trends in automation

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On the belt: one of the five Magnum lines produces
more than 20,000 units per hour.
“We’ve been able to reduce our com-
pressed air consumption on the Magnum
production system step by step with the
energy efficiency module from Festo.”
Alexander Hemmerich, Automation Engineer, Unilever plant, Heppenheim, Germany
flow, pressure and consumption, with the
machine controls via Profibus. It is easy
to operate via the control panel. “We’ve
been able to reduce compressed air con-
sumption on the Magnum production sys-
tem step by step with the energy efficiency
module from Festo. And the Profibus
connection had the advantage that we
did not have to add any more cables when
converting our existing systems.” On the
Magnum line, the costs for compressed
air consumption were reduced by more
than 500 euros per year.
Concentrating on the essentials
The Magnum line at Unilever provided
an ideal environment to field test the
MSE6-E2M prototype. The pilot use in the
Heppenheim plant and the close cooper­
ation with Festo developers showed what
daily operation would be like. While the
first version of the energy efficiency mod-
ule still had I/O slots, the final MSE6-E2M
uses a Profibus interface. The exhaust
valve of the first product generation was
also dropped. It was more important to
keep the energy efficiency module com-
pact, especially given the limited installa-
tion space of existing systems. Thus the
MSE6-E2M was designed on the basis of a
combination of pressure and flow sensor,
shut-off valve and fieldbus node.
As a complete series product it is now only
about half the size of the prototype and
thus optimally tailored to the require-
ments of machine operators and builders.
It makes energy monitoring simple and
effective, and supports companies such
as Unilever on their path to effectively
increase their sustainability.
Unilever Deutschland
Produktions GmbH &
Co. OHG
Heppenheim Plant
Langnesestraße 1
64646 Heppenheim
Germany
Area of business:
Production of Wall’s ice cream
2.2015 trends in automation
Synergies 36 – 37