Converting goes digital

Fickle consumers and creative marketers are forcing packaging companies to produce smaller batches with more frequent stops for setup and adjustment. To add the necessary flexibility without sacrificing productivity, they need machines that reduce manual operations, improve operator assistance and provide helpful performance indicators. Packaging printing and converting machine manufacturer DCM-ATN has just what they're looking for with its highly automated smart machines based on B&R's technological innovations.

The ongoing trend toward smaller batch sizes and more volatile demand fluctuations entails new challenges for packaging converters. Many of them are now looking for solutions to reduce setup times and track machine performance. Machine builder DCM-ATN, whose machines convert flexible plastic materials and cardboard into bags, packs and sleeves, has begun developing a new generation of smart machines.

One of them is a fully automated slitter-winder – the SuperTigre – which, at the time of writing, is just about to be launched onto the market. In parallel, DCM-ATN has also been developing an edge-connectivity solution to enable machine supervision and comprehensive performance analysis.

"From our long experience with B&R as an automation partner, we knew that we could rely on them again for our latest developments," explains Matthieu Lorchel, export business engineer at DCM-ATN. "In particular their motion control expertise and integrated solutions that combine configuration, programming and diagnostics in a single software tool have helped us take big steps in reducing manual operations and improving operator guidance."

Thanks to efficient collaboration with B&R to implement their latest solutions, DCM-ATN was able to equip its new-generation slitter rewinder with an array of new automatic features that maximize productivity. The SuperTigre offers automated positioning of the web-guide camera as well as automated slit positioning, tape application, cross cutting, reel change, slit reel unloading and core positioning.

When handling smaller batches, operators have much more interaction with the machine. This makes the operator terminal and HMI design even more important. "We wanted to make the SuperTigre's operator interface as simple as a smartphone," explains Alexandre Métay, DCM-ATN's head of automation. "So we were looking for a software solution that would allow us to create web-based applications, as well as a multitouch operator terminal that would support them."

Métay found a perfect match for these requirements in B&R's Power Panel series of operator terminals and its mapp View solution, which enables developers with no knowledge of web programming to create powerful, intuitive web-based HMI applications. "That really made things easy for our automation engineers," he recalls, "because all they have to do is drag and drop the widgets into place and then configure them."

To gain efficiency in volatile markets, packaging printers and converters also need to collect, process and visualize production data to better assess the performance of their machinery and teams. That's why DCM developed ConnectiVision, a comprehensive monitoring system based on a B&R Edge Controller PC.

The ConnectiVision solution is available for all DCM-ATN machines. It offers a variety of modules, including one for monitoring machine activity, one for generating reports and one for remote monitoring of machine performance from a tablet, smartphone or PC.

Like B&R, DCM-ATN is strongly focused on customer support. "Maintenance responsibility now lies on the equipment supplier's side," explains Lorchel. "That makes customer service quality essential in our markets." DCM-ATN offers service contracts that cover technical support and maintenance.

To successfully deploy these services worldwide, the company relies on technical staff based in Europe, America and Asia as well as on B&R's international network. "With 85 percent of our turnover coming from export sales, B&R's global presence and high-quality support are a real asset for our business model," says Lorchel. "Our staff includes twelve different nationalities, and we found a perfect match for that culture of international collaboration in our partnership with B&R."