Contact us today:
(847) 934-4500
tdaro@bernardandcompany.com
Contact us today:
(847) 934-4500
tdaro@bernardandcompany.com
The Modular Tire Measurement System (MTMS) is a tire uniformity, dynamic tire balance measurement and tire geometry inspection system combined in a single unit for optimum performance, minimal manpower hours and optimum floorspace utilization in tire plant facilites; system combines Micro-Poise tire measurement technology with advanced Siemens servo motors, drives and TIA Portal PLCs plus enhanced communications protocol to provide the best measurement and cycle time on the market.
Micro-Poise Measurement Systems, an Ametek company with over 90 years experience in service to the tire and auto industries and located in Streetsboro, Ohio, today announces plans to replace an existing tire measurement system at a production facility of a major American tire builder. According to John Clark, Director of Product Management for new machinery at Micro-Poise, the customer presented Micro-Poise with several challenges, including the replacement of an existing system within the same footprint, while providing the customer with the most advanced tire measurement and data communications technologies available. The selection of the MTMS from Micro-Poise will afford the end user complete tire testing in one unit, with the best measurement quality and cycle time available, while also providing a reduced footprint for optimum utilization of floor space and reduced manpower hours required.
The MTMS combines three proprietary technologies into a single system, including Micro-Poise ASTEC™ FX tire uniformity measurement, AkroDYNE™ FX dynamic balance measurement and TGIS-SL® tire geometry inspection. The resulting advantages for the end user, according to company sources, will be a minimum tire testing cycle time, reduction of manpower hours, installation of the entire system within the footprint of the existing D70 system installed globally at numerous tire plants and reduced downtime, due to the materials handling configuration and transfer mechanisms on the MTMS.
To help produce the required system, Micro-Poise engineering has turned to its longtime partner Siemens for assistance with the motion and machine control, plus a communications platform that will seamlessly transmit all data gathered upstream to the end user’s production management team. The Siemens product and software support onboard the MTMS will include TIA Portal Simatic S7 PLCs, Sinamics drives, Simotics motors, advanced fault detection and alarm sequencing, diagnostic prioritization software on the HMI for faster recognition by the operators, higher levels of data gathering for production management analysis and a seamless Profinet/Ethernet communications platform.
The new MTMS is currently in the build and test phases at Micro-Poise, with delivery to the customer slated for the Fall of 2016. During early 2017, additional linking of the machine to the entire production protocol will occur.
Modular Tire Test Measurement Systems (MTMS)
The main components of the MTMS design include:
The Modular Tire Measurement System (MTMS) 
from Micro-Poise combines tire uniformity, dynamic balance measurement and tire geometry inspection into a single unit with full transfer mechanisms to speed cycle time, reduce manpower hours and conserve floor space. In its most efficient configuration, the total system cycle time is said to be the fastest in the industry. In addition, each individual measurement station insures the best measurement with no compromise in precision and accuracy. Siemens motion control technologies and software are key to overall machine performance and data communications, according to Micro-Poise sources.
Contact for journalists:
Siemens Industry, Inc.
Alisa Coffey
(678) 427-8319
alisa.coffey@siemens.com
Siemens Industry, Inc.
Hollie Davis
(770) 751-4882
hollie.davis@siemens.com
For more information on this news release, interested parties may also contact:
AMETEK Micro-Poise Measurements Systems
555 Mondial Parkway
Streetsboro, OH 44241
Phone: (330) 541-9100
Stacey Urdiales, Marketing Services & Documentation Manager
stacey.urdiales@ametek.com
About Siemens USA
Siemens Corporation is a U.S. subsidiary of Siemens AG, a global powerhouse focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the world’s largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of systems for power generation and transmission as well as medical diagnosis. With approximately 348,000 employees in more than 190 countries, Siemens reported worldwide revenue of $86.2 billion in fiscal 2015. Siemens in the USA reported revenue of $22.4 billion, including $5.5 billion in exports, and employs approximately 50,000 people throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
Tom Curfiss details the rapidly evolving business climate for retrofit; impacting large production department, job shop machine tool sectors alike
Siemens retrofit
CHICAGO —Various market factors and economic conditions have made retrofitting existing machine tools a very viable option for the large metalworking department at an OEM, as well as the job shop sector of moldmakers, tool & die and contract part manufacturers alike, according to Tom Curfiss, the retrofit business development manager for Siemens. Speaking from his Cincinnati area office, Curfiss comments, “Today’s business climate has combined with economic factors involved in the manufacture of control packages to create an ideal atmosphere for retrofit. Our company has long been involved in the upgrade of large gantry mills for aerospace production, for example. But today, it’s just as likely you’ll find our Retrofit Solution Partners outfitting a 3-axis mill or even a basic lathe with a new entry-level or mid-range CNC, motor and drive package. And, the best news for the job shop, this work can now be done at a price point comparable to just the cost of the CNC a decade ago, owing to economies of scale in the manufacture of these control packages.”
Siemens currently has 17 Retrofit Solution Partners under contract in the U.S. These companies work in close cooperation with Siemens to fully understand the possibilities of retrofitting machines with SINUMERIK CNC and to provide complete services for the installation and refurbishment of the CNC machine. These partner firms for the Machine Tool Systems business at Siemens must have a demonstrated ability to work on CNC, PLC, servo motor, digital drive and all accompanying peripheral products, plus have a proficiency in the development of software packages related to PLC and CNC applications. Every Solution Partner then commits to a battery of training sessions on SINUMERIK controls and is required to keep at least two Siemens-trained engineers on staff at all times, according to Curfiss. The Solution Partners are not geographic specific, as several have proven expertise in the field working on particular types or brands of machine tools. The selection process for the appropriate partner takes many factors into consideration, says Curfiss. “We have partners who specialize in 5-axis machines, others who have expertise in a certain industry such as aerospace or medical, and still others who have their greatest strength in a particular area of the country. Depending on the job specifics and the logistic costs involved, we work hard to match the right partner to the customer’s needs.”
