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References 57
SIMATIC ET 200eco PN
Stihl Andreas AG & Co KG, Germany –
Production of chain saws
Requirements
Stihl in Waiblingen/Germany is one of the leading manufactur-
ers of chain saws and equipment for greenspace and forest
maintenance. Stihl chain saws combine innovative technolo-
gy, high performance, optimum ergonomics and low weight,
mainly through different equipment variants for any applica-
tion. This requires modern and highly flexible manufacturing
plants. With proprietary equipment production and highly
qualified and specialized personnel, Stihl is able to equip its
own manufacturing and assembly facilities.
That is why the automation specialists are extremely interest-
ed in innovative and lasting automation solutions. To simplify
handling and to make maintenance/adjustment as efficient as
possible, a uniform solution with a minimum of engineering
tools is required. To protect investments on a long-term basis,
Stihl places great emphasis on long-lasting solutions.
Solution
In the newly installed assembly line (50 m long), different
chain saw variants are produced flexibly, from the chassis
through the assembly up to final inspection and testing. At the
beginning, a manufacturing data set consisting of up to 20
variants is assigned to each mounting structure. An uncoded
RFID chip which stores the manufacturing data is attached to
the mounting structure for this purpose.
During the entire manufacturing process, the mounting struc-
ture is uniquely identified at RFID reading stations and is read
in directly at the machine via ET 200eco PN IO-Link Master.
Furthermore, the production steps are visualized and con-
trolled at mobile panels (SIMATIC Mobile Panel 277 IWLAN)
throughout the entire assembly line via Industrial Wireless
LAN (IWLAN).
Benefits
Through the use of the flexible and rugged ET 200eco PN, the
data can be bundled direct at the RFID reader and, via stan-
dard PROFINET protocols, sent direct to the CPU for further
processing. Integrated tools, such as the Port Configurator
Tool (PCT) for IO-Link, have also made maintenance very easy,
since replacement IO-Link Master modules receive their ad-
dresses without any configuration overhead and are then im-
mediately ready for operation, with the result that "the mod-
ules of SIMATIC ET 200eco PN do not have to be addressed at
all, neither during installation nor during replacement in the
event of a failure", says Michael Muerdter, automation expert
at Stihl. Faults are detected at an early stage via the integrated
diagnostics, indicated on the visual display device and reme-
died before any significant failure occurs. Costs can thus be re-
duced in the long term and downtimes minimized.
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