Case Study MITAS a.s. Reliable 24/7 operation in rubber production – despite soot and sulphur
noax IPC in tyre production at MITAS
Where no other IT dares to go MITAS has been producing many types of tyres at its plant in Prague since 1933. Today, they specialise in producing special tyres for agricultural and transport vehicles. Many of the huge tyres produced tower above MITAS employees who manufacture them in a complex production process. The production lines stretch for several hundred meters, from the areas where the rubber is mixed, raised onto hoists, blown out “Just by speaking to them, into huge moulds I could tell immediately that and vulcanised. “The here were experienced specialcorrect rubber comists on whom I could rely.“ pound is the key for tyre production. The carefully selected compositions are a trade secret and determine whether the tyre is optimally suitable for the operating conditions of the vehicle and how long it can withstand the extreme loads of transport machines and tractors”, explains engineer Pavel Benes, IT manager at MITAS a.s.
components. The components are carefully collected on a conveyor belt with an integrated belt weigher which is connected to the noax IPCs. Before all components are transported to the mixer, each step is confirmed by the employees by entering on the touch display.
noax IPCs are significantly more reliable The environmental conditions next to the mixers are extreme. A greasy, black film is deposited on the walls, floors, machines and the IPCs.
The right compound is the key Special tyres are produced order-based at MITAS. For the rubber compound of each individual tyre, natural and artificial rubber, soot, sulphur and many other components are mechanically mixed in accurately measured proportions in two large mixing centers which have two production lines each. Even small errors in the quantities or components can make the mixture worthless. To avoid this, noax IPCs display current orders Process reliability: noax IPCs display order-related and formulas on a display above the mixing feed. formulas, employees confirm the admixtures The different mixer sizes relate to the spectrum of the tyre sizes. The biggest mixer can hold up Just a short time after starting their shift, emploto 300 kg. Employees at the individual mixing yees working in this area look like chimney sweeps. feeds read the type and amount of the required What‘s more, the rubber in the mixers is heated
to more than 200°C within three minutes by the mechanical forces. The waste heat of the mixer turns the surrounding area into an oven where the temperatures on the mixing lines can reach 35°C to 45°C even in winter. “We quickly realized that these were not good operating conditions for computers. The first models from another supplier broke down one after the other after only a short period of time. The malfunctions were so frequent and irritting that nobody from the IT team dared go to prduction”, Pavel Benes describes his experiences. During his research into a more reliable alternative, Benes discovered noax Technologies AG at the Hanover trade fair. “I wasn‘t just impressed with the stand where water was poured over the IPCs. Just by speaking to them, I could tell immediately that here were experienced specialists on whom I could rely”, says Benes. In Prague, MITAS then met with the local noax partner company, Future, and together they developed a plan for a stepby-step replacement of the existing terminals in the mixing area. First, noax provided a front frame and parts of the IPC casing and proved in a series of tests over several weeks that the high-quality plastic casing of noax IPCs would withstand abrasive chemicals. The Windows operating system and control software were then transferred over to the noax computers in extensive tests, slight modifications were made to the software user interface and then the roll-out began – mixing line for mixing line. noax IPCs are configured as clients which buffer production data and copy it to servers of the production network as a telegram at specified intervals. The network used in production is based on fiber cabling for long periods because the large electromotors of the mixer would damage data transfer.
It‘s almost as if the Czech company MITAS a.s. doesn‘t want any computers in its tyre production: Soot, sulphur and high temperatures place high demands on all electronics in the rubber mixing centers of the plant in Prague. Even in these hostile electrical conditions, covered with an unavoidable layer of dark soot or bright yellow sulphur, noax IPCs have been doing their job reliably around the clock for months.
Mitas tyre production in extreme environments
Small timeframe for introduction The timeframe for removing the old computers and then installing the noax IPCs was tight because the mixing lines cannot be inoperative for more than four hours for technical reasons. However, this was achieved successfully and the C15 series noax IPCs with the prooven all-in-one motherboards and processors began operation without any problems. Within just a few hours after introduction, the notorious film of grease coated the IPCs. Thanks to the fully enclosed, NEMA4/IP65-compatible design of the noax IPCs and their cable covers, this did not cause any problems at all. Other challenges became apparent during operation: The ten employees on each of the four daily shifts working on the mixing lines were not only
making the entries on the touch displays with their gloves, but also with various tools. “Even all that did not harm the noax equipment. The units were simply washed off, and every two to three months we replace the protective foil on the touch displays because of the extreme loads and conditions”, Pavel Benes comments on the previous experiences.
noax Micro-Controller allows customer-specific settings The head of IT only remembers a brief moment of bother during introduction: An IPC suddenly turned off – and brought back unpleasant memories of the frequent malfunctions of the competitor‘s product. However, an analysis carried out by technicians quickly discovered:
An employee had accidentally switched off the terminal during the cyclical rinse-off of dirt. noax specialists were quickly able to put things right: Under the guidance of noax services and with the aid of the Micro-Controller on the all-in-one motherboard, MITAS technicians were able to reconfigure the programmable switch allocations on the IPCs to deactivate the switch-off function via the membrane keys. This proved the benefit of noax Technologies developing and producing the components integrated in the IPCs themselves once more. “We are currently thinking of At MITAS and elserolling out Industrial PCs in where, it proves that other production locations.“ noax has entirely more possibilities at its disposal for service and customer-specific requriements than suppliers who only install components developed by other companies.
Quality pays off Members of the MITAS IT team have not had to take emergency measures in production, so common before, ever since the successful introduction of noax IPCs. noax IPCs visualize formulas and reliably control production around the clock. The panel PCs on the mixing lines are managed by the IT headquarters using remote access unbeknown to the user. “Our production has become more transparent and productivity has increased considerably since the introdution of the noax IPCs. This is of vital importance for our company. We are currently thinking of introducing IPCs on other production sites. Not only because of the quality and reliability of the units, but also because of the good cooperation with noax”, Pavel Benes, satisfied head of IT, sums up his positive experiences with noax. A layer of soot settles on IT and employees
MITAS a.s
Specifications and Application
Overview of Components
Company Profile:
Objectives:
Hardware:
Founded in 1933 as a subsidiary of the Czech rubber company (CGS), MITAS a.s. produces special tyres for vehicles in the agriculture, transport and construction industries – for brands such as Continental, Semperit and Euzkadi. MITAS a.s. has almost 1000 employees at its Prague site. The company also manufactures at its plants in Zlin and Otrokovice.
Order-related control of mixing lines in rubber production
Visualisation and control of formulas
Increase quality and timeliness of delivery
More information online: www.cgs.cz or www.cgs.eu
IPC Requirements:
- Industrial PC Compact C15 - In-house developed noax all-in-one motherboard - Input: particularly robust touch panels - Bright, high-contrast TFT display - Protection class IP65 - Completely sealed, without external fan
Deployment in extreme production environments (dirt, aggressive chemicals, heat)
Protection standard NEMA4/IP65
– Operating system: Windows
High availability/reliability (24/7 production)
– Application program: Machine control (Simatic and Bühler)
Integration of control software
Easy operation via touchscreen
Software:
© noax Technologies Case Study arranged 2008
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