-one” controller is extremely compact and offers all the functions and capabilities required for efficient thermoforming.
Users can also control all new machine functions safely and intuitively via the new Touch Display with 15-inch screen diagonal. Automatic plausibility checks prevent faults or even damage due to incorrect user input. All types of failure messages are shown on the display and can therefore be quickly dealt with. This reduces downtimes significantly.
The article also covers the hardware-based Simatic CMS1200 Condition Monitoring System in combination with the CMS X-Tools analysis and monitoring software. If problems occur in the machine process i.e during punching, such as irregular drive vibrations or force characteristics, these can be detected in real time, which further reduces unwanted interruptions in the production process.
And last but not least, the article presents the customer-specific Gabler Thermoform Dashboard, which can be accessed locally at the operating panel of the machine or also globally via network-capable devices using the open, cloud-based software system MindSphere. This software visualizes important Key Performance Indicators, current machine and process data, failure messages and maintenance-relevant status data. A MindConnect Nano device guarantees secure transfer of data between the machine and MindSphere. The Systematic ET 200SP used by Gabler Thermoform is an open system which can be configured very quickly and easily for a wide range of requirements and transferred and installed on the machine control systems in just a few clicks.
Read the full article here.