WJI October 2019 Feature Sample

WIRE JOURNAL OCTOBER 2019

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INTERNATIONAL www.wirenet.org

DRIVES & CONTROLS O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E W I R E A S S O C I AT I O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L

FEATURE

PART 1

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Manufacturing has to focus on profitability, but increasingly, there is more emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Are those concepts inherently adversarial? This feature— to be continued in the December issue—looks at what five of the largest wire and cable manufacturers are doing, a view from a company that assesses them, and more, including an invite for small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

Prysmian: its ‘side by side’ efforts are front and center Prysmian Group, the world’s largest wire and cable business, was recently named to the 2019 Dow Jones Sustainability Index, recognized for its environmental protection that focuses on both resources and products. It covered a realm of topics in its latest annual report, from sustainability and the environment to ethics and people. Here, it chose to focus on its “Side

by Side” program to promote diversity and inclusion at all organization levels. Below it explains why this is a key priority.

an overwhelmingly male workforce, Prysmian has already “Side by Side” is Prysmian Group’s global initiative made progress towards its gender diversity targets to be to incorporate diversity across the company’s 29,000 achieved by 2021: employees. Prysmian Group’s global footprint enables the • Female percentage of total recruitments: the target is company to promote an inclusive environment, encourag40% (in 2018 it was 36.2%). ing the development of culture and identity. To promote • Female percentage of total executives: the target is 15% diversity and inclusion at all levels, the “Side by Side” (in 2018 it was 11.6%). program was introduced in 2016. It is based on three main • Female percentage of total top managers: the target is pillars: Recruitment policy and global policy for gender 10% (the current status is 2.5%). equality; Training & Awareness programs on Diversity “It’s not always easy to start these conversations in what & Inclusion practices (including age discrimination); and is traditionally a Diversity storymale-dominated telling based industry,” said on Prysmian Amodio. “We set employee targets because features. we felt that if we “As a global were going to company, express a global Prysmian is commitment, we constantly needed goals to embracing diverachieve to show sity and inclusion that the commitwhile developing ment from the a shared common company is real.” culture and idenWhile the tity,” said Angela Prysmian chart showing the current ratios of female to male employees in Prysmian Group Amodio, global different regions of the world. does have women diversity and CEOs in Sweden, inclusion manager Russia and Turkey, Amodio said that many parts of the at Prysmian Group. “We strongly believe that diversity company—in particular those jobs more industrial in drives meritocracy and brings significant value to our nature—remain a challenge when it comes to implementemployees and, in turn, our customers and shareholders.” ing diversity strategies.

Gender equality throughout the company was the Side by Side’s global guidelines were created so they primary focus of the program, with a Global Diversity could be interpreted by Prysmian Group’s regional leaders Workstream and a new recruiting policy that reflects a and implemented in a way that fits within their respecmore intentional and standardized effort to bring female tive cultures. After Prysmian Group’s 2018 acquisition of candidates and outlines what Prysmian is looking for in General Cable, the Side by Side program was officially female candidates. In an industry that has historically had

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past while working towards a single unified effort going forward.

As the modern workplace evolves and attitudes change, companies are taking steps to keep up with the cultural shifts to stay relevant. Leadership styles are evolving, and the traditional aggressive and didactic leadership methods of the past are giving way to something more collaborative, engaging and diverse.

Amodio said that many studies on diversity and inclusion show that the workplace environment has an impact on performance and results. “We strive for a meritocratic organization, because we recognize that diverse teams are able to think differently and to identify and seize new business opportunities,” she said. “Ultimately, fostering diversity is good for business and can inspire networking and entrepreneurship.”

Looking forward, Amodio said that while Prysmian has led with gender, it is sensitive to many different diversity and inclusion issues that still require attention. “That includes things like non-traditional family dynamics, wage gaps, parental leave vs. maternity leave,” she said. “It will take some time, but we will continue to move forward.”

“When people feel free to express themselves and be themselves, they can give their best at work.”

What is corporate social responsibility, and why does it matter?

The concept of social corporate responsibility (SCR) may be seen and defined in different ways, but at its essence, it is an acknowledgement that beyond the bottom line, a business needs to recognize that other responsibilities exist. Below is a brief look at what that scope can include, and how direct and indirect actions can fall under SCR. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can include sustainability, diversity and inclusion, human rights, ethical business practices, volunteerism, philanthropy, cause-related marketing and activism. It calls for corporations to pursue societal goals, specifically those relating to sustainable development: environmental protection, social justice and equity, and economic development.

