LED displays prevent idling in automotive plant

Time is money, standstill is lost money. That is why several LED displays ensure smooth processes on a new line for drying and cooling powder-coated components at a German car manufacturer. For this purpose, industrial plant supplier GE&PM GmbH installed two line-oriented and one large-screen LED display from MicroSYST Systemelectronic GmbH in the plant.

In the course of the installation of a new system, with which components for doors and tailgates pass through the dryer and the connected cooling zone after powder coating, the total of three LED displays also came to their destination. Mounted at a height of around x metres and clearly visible, the line-oriented LED displays support the removal and allocation of the components after the cooling zone. To do so, the workers scan the dried parts with a scanner, and the component information, including the allocation to the respective transport container, then appears on the LED display in a clearly and conveniently readable manner. The operator can now remove the parts without detours and place them in the respective container. "The component information is, of course, found on the components themselves, which is also where the scanner reads it. For the workers, however, the reading via scan and LED display is a clear gain in convenience and time. It also ensures that the processes do not get bogged down so easily," explains Ronny Teutsch, Senior Electric Engineer at GE&PM, the intention and benefit of the display technology.
 

Forecast via large display ensures workflow

Meanwhile, the large-screen display functions as a forecast for logistics. The system calculates when the existing transport containers need to be exchanged for empty ones and shows it early on the display. Easily visible even from a distance, the forklift driver can schedule the exchange of the empty containers for full ones accordingly. "If the worker does not have any suitable containers to put them in at the end, the components rotate an additional round through the dryer and cooling zone and thus block the workflow of the entire powder coating process - a no-go that is effectively prevented by the Forecast display," says Teutsch.
 

Simple parameterisation setting via Profinet connection

The entire visualisation system was integrated directly into the plant control system via Profinet and set up using the easy-to-download parameterisation file (GSD). "Parameterisation on the microcontroller is not necessarily required for our LED displays," explains MicroSYST Managing Director Manuel Raß. "In addition, we naturally benefit from the approval with many car manufacturers - without that it is impossible to even install the displays in the factory." Teutsch and GE&PM also became aware of MicroSYST via the Autowerks approval list and a product comparison in the automotive industry. The good support with quick quotation and expert assistance with the configuration was just as convincing as the simple design in the valuable aluminium housing. "Last but not least, we pay attention to every detail in our systems, the connections are designed to be pluggable - an absolute advantage for such applications," Teutsch adds, and continues, "it is precisely these details that ensure that the entire technology also runs permanently, 24/7 if necessary ...