An upgrade for two aluminium foil mills

An aluminium manufacturing company in Bridgnorth, Shropshire required the electrical design, manufacture and commissioning of two aluminium foil mills, incorporating the very latest technology.

Part of an £11 million improvement programme, the upgrade came at a time when the market for aluminium foil was growing. Technology benefits included faster line speeds, increased production efficiencies and improvements in quality and consistency.

 

Our Solution

Completely redesigned by Iconsys, the foil mills feature two Siemens S7 PLC systems, utilising Profibus-DP and TCP/IP local area network communications.

The motor control PLC interfaces to the line AC and DC drives with its own Profibus DP network, controlling all line pumps and fans via a discrete I/O. The common control PLC (CC) interfaces to all plant devices, including operator stations, proxies, solenoids and encoders via a second Profibus DP system.

An operator pulpit provides the centre point, with manufacturing line information displayed on three 21” monitors above the main viewing window. Two main operator desks have access to all manual functions and automatic control of the line.

Results

• Modern reliable, efficient and maintainable drive system
• Faster line speeds
• Increased production efficiencies
• Improvements in quality and consistency

 

Client Feedback

“The new systems designed by Iconsys will facilitate the improved production capacity of the mills with increased throughput, faster speeds and detailed management information. Collective enhancements will also now enable us to address the worldwide market for aluminium foil products more competitively, with consistent quality and improved customer service.”