A slew of pages could be filled going into what is encompassed by each of the above-cited topics, but what matters more is understanding how they fit into a corporate structure. Are they a “feel-good” added cost? Do they harm a manufacturer whose competitors make only a token effort?

Do customers care? Do employees care?

The six companies in this feature explain what they are doing and why. At its essence, some of those efforts could be described as “doing the right thing.” The cost of not doing so may be harder to assess, but it could be seen on the shop floor. A recent Nielsen survey found that 73% of Millennials say they want to work for a socially responsible company.

CSR actions can be both direct and indirect. Some of the former are seen in this feature, yet examples of the latter cover a wide span. An article at formomentum.com cited TOMS for donating a pair of shoes for every pair sold;

The smoke of fires in the Amazon basin led to an SCR boycott by Swedish clothing designer H&M. IKEA for giving $2.3 million to bring electricity to one million people in India and East Africa; and Starbucks for pledging to hire 25,000 veterans by 2025. It can also work the other way. H&M, the world’s second largest clothing designer, recently stopped buying leather from Brazil for its seeming indifference to fires in the Amazon rainforest.

If the above examples seem distant to wire and cable production, consider that end users, ultimately, are everywhere.

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FEATURE

launched in North America in March 2019.

Described as “going from macro to micro,” the global guidelines have been synthesized by Prysmian Group’s North American leaders to be as effective as possible.

When creating regionalized implementations of this program, it’s imperative to realize that different cultures are at different stages when it comes to diversity and inclusion,” said Christina Trainor, Commercial BU Business Partner, Organization & Integration at Prysmian Group.

“There’s different types of diversity – gender, sexual orientation, non-traditional family models among others – and we wanted to better understand the meaning regionally before launching in North America, which is why we conducted a series of surveys to see how and where we wanted to focus our efforts.”

Along with the survey, Prysmian North America created a Regional Committee and a Regional Action Plan. This included keeping in place the positive actions and outcomes already started by General Cable in the

FEATURE

DRIVES & CONTROLS This feature starts with a drives primer by industry veterans (and brothers) Dan and Scott Barlow of Integrated Control Technologies, and a similar report on controls by Mark Piotrowski of DTECH; includes a view as to why DC drives still make sense for some applications, and allows OEMs to explain why the wire and cable industry should turn to them.

Drives: a primer that focuses on real-world considerations Integrated Control Technologies (ICT) specializes in extrusion line upgrades, including control upgrades, and in emergency DC to AC drive package and motor conversions. Below, brothers Scott and Dan Barlow present the basics of drives and motors. Dan Barlow also assesses DC to AC conversions for extruders on p. 54. for almost 20 years, most manufacturers still use DC techThe mechanical life of machinery can last several nology on the older machinery. decades, yet with aging machinery comes higher mainteMaking decisions regarding repairing or upgrading nance costs and longer downtimes. Much of the downtime machinery during a failure almost always results in the is related to the electrical power transmission provided by decision to repair equipment instead of upgrading because variable speed drives and motors. The life span of elecplanned production is interrupted, and multiple approvtronics in a manufacturing environment is approximately als are not required. The 10 years. This is espeproblem with repairing cially true with variolder drives and motors able speed drives that is twofold: first, there use large semi-conducis downtime because tors in power circuits. the drive likely needs Large semi-conductors replacing of compoconduct heat through a nents, and second, the dielectric compound to money that was spent to the heat sink, which dries get it working again did up over time, resulting not go to improving the in component failure process. There is a return and the need to reapto what was, but no gains ply new compounds. in terms of efficiency Also, capacitors degrade or moving the company over time like a battery closer to Industry 4.0. and need to be replaced.

Worse, the problem has Unfortunately, this type been perpetuated until of service is not a typical the next failure, making industry practice, and a real upgrade in terms of drives are often operated Integrated Control Technologies’s Scott and Dan Barlow. improvements that much until they fail. further away.

Converting drives from DC to AC This cycle can be broken if one takes a hard look at the DC motors have a longer lifespan than DC drives, typinumbers.

AC vector motors are, at a minimum, 10% more cally around 20 years, but they require more maintenance efficient than DC motors, and have a typical return on for brush replacement and semi-annual reconditioning of investment within two to three years.

