Case study

REDUCING CHANGEOVER TIME BY
65% WITH GUIDED FORMAT CHANGEOVER
by Greg Molinaro, Director Packaging, Food and Beverage, Balluff Americas

Food and beverage manufacturers are producing anincreasing variety of products and packaging materials.
This requires smaller batch sizes, which means frequentmachine changes to adapt to different packaging size
formats. To remain competitive in today's market, fastand efficient changeovers are essential.
Efficient changeover operations are a constant challenge inthe food and beverage industry, especially when the process
is completely manual. Discovering whether the changeoverprocess has been carried out completely and correctly canonly be done by starting production and checking the parts
produced. With such a large number of influencing factors,
the machine may be down longer than planned in theprocess; material runs can also be more expensive thanexpected.

The challenge:
Manual processes cause inconsistencies
This was the case for an American food manufacturer ofshakes, protein bars and infant formula. They found that theformat changeover time on their cartoning line was subject
to large fluctuations, 90 minutes on average and up to fourhours. The time required to change the parts and set thechange points depended to a large extent on one factor:
the experience of the personnel. The time required for format
adjustment varied from operator to operator. The cartoner
works with five different packaging sizes, each consisting of
10 changeover points. Many variables significantly increase
the probability of errors. When setting the specified distances,
the operators were guided by marks made on the machines.
However, these were very imprecise, so the distances wereset differently depending on the operator. There was no way
to determine if all change points were in the correct position
before production resumed. This often resulted in productand packaging waste.

The solution:
Guided format setting for optimized processes
The customer decided to test and then implement guided
format adjustment using Balluff sensors on the most criticalcomponent of the machine, the cartoner's magazine.
On the recommendation of Balluff experts, an IO-Link control
architecture was installed that meets the particularly highhygiene and safety requirements in this washdown area.
Connected laser distance sensors and inductive position
sensors detect the positions of the adjustable machinecomponents during the changeover and considerably simplify
a correct format change is accomplished. The sensor
connections on the BNI IO-Link network module also indicate
the functional status of the connected sensors. This provides
additional troubleshooting options during maintenance.
However, there was one hurdle to overcome: The cartoner's
machine control system was not modern enough to beconnected to the IO-Link network module. But a solution
was found for this as well. A palletizer in the line had a newermachine control and could be connected to the IO-Link
network module. The palletizer thus served as a bridge to thecontrol of the cartoner. An output from the network module
to the cartoner's PLC serves as an indicator that all settings
have been made correctly and the machine is ready foroperation. With this solution, all components could be
integrated into the existing plant structure without majorintervention.

Magazine
guide rail

BOS00K8

Unopened
cartons

BOD002L

Cartonmagazine

BOD0020
Photoelectric
sensor senses
carton feed
guide is inposition.

Infrared sensor
confirms position ofmagazine guide rail

Continuous linear
inductive positioning
sensor measures themachine's vertical
position to guidecarton magazine.

Photoelectric laser
distance sensors
measure the size andcalculates the change inposition of the variable
length adjustment of the
carton magazine frame
holding the various sizesof unopened cartons

BIP001F

The result:
Error-free and efficient format adjustments
After overcoming the last hurdle, the food producer wasable to retrofit the machine with linear position sensors andsuccessfully implement guided format change. With thisIO-Link solution, the employees' workflow changed. Insteadof time-consuming manual testing of the correct settings at
each individual position, the operator selects the desired
format on the HMI. On the display, they directly see set values
as well as current measured values of the connected sensors.
In addition, a programmable SmartLight, shows the operator
the status of the format change. It flashes blue and red whena change is required on the machine and lights up green
when all components are in place. Both scrap and reworktime have been significantly reduced as a result. Change-overtime has been minimized to 30 minutes – an improvementof at least 65 percent!

In addition, errors in the changeover process are easier todetect. Machine operators can now easily determine which
components are not set correctly without having to makeunnecessary material runs. Maintenance personnel can use
the SmartLight to see remotely whether the changeoverprocess has been carried out correctly.
The successful introduction of guided format change
encouraged the customer to implement additional changepart detection and access control to the machine using RFID
technology. Because the IO-Link architecture is modular
and expandable, they were able to easily incorporate theRFID sensors without significant development effort or theneed for a separate control architecture.

BILL OF MATERIAL
BNI00E0

BIP001F

BNI00H7

BOD002L

BCC0CJ0

LED signal light
SmartLight, IO-Link 1.1,
6 segments,
programmable

Inductive positioningsystem, IO-Link 1.1,
block style

Network block for
Ethernet/IP, IO-Link 1.1,
8 ports, IP69K,
die casting zinc

Photoelectric
distance sensor,
laser red light,
IO-Link 1.1

M12 double-ended
cordset, 2 m cable,
stainless steel cover nutBOD0020

BOS00K8

BAE00LJ

BCC0EZT

BCC0LKZ

Photoelectric
distance sensor,
laser red light,
IO-Link 1.1

Photoelectric
sensor, infrared,
discreteHeartbeat® power supply

M12 to RJ45
double-ended cordset,
10 m cableM12 single-ended
cordset, 10 m cablewww.balluff.com
Balluff GmbH · Schurwaldstrasse 9 · 73765 Neuhausen a. d. F. · Germany · www.balluff.com/go/contact
955557_AA · EN · G22 · Subject to change.