Amid manufacturers’ equipment and technology upgrades as part of the industry’s digital
transformation, there has been a notable move from a preference for custom systems
toward a more standardized automation approach. This is being done to address scalability
issues, ease maintenance and repair requirements, and to take advantage of the openness
of modern technologies for easier sharing of and access to data as well as integration with
other third-party systems.
Genesis Packaging Technologies, a manufacturer of vial capping equipment, moved from
using a customized automation system to a standardized automation platform using
Mitsubishi Electric Automation’s servo motors and amplifiers for its Vera residual seal force
tester. This shift reduced lead and build times for the manufacturer while increasing output
by 300%.
Vera evaluates seal tightness by measuring the residual seal force in the stopper seal
created by the vial sealing process. The residual seal force is measured by applying strain at
a fixed rate to the seal stopper and vial package and collecting strain versus stress data.
This data is analyzed by a proprietary data analysis algorithm to determine the residual
seal force.
Working with Moxley Electronics, Genesis Packaging Technologies adopted Mitsubishi
Electric’s automation technologies as the core of its new motion control platform to
produce the Vera residual seal force tester. Genesis’s laboratory and high-speed production
equipment were upgraded to standardize on off-the-shelf EtherNet/IP MR-J5 servo drives
and amplifiers from Mitsubishi Electric.
Technologies newest machine by half—dropping from twelve weeks down to six—while
increasing production output from 5-10 machines a year to building 30 or more a year.
Another benefit of using the MR-J4 motion control platform at Genesis Packaging
Technologies is its compatibility with third-party devices, allowing Genesis to continue
using its legacy PLC technology, which was not manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric.
The upgrade of Vera’s production systems was so successful that Genesis decided to
standardize on the Mitsubishi Electric motion control platform to upgrade several of the
company’s capping products, including the Integra Lab Vial Crimper, the RW Westcapper
rail crimper and the Aptus modular crimping system.
“We standardized on the Mitsubishi Electric drive and the motor across our new machines,
so we only have one supplier for all our servo needs,” said Kevin Stofflet, engineering
manager at Genesis Packaging Technologies. “That means we only have to stock one motor
and one drive.”
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