Jagenberg Synchro Folio Controls Upgrade
PCP4 & 5, MeadWestvaco, Chillicothe, Ohio

A sheeter located at MeadWestvaco’s Chillicothe Plant was experiencing increased electronic hardware failures due to age and condition.  A project was proposed to replace the electronic equipment.  The Fitch Company was contacted to execute this project due to past experience on similar projects and extensive experience on finishing applications (reels, supercalenders, winders, roll wrap, cut size, and sheeters).  The first sheeter (PCP4) was completed in 1999 with the subsequent sheeter (PCP5) completed in 2003.

The Fitch Company provided all field coordination, hardware specification & procurement, panel fabrication, software development, field engineering, startup and checkout for the entire project. 

The Scope of this project included replacement of the following control systems:

Binary Control Processor and Associated I/O
Automation Control Processor and Associated I/O.

Binary Control System

This control system handled all discrete controls for the sheeter excluding the Marquip flying splice unwinds.  The primary sections of the sheeter included high speed ribbons, knife, reject gate, transfer gate, overlap aprons (top and bottom), layboy, ream air removal system and final transfer to cartonizer.    

The old system performed the majority of the control algorithm in the Siemens S5 –150. This was difficult for mill personnel to understand, or troubleshoot.  The new control software developed by The Fitch Company resides in the PLC5/40 binary processor utilizing standard PLC ladder and function block instructions in a very well documented manner. 

Automation Control System

This control system handled the more complex functions of the sheeter including;

  • sheet tracking through all sheeter sections
  • high speed reject gate control
  • high speed transfer gate control
  • automatic splice detection and rejection
  • ream transfer control based on ream sheet count
  • automatic unwind detection to determine how many webs are being cut
  • Ream count and production report generation ie. Reams / shift, total tons per shift, tons rejected, tons trimmed. 

Project Execution

The Fitch Company was the prime engineering company for this controls upgrade project.

The new control system is comprised of two Allen Bradley PLC5/40 Processors, with an RSView32 HMI.  The Fitch Company provided all PLC / HMI software configuration for this sheeter controls upgrade.  

All control system cabinets were built and fabricated in The Fitch Company’s Mexico, Maine office. 

We provided complete system documentation included interconnection diagrams, schematic diagrams, block diagrams, network diagrams, and cable / wire pulling schedules. 
 

Project Result

The result of the project is a complete Sheeter Control System which is; 

  • Well Documented
  • Open with nonproprietary design
  • Designed and developed utilizing standard components
  • Easily maintainable by plant personnel
  • Logically designed and engineered

Since the new control system has been installed, downtime due to control system issues has been essentially eliminated.  The project was a complete success.

Contact us for more information.

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