futronic recently completed yet another order from Heinz-Glas to modernise a total of three used production lines. The IS machines were supplied by various Heinz-Glas Group plants in Germany and Poland. These used, but freshly overhauled, machines are now providing reliable service at a glassworks in Gujarat, India.
The glass machines had been in action for 30 years or more at their previous homes in Kleintettau, the Heinz-Glas headquarters, as well as Piesau and Działdowo in Poland, manufacturing perfume bottles and jars. After being taken out of service last year, they have now been resurrected at a glassworks in Gujarat, a state in the north-west of the Indian subcontinent. Heinz-Glas was the lead partner in a joint venture there with a local firm, with responsibility for the machinery, manufacturing and marketing. All the machines on all three lines had to be completely overhauled prior to going productive.
Fully refurbished machines ready to master the challenges
futronic was appointed by Heinz-Glas to refurbish the controls and drives. It was a natural choice. For one thing, “the two companies have built up a proven and trusting partnership during many years of collaboration”, says Marc Meersschaut, the sales engineer in charge of the project at futronic. For another, the technology is futronic-built: one CIMOG control and one AMC drive, featuring Bosch motors amongst other things, per machine. “It’s robust technology and very reliable but nevertheless obsolete”, Meersschaut observes. And in the meantime, the CIMOG controls in the majority of Heinz-Glas machines have been systematically upgraded to FMT24S. Provided they’re completely refurbished, though, the CIMOGs easily meet all the requirements at our Gujarat plant”, asserts Danny Pechtold, of Heinz-Glas’ Engineering Glass International division and responsible for production in connection with the Indian project.
Our control system specialists in Tettnang consequently set to work overhauling the entire controls and drives and replacing sensitive components. The spare parts were taken from Heinz-Glas’ own pool – they ceased to be obtainable in the regular market a long time ago. futronic also replaced all wiring in the control cabinets as well as at the machines. Owing to the extreme conditions prevailing in the glassworks, the insulation had become brittle over the years. Our people therefore took the opportunity to overhaul some of the cable ducts to the operator panels and replace any components found to be in poor condition. Finally, they modified and reinstalled the software.
Commissioned without any problems
The first of the three machines was acceptance tested back in summer 2016, then shipped to India and commissioned in Gujarat by technicians from Kleintettau without the involvement of futronic. The third followed in March this year and once again, the commissioning stage was completed without any major problems. An extensive test series went according to plan and all three machines are currently operating at full load. Project manager Pechtold sums up: “The cooperation was as smooth as it possibly could be. The technology worked exactly as intended to right from the start. We’re totally satisfied and we’re looking forward to more projects with futronic in the future.”