Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 6

degree of safety, reliability, and repeatability. Often overlooked by the buyer, are available or optional advanced control features that can help to improve production output, quality, and uptime reliability. Consider a modern mold line and handling system; there are hundreds of points input and output registers that are used to control, position, measure, and interlock electrical, pneumatic, and/or hydraulic devices across the system. The use of a PLC is the most economical means to control such a complicated device. A brief list of example advanced control features could include: First fault annunciation – identification of the component causing a fault or alarm. This feature will direct the operator to the exact device requiring troubleshooting and corrective attention. Having a clear understanding of what shuts your system down is always the first step at troubleshooting and works to speed the correction. First fault annunciation is a very common standard feature supplied by many suppliers that have in-house electrical engineering departments. Interpretative annunciation – while first fault is a basic identification feature, identifying the root cause of that components fault may involve several potential culprit causes. In many cases, component failure can be a physical misalignment, electrical failure, heat or pressure failures, and many more. In these cases, following a set of prescribed troubleshooting steps may be required. This may involve referencing the supplied operations and maintenance (O&M) manuals, referencing the component manufactures documentation, or even contacting the OEM for telephone support. In each case, several steps may be required to affect a process of elimination identification of the root cause. Interpretative annunciation utilizes additional data surrounding the system to help pin-point the reason behind the component failure and helps the maintenance team speed up the time to re-start. Troubleshooting help features – Using a well-designed Human Machine Interface (HMI) will provide quick identification and suggested resolution techniques for any component alarm. A well-engineered HMI will provide the first fault and interpretative annunciation along with a listing of steps the operator should follow to quickly correct the situation. This is effectively preprogramming the HMI with written troubleshooting steps specific for component failure continued ❱❱ Contact: JERRY SENK [email protected] 21