ABB, one of the leading suppliers of automation solutions for the newspaper industry, has announced a further success for its retrofit solution for Wifag reelstands. Druckzentrum Südwest GmbH in Villingen-Schwenningen in Southwestern Germany, which prints newspapers like the well-known Schwarzwälder Bote, has selected ABB to replace the obsolete WCON controls and drives on six of its reelstands.
The scope of the order also includes new drives for all draw rollers in the turner bar decks of the Wifag OF370 press as well as upgrades to the existing ABB Press Master system.
The new reelstand controls use ABB's PLC system AC500, which is used in countless demanding industries worldwide. Two major advantages of this for the end users are, apart from the technical qualities, the long-term availability of spare parts and the fact that these spare parts can be bought not only from ABB but also numerous independent suppliers around the world.
The existing drives will be replaced with new ABB ACSM1 drives. Thesehigh performance machinery drives provide speed, torque and motion control for demanding applications. They can control induction, synchronous and asynchronous servo and high torque motors with various feedback devices. The new drives will be built into the existing cabinets.
Uwe Braasch, technical director of Druckzentrum Südwest, explains the background to the new order: "as technical director it is one of my jobs to ensure the long-term availability of our press. With the new ABB drives and reelstand controls we are not only modernizing our systems but also ensuring the long-term availability of spare parts".
The commissioning of the new controls and drives will be completed before the year is out.