Since 1984 ENOBERG Srl of Telgate, in the northern province of Bergamo, has established itself as one of Italy's leading bottling machine manufacturers, with its production capacity of 20,000 bottles/hour for automatic systems. Enoberg, now 30 years in the business, has successfully catered to an international client base belonging to the food, wine, oil, beverage and chemical industries. Ever Elettronica, based in Lodi, is its reliable partner, which has contributed to this success by being the main supplier of modern automation solutions for electronically controlled filling machines. It is a fruitful collaboration, the one between Ever and Enoberg, to which Mr. Lecchi, electronics department manager of the Bergamo-based company, bears witness.
Mr. Lecchi, what made you decide to contact Ever Electronics?
Enoberg has always made filling machines using pneumatic actuators. These were good, economical solutions but with less than excellent flexibility and diagnostics. So we needed to make a technological leap that would allow us to put on the market more performing, dynamic machines with high process control, without of course neglecting the cost aspect. Through market research we found and contacted Ever Elettronica, which immediately made available its technology and know-how in the world of filling machines, proposing an absolutely innovative solution.
What did they propose to you?
An IP65 intelligent servostep solution from the SlimLine, SM1A series, was proposed to us. This is a compact, intelligent, and extremely flexible system that encompasses the stepper drive, motor, and incremental encoder for closing the loop in position in a single device, and has finally made possible excellent performance, dynamicity, and real-time diagnostics. What we have realized together is a streamlined, simple architecture, unaffected by the number of axes mounted in the machine and with high technological content. In the machine, each dispenser is able to perform a complete control of its own process, from the start-up (in which it is possible to perform a position reset without the aid of external sensors) to the dosing cycle (performed by synchronizing the motor position with a digital or analog flowmeter managed directly by the stepper drive). In addition, by exploiting precisely the direct connection of resources to each SM1A, each axis is able to recognize the position of the carousel, the presence of the product, the maximum position beyond which the dosing cycle must end, etc. etc. The line PLC is thus left with generic tasks such as managing the machine run in relation to the state of the axes and being able to vary, in real time via field bus, their operating parameters.
Which actual benefits have you found?
Being in the presence of a driver that is no longer used simply to manage the movement of a motor, but is now a complete and independent component for the control of the dosing axis, the advantages obtained are enormous: the increase in machine performance and production capacity, the reduction of process times, the simplification of PLC software and the reduction of wiring. Not to be overlooked, furthermore, was the aspect of mechanical integration: the Ever Elettronica systems, in fact, are small-sized systems that can be directly applied to the feeder. Among the advantages offered by SM1A servosteps is that they can be applied in direct drive without introducing speed reducers and without compromising positioning accuracy, which can be as low as 0.01 mm.
Would you also choose Ever Electronics for future projects?
From the definition of machine specifications, to electrical diagrams, software development and final testing, Ever Elettronica has always positioned itself as an all-round partner company, following us step by step in the development of different types of machines. Their ability to fully understand our requirements has always enabled us to hit the target within the given content and time frame. Our collaboration has lasted for more than two years and today Ever Elettronica is our main supplier for electronically controlled filling machines. The dynamism of the hardware-software package allows us to offer the market a complete solution, ready to handle the different versions that exist in the world of filling machines and always able to expand. Today we are able to specialize our machines even more and faster: this kind of flexibility allows us to achieve more quickly and effectively the result we want to reach from time to time, and convinces us more and more that, also for future applications, Ever Elettronica will be our choice.