[UPDATED ON JULY 2023]
In the 1990s Siemens released its SIMOVERT MASTERDRIVES converters, which were immediately adopted by A.Celli and assumed the status of the industry standard. However, Siemens has outdone themselves with their new, more sophisticated SINAMICS generation of converters. A.Celli has adopted the SINAMICS line, along with state-of-the-art PLC technology, from the very beginning to enable our customers to achieve better energy diagnostics. In this article we will take a look at one of our success stories.
How SINAMICS increases productivity and efficiency
SINAMICS is superior to the old, discontinued SIMOVERT technology in many respects: it allows to achieve higher performance, maintenance is easier to perform, and its modular structure gives it greater flexibility. In particular, the new technology is distinguished by:
- Increased power range up to 132 kW
- User-friendly commissioning software
- Improved control response
- Improved fan, pump, and compressor functions
- Integrated safety features that help plants comply with existing safety regulations
- Integration with the TIA portal
- Integrated PROFINET and IP communication between Profinet and Ethernet
- Improved product quality with coated boards
- Push-through cooling
- Improved energy recovery
In addition, SINAMICS still offers the choice of cabinet or built-in options, both boasting a modular structure and easy maintenance.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at how the SINAMICS upgrade helped our customer, Suominen.
The adoption of SINAMICS by Suominen for a better energy diagnosis
The challenge
Suominen is a manufacturer of nonwovens as roll goods for wipes as well as for medical and hygiene products. It is the global market leader in nonwovens for wipes, employing nearly 700 people in Europe and in the Americas.
Among their products we can find wipes for personal hygiene and baby care, sanitary pads, diapers, adult incontinence products, surgical drapes and swabs.
Suominen reached out to A.Celli Nonwovens to upgrade their drives to SINAMICS for a number of reasons. Of course, they knew that the availability of spare parts for SIMOVERT technology was becoming an issue, but they especially wanted to both reduce downtime for maintenance and parts replacement and improve productivity by moving from manual to automated operations.
The solution
A.Celli Nonwovens, thanks to the many years of experience of its team of engineers, was able to upgrade from SIMOVERT to SINAMICS in an extremely short period of time. This saved Suominen from experiencing increased downtime they couldn’t afford.
This was made possible by a series of preliminary actions implemented by A.Celli Nonwovens. First, pre-engineering survey was carried out on site, after which the new drives were pre-assembled and prewired with full PLC functionality in one of A.Celli's workshops. Three technicians also performed electrical supervision during installation, commissioning and start-up of the SINAMICS system, and finally, the new system was monitored for the next seven days.
The results
Ultimately, A.Celli Nonwovens was able to install the new drives, along with PLC, that met Suominen’s needs and maintained the innovative spirit of their new production line.
Want to know more? Read our complete guide on Industrial plant retrofits and start increasing your machinery performance!
Suominen experienced better performance and control over motor speed and overall production. When it come to energy usage, the upgrade made available to them a complete energy recovery system and allowed them to:
- Perform complete energy diagnostics
- Define clear energy KPIs
- Achieve energy balancing throughout their plant
Overall, the upgrade to SINAMICS resulted in improved plant performance through increased automation of operations. Advanced energy diagnostics helped Suominen minimize energy consumption while ensuring the highest possible production speed and product quality.
Contact us today to achieve the same results as Suominen!
