Flexible control platform will help Triangle Package Machinery’s customers minimize floor space, cut engineering costs and reduce changeover times
MILWAUKEE, March 1, 2004 — Rockwell Automation today announced that Triangle Package Machinery Co. has designed its newest bag-in-box cartoning machine using Rockwell Automation’s Integrated Architecture automation and control solutions. By tightly integrating motion and sequential control into a unified hardware and software environment, Rockwell Automation’s Integrated Architecture will help the Chicago-based OEM reduce engineering costs, boost machine performance and reduce time-to-market. Triangle Package Machinery Co. has designed and built machinery and equipment since 1923 to help food, industrial, medical, electronics and other industries meet their demanding packaging requirements.
The company’s new Triangle/FlexCell machine is designed to meet customer demands for a compact, space-efficient bag-in-box cartoner that can run 90 to 100 cartons per minute. Previously, to achieve this packaging speed, large continuous-motion cartoners were necessary. These cartoners are expensive to build, complex to configure and consume an excessive amount of valuable floor space. To meet its design requirements, Triangle Package uses Rockwell Automation’s Integrated Architecture, which features a common control, communication and visualization platform that cuts programming time and reduces operator training costs. The integrated design also enables Triangle Packaging to greatly reduce its engineering costs while providing its customers with a versatile, highly efficient machine.
Traditional cartoners are mechanically driven machines equipped with a main drive shaft, multiple gearboxes and numerous timing chains. The Integrated Architecture design, which includes a Rockwell Automation Kinetix® Integrated Motion solution featuring an Allen-Bradley® ControlLogix® controller, ULTRA™ 3000 digital servo drives and MP-Series servo motors, gives Triangle an alternative mechanical drive source that fits into a small space, but also accommodates fast product changeovers. In fact, the machine’s vertical design requires a mere 50 square feet instead of the 240 square feet needed for traditional motion cartoners, and changeovers can now be made in 10 to 20 minutes, rather than two to four hours on the traditional cartoners.
“In previous designs, we would have been required to program every device sequentially rather than simultaneously, increasing our engineering costs and hurting our time-to-market,” said Steve Bergholt, chief electronics engineer at Triangle. “The tag-based programming environment allows programmers to work in parallel on the electrical design and application code. These same programming benefits help us make rapid programming alterations to accommodate customer requests and get a machine to market in three months instead of six, saving thousands of dollars in engineering costs.” In addition to reducing the design cycle and its associated costs, the more flexible architecture will help Triangle take and deliver orders faster than its competition.
“A large part of our success is a commitment to using flexible, off-the-shelf automation technology that performs like custom equipment designed for our customer’s unique applications,” added Bergholt. “With reduced space requirements, lower maintenance costs and faster delivery, our customers will quickly appreciate the new cartoner and the technology on which it is based.” Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) is a world-leading provider of industrial automation power, control and information solutions that help customers meet their manufacturing productivity objectives.
The company brings together leading brands in industrial automation for Complete Automation® solutions, including Allen-Bradley controls and engineered services and Rockwell Software® factory management software, Dodge® mechanical power transmission products, and Reliance Electric® motors and drives. The company also is a leading provider of contact management technologies and applications that help companies more efficiently manage interaction with their own customers. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., USA, the company employs about 22,000 people at more than 450 locations serving customers in more than 80 countries.
