Replacement of control technology in Ganzlin

In Ganzlin, a small town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, the company Beschichtungspulver GmbH has now been producing environmentally friendly dry varnishes for no less than 16 years. In contrast to conventional wet coatings, the dry products dispense with the use of solvents, are more economical in their application and also feature greater durability. SCHULZ Systemtechnik was commissioned by Ganzlin to completely renew all control-system technology. The manufacturer of powder coatings has relied on the Siemens SIMATIC S5 system since production started in 1995. However, as Siemens has terminated all service and support for that system generation, replacement parts and system extensions have become extremely difficult to obtain. In addition, following 15 years of unbroken service, the system no longer functions as reliably as it did at the beginning. "That is in line with the physical nature of things and is the result of the natural wear-and-tear of electrical components", emphasises Uwe Westphal, a graduate engineer who heads the Chemical Industry division at SCHULZ and who established the contact to the Ganzlin team. SCHULZ Systemtechnik is intimately familiar with the world of paints and varnishes. ProControl, the company's proprietary process-control development, enjoys an outstanding reputation in the chemicals sector and works perfectly with the branch-specific ERP software DIBAC; an important argument for Ganzlin when selecting the automation experts from Visbek for the task of modernisation. As a first step, the outdated control system was replaced with the standard SIMATIC S7 control complex. Secondly, SCHULZ installed the ProControl process-control system and linked it to the DIBAC material-management system. The modern visualisation system WinCC ensures simple and convenient operation. "In order to keep production downtime to a minimum during the conversion phase we shall carry out the work in several stages", explains Westphal. "As a result, we can guarantee a redundant process sequence." Following the conversion, the powder-coatings producer will profit from more stable and efficient technology, the numerous additional functions featured in the new process-control system and not least simplified operation. Westphal continues: "Because of the proven industrial standard of the S7 system we shall be able to react at the shortest notice to service calls and procure replacement parts in double-quick time". In addition, the modular structure of ProControl permits modifications to the production sequence at any time and therefore offers the highest degree of flexibility.