Typically, Curfiss continues, the tipping point on a retrofit job is 60% of the price of a new machine. However, he also points out that many machines have outdated controls, although they still perform adequately in the shop or production department. “The challenge, when we do our onsite machine evaluation, is to determine whether a retrofit will make an appreciable difference in the performance of the machine, as other factors in the mechanics of the iron might make a retrofit impractical.” Curfiss further noted that today’s control technology is evolving at a very rapid rate, making some equipment that went out of production just 10 years ago less than optimum in contributing to maximum machine tool performance. “Running machine tools with 20-year-old technology today will simply not keep a shop as competitive as it needs to be.”
Existing equipment
Tom Curfiss has had his share of experiences with “old iron” in the field, as his background in machine tools spans over 40 years. “A lot of people think their old iron is just impossible to keep running, even with a retrofit, but we’re able to make the old equipment run better than it did when it was new, quite often.” He notes this achievement is the result of faster control processors, improved motor and drive technology, even more accurate and responsive encoders and other machine status sensing devices. On a practical note, Curfiss also remarks, “You cannot, however, fix a broken leg with a bandage, so the machine evaluation needs to be very comprehensive.”
In the end, Tom Curfiss suggests, both the large production departments and the job shops alike need to have regular assessments done on their prototype and production machine tools to determine if a retrofit might be in order. “The savings can be substantial, compared to purchasing new machines, because it’s not just a matter of the dollars saved at the outset, it’s also the long-term production improvements that inevitably lead to even greate Tom Curfiss has had his share of experiences with “old iron” in the field, as his background in machine tools spans over 40 years. “A lot of people think their old iron is just impossible to keep running, even with a retrofit, but we’re able to make the old equipment run better than it did when it was new, quite often.” He notes this achievement is the result of faster control processors, improved motor and drive technology, even more accurate and responsive encoders and other machine status sensing devices. On a practical note, Curfiss also remarks, “You cannot, however, fix a broken leg with a bandage, so the machine evaluation needs to be very comprehensive.” In the end, Tom Curfiss suggests, both the large production departments and the job shops alike need to have regular assessments done on their prototype and production machine tools to determine if a retrofit might be in order. “The savings can be substantial, compared to purchasing new machines, because it’s not just a matter of the dollars saved at the outset, it’s also the long-term production improvements that inevitably lead to even greater profit for the job shop or OEM.”
For more information on Siemens SINUMERIK CNC, visit www.usa.siemens.com/cnc.
For specific product information and inquiries, call (800) 879-8079 ext. Marketing Communications or send an e-mail to: SiemensMTBUMarCom.industry@siemens.com. Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SiemensCNC or Twitter: www.twitter.com/siemens_cnc_us.
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Siemens Industry Sector is the world’s leading supplier of innovative and environmentally friendly products, solutions and services for industrial customers. With end-to-end automation technology and industrial software, solid vertical-market expertise, and technology-based services, the sector enhances its customers’ productivity, efficiency and flexibility. With a global workforce of more than 100,000 employees, the Industry Sector comprises the Industry Automation, Drive Technologies and Customer Services Divisions as well as the Metals Technologies Business Unit. For more information, visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/industry.
The Siemens Drive Technologies Division is the world’s leading supplier of products, systems, applications, solutions and services for the entire drive train, with electrical and mechanical components. Drive Technologies serves all vertical markets in the production and process industries as well as the infrastructure/energy segment. With its products and solutions, the division enables its customers to achieve productivity, energy efficiency and reliability. For more information, visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/drivetechnologies.
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New Siemens 1FT7 servo motors, shown (l to r) in forced ventilation, water-cooled and air-cooled styles
Siemens introduces the 1FT7, a line of high-performance servo motors for such demanding motion control applications as machine tool CNC interpolation, production machine indexing control and more. Their use results in higher dynamic response, due to a 30% shorter design and 4x overload capacity versus 3x on the predecessor family of servos. Less downtime also results from the rigid vibration-insulated encoder mounting, which also enables the OEM or end user to exchange the encoder in the field in less than five minutes, without encoder alignment.
Design engineers have a choice in selecting this servo, as it is available in air-cooled, forced ventilation and water-cooled designs. The water-cooled design of the 1FT7 is provided with stainless steel piping in the stator.
Start-up and commissioning personnel will appreciate the Siemens electronic nameplate and digital encoder interface on this new servo, DRIVE CLiQ, as it simplifies start-up or replacement by not requiring all electronic data to be entered, as the DRIVE CLiQ cable recognizes all drive system components. With this feature, these motors become essentially plug-n-play devices. The drive recognizes the motor automatically and optimizes the parameterization accordingly. This digital encoder interface further allows users to route all their different encoder types along one signal cable.
High-resolution encoders, currently 22 bit, enable these servos to become highly precise motion control system components and these new high-dynamic 1FT7 motors also feature very low rotor inertia, thereby making them practical in applications where it was previously impossible to drive a servo. Such applications include sorters in the printing industry, which previously required mechanical cams but can now utilize electronic cams for better energy efficiency and less wear.
For a catalog or more information on these new servo motors, please contact:
SIEMENS INDUSTRY, INC.
GENERAL MOTION CONTROL
390 Kent Avenue
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Phone: 847-640-1595
Fax: 847-437-0784
Web: www.usa.siemens.com/motioncontrol
Email: SiemensMTBUMarCom.sea@siemens.com
Attention: John Meyer, Manager, Marketing Communications