New drive technolthe commutator. During its lifetime, a DC motor may need ogy is more dependable, and enables manufactures to be to be rewound several times, resulting in a significantly more connected to their process with web-enabled commuhigher cost of ownership from energy and maintenance nications. However, not all AC motors and drives are costs. Technology has changed in the last 20 years with created equal. There are some big differences users should the introduction of the AC vector drives and motors that be aware of prior to making a decision regarding what they are more efficient and outperform older DC technology. will use to replace their DC technology.

Although AC vector drives and motors have been around

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Supplier selection As with motors, there are many manufacturers of AC drives and although they appear similar, they can vary significantly in features and capabilities. For instance, one foreign manufacturer of AC drives does not have single phase protection designed into their drive. There are cases when the lack of this level protection has resulted in multi-

ple lines going down simultaneously, resulting in significant downtime. Quality is important, and it is a good idea to obtain the Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of the products that you are comparing. If a manufacturer is hesitant in giving you this information, it usually means that they have poor quality.

When selecting an AC drive for standardization, it is important to research each supplier. One should read customer opinions and ratings. Standardization should not be made on name recognition alone. Name recognition is important, but it may be the result of other products manufactured by the vendor and their universal acceptance, and not the merit and design of the AC drive. Name recognition also tends to come with a significant price difference, and one can pay a premium price for a drive with average features.

An industry ‘believe it or not’ entry: a new DC drive may be the better option The industry has largely turned to AC drives, but that does not mean that the old, dependable DC drive has been put out to pasture, only repaired or upgraded until it is switched over. Below, Chris Bardwell-Jones of Bardac Corp.—which sells both drive types—lists some uses where advanced DC drives are still a sound choice.

AC drives offer many benefits, but a modern, high-performance DC drive with built-in field current controller, encoder feedback and fast networking provides accurate speed, torque and position control comparable with the best AC vector drives. Where regeneration is required, DC is tough to beat. It’s easy, reliable, efficient and cost-effective.

DC drives are typically less than half the size of an equivalent AC drive and dissipate less than half the enclosure heat of an AC drive, so retrofits are easy. Below are some uses where DC drives remain a good choice.

De-spoolers. When infeeding wire into a finishing process, such as a strander, it is most important to maintain accurate tension control. This inevitably requires continuous regeneration of energy from the motor. DC drives are particularly good at both regenerative energy recovery and accurate torque, and hence tension control. A modern drive incorporates all the functions needed for diameter compensation, wire break sensing, and easy interface to the control system.

Stranders. Inevitably, high-inertia machines need to dissipate a lot of energy when stopping. Safety considerations alone require a regenerative drive solution, and DC drives are tough to beat here. Many AC drives include a brake transistor but they are often not rated for the continuous, 100% braking load needed in such applications.

Extrusion coaters. Accurate wire tension control is essential to maintaining good coating thickness and concentric-

ity. Tension is typically maintained by a drive running in regenerative mode to provide back tension against a pulling drive. DC drives can ensure accurate tension control and, with a system such as one offered by Bardac, it can include an easy control interface to the machine system drives (either AC or DC) and HMIs via drive.web distributed control over Ethernet.

Bardwell-Jones Braiding. This process requires accurate tension and speed coordination for both the wire core and the strands of the outer braided cover. Again, the tension control requires continuous regeneration that is well suited to DC drives. Also, a modern DC drive can provide homogeneous integration of all devices, drives and HMIs in a system, and uses just one set of savvy tools.

Retrofits. There is still a huge installed base of wire machines of every size and description, powered by ancient DC drives and bulletproof DC motors. Inevitably, time ultimately takes its toll, and the old unrepairable electronics and drives need to be replaced. DC drives that have built-in control functions, versatile i/o and compact packaging can provide an easy, inexpensive way to get back up and running quickly.

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FEATURE

Inverter versus vector motors.

Although many motors are “inverter duty,” not all motors are suited for every application. The majority of motors are totally enclosed fan cooled (TEFC), meaning that a fan is connected to the shaft of the motor, which moves air across the fins for cooling. When used with a variable-speed drive, the volume of air decreases as speed decreases resulting in a higher skin temperature of the motor. Torque is also diminished, especially below half speed, so TEFC motors are best applied in non-demanding variable torque applications such as pumps and fans. When retrofitting a DC motor, a motor with a constant torque speed range of 1000:1 is recommended as a constant blower motor keeps the air flow consistent throughout the entire speed range.