Patti Engineering Upgrades Motion Control to Double Production Speed for Customer in First Month

Thermon manufacturing plant has increased production speed as result of ECLF upgrade after Siemens phased out the Simovert MASTERDRIVES drive family.

Auburn Hills, MI & Austin, TX March 25, 2015


Patti Engineering, Inc., a leader in control systems integration, today announced details of its successful project at Thermon, an industry innovator in heat tracing technology. Thermons manufacturing plant is highly automated; at its heart is the Electronic Cross-Linking Facility (ECLF), which needed an upgrade as Siemens was phasing out the Simovert MASTERDRIVES drive family and the company wanted to establish a plan to ensure system longevity.

Thermon contracted Patti Engineering to upgrade its ECLF. "After meeting with Patti Engineering and discussing our needs, we decided to choose Patti for the upgrades. Together a plan was drawn up along with a stringent timeline to enable us to continue producing product without missing ship dates," explained Thermon's Senior Process Engineer Harry Hutchinson. "Upon initiation of the project we received regular updates of materials arriving on campus along with progress of the project. Once Patti's engineers arrived on campus for the final integration, we received daily updates as to the status and progress of the project. With completion of the project I will say that Patti Engineering met both the scope and the timeline of the project. This allowed us to continue to get our product out the door and to our customers in a timely manner."

"We were able to exceed the customers expectations by laying a strong foundation for the project and executing it at the high level our customers have come to expect from Patti Engineering. The resulting benefits include the systems stability that allows high production speed and doubled output, increased reliability, and reduced downtime," said Steve Palmgren, Vice President of Texas Operations, Patti Engineering. "We have a great relationship with the folks over at AWC, who recommended our team to Thermon after hearing about the complexity of this project and how downtime of the ECLF affects production output. Our Austin, TX team developed and executed an engineering study and replaced/upgraded legacy drives and automation equipment to bring the ECLF up to modern day speed."

The Patti Engineering solution for this project included upgrading the old Simovert servo and vector drives with new Siemens drive technology, specifically the Sinamics S120 drives. All five motors needed to be coordinated to work together. To learn more, read the article with in depth technical details of the project here: http:// http://pattiengineering.com/blog/patti-engineering-upgrades-motion-control-to-double-production-speed-for-customer-in-first-month/

About Patti Engineering, Inc.
Patti Engineering, Inc. is a CSIA Certified control systems integration company offering high-caliber engineering and software development services. Patti Engineerings technical expertise in electrical control and information systems provides turnkey control systems integration for design/build, upgrade/retrofit and asset/energy management projects. Industrial automation, production intelligence and shop floor IT solutions services include: project management, electrical engineering, hardware design, hardware procurement, software development, installation, calibration, start-up testing, verification, documentation, training and warranty support. Customer satisfaction and project success earned the company placement in the Control Engineering Magazines Hall of Fame. For more information, visit http://www.pattieng.com.

Featured Product

T.J. Davies' Retention Knobs

T.J. Davies' Retention Knobs

Our retention knobs are manufactured above international standards or to machine builder specifications. Retention knobs are manufactured utilizing AMS-6274/AISI-8620 alloy steel drawn in the United States. Threads are single-pointed on our lathes while manufacturing all other retention knob features to ensure high concentricity. Our process ensures that our threads are balanced (lead in/lead out at 180 degrees.) Each retention knob is carburized (hardened) to 58-62HRC, and case depth is .020-.030. Core hardness 40HRC. Each retention knob is coated utilizing a hot black oxide coating to military specifications. Our retention knobs are 100% covered in black oxide to prevent rust. All retention knob surfaces (not just mating surfaces) have a precision finish of 32 RMA micro or better: ISO grade 6N. Each retention knob is magnetic particle tested and tested at 2.5 times the pulling force of the drawbar. Certifications are maintained for each step in the manufacturing process for traceability.