IMA stacks insulation panels energy-efficiently

Challenge 1: avoid vibrations

“Insulation panels are light. This is precisely why you need a heavy, sturdy machine - if parts shift, the panels could be damaged. Therefore, we built the machine very robustly. And we are confident there will be no damage - we did not foresee any room for failure.”

But robustness is not just in the mechanics. “We use the new SINAMICS S220 drive systems here. These can be tuned very precisely. With the help of Siemens, we were able to eliminate in the motor’s motion profile all frequencies that would cause vibrations in the mechanics. This way, everything runs completely vibration-free.”

“In the S220, we envisaged more intermediate sizes in power,” adds Jeroen Pieters, account manager at Siemens. “This allowed us to recommend a drive system that more closely matched the power required, saving IMA and Recticel costs. The motor modules are smaller. That way, they also need less cabinet space.”

Challenge 2: speed

Nine seconds at the front and 12 seconds at the rear are very challenging cycle times. IMA achieves that by duplicating the line, both front and rear. Nicolas: “Picking up a panel every nine seconds is no mean feat because you have to be able to hold each panel perfectly and there are two different widths. We therefore provided two supply lines, whose motors are synchronised. Using technology objects, we built a virtual link between the two lines, as if there were a crankshaft between them.”

“We don’t want one line to move more than the other because then we wouldn’t be able to take the panels apart. As long as everything goes well, synchronisation is easy. But we also wanted to cover all unhappy flows: emergency stops, a fault in one motor while another is accelerating, etc. That was not easy. During commissioning, Siemens stood by us to offer support.”

Challenge 3: recover energy

A dozen motors start and stop several times during the nine-second cycle time to maintain the fast process. “Lifting, lowering, pulling apart, lifting again, lowering... Without energy recovery, slowing down all those movements would cause a lot of heat and energy loss. Thanks to a shared DC link, the braking energy from one motor is used to start the other. That soon saves 10% energy.”

Result: efficient process without product loss

“We always build our machines completely at IMA. We test them thoroughly - from A to Z - and only build on site after full validation. This is a big advantage for the customer, as this way we do not have to occupy their production hall for months. Recticel was impressed when they came to take a look. Our cycle times are even better than expected: we gain one second at the front and two seconds at the rear.”

“The machine runs fully automatically, without operator intervention. Everything is selected automatically. We check the thickness and length of the panels and the height of the stacks at various points. Does something still go wrong? Then we can watch remotely to support Recticel.”

“There is no product loss: thanks to the machine’s robust construction, secure gantry picker and precise synchronisation, no panels warp. Thanks to technology and support from Siemens, we got the job done. The collaboration with Siemens went smoothly, the support was excellent. We will definitely use the S220 more often.”