Italian packaging machine manufacturer TME has made good use of the pandemic period: together with Festo, the company has improved the energy efficiency of its latest generation of machines for single-serve packaging. It's worth taking a look at Packaging Valley in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, where TME is based.
"The application areas for single-serve packaging are multiplying every year and do not only concern the food sector," explains Carlo Lamantea, purchasing manager at TME. "They also extend to the assembly of plastics, the pharmaceutical sector, the medical industry, the cosmetics industry and many others." TME's HTS capsule packaging line is designed to achieve high production capacities and meet the highest efficiency standards.
Easy integration of the servo drives
In addition to producing 280 to 1200 capsules per minute, "this line allows the processing of all capsule models and different materials such as plastic, compostable material and aluminum," Lamantea adds. "This makes it possible to package coffee as well as powdered drinks, teas and medicinal teas." Festo was chosen as a partner for this, he says, because the company offered a new range of CMMT and EMMT brushless servo systems that integrated seamlessly with TME's control platform, which is based on EtherCAT technology.
The dosing of the coffee, as well as the sealing, is carried out by a screw conveyor system driven by brushless motors from Festo. "The goal was to increase the production capacity of the (high-end) HTS capsule packaging lines with the best technological solutions available on the market," explains Gabriele Barbarini, Application Sales Engineer at Festo.
Especially in the pandemic period, the cooperation between TME and Festo was strengthened: "We introduced the most innovative motion control family, the combination of CMMT servo drive controllers and EMMT single-cable motors, in our main plant. This has helped us re-establish ourselves in the market and take advantage of the recovery after the worst period in our recent history," Purchasing Manager Lamantea tells us. "It was a year and a half of upheaval." But the way we deal with customers has also changed. Systems are being used that allow remote FATs (Factory Acceptance Test). This, he says, gives customers the feeling that they can be as close as possible to their products. "And we are able to respond to their requests in real time," Lamantea said.
Energy saving webinars
"Festo's support has also extended to the development of electrical automation components. This has enabled us to produce high-performance machines that are also characterized by savings in energy consumption." TME's machines stand for durability and sustainability and take into account individual customer requirements," emphasizes Purchasing Manager Lamantea, "Starting with advice on pneumatic solutions, Festo has also supported us over time in developing the best mechatronic solutions for our HTS production lines. We have received this support through face-to-face meetings, but also through the many webinars on energy saving and machine safety that Festo experts have organized over the past two years."
It is worth noting that TME has had an automatic shutdown system for production pauses in its plants for more than twenty years, "Which allows us to recover the energy generated by braking the brushless motors and feed it into the common energy bus and, thanks to Festo, optimize compressed air management," explains sales expert Alice Magnani.
MSE6 energy efficiency modules
"It is precisely for compressed air optimization that TME has integrated the new modules of the MSE6 series into some of its projects," confirms Festo project engineer Gabriele Barbarini. As a result, he said, solutions have been found that can be seamlessly integrated into the air handling units, allowing consumption to be monitored and energy waste to be reduced.