Taking the lead in the world of piping. Sounds ambiguous. But it happens to be the mission of the industrial company Pipelife from Enkhuizen, which incidentally has a total of 26 branches in Europe and the US. Pipelife produces and supplies a complete range of plastic piping systems, fittings and intelligent tailor-made solutions. Full speed ahead, both in terms of sustainability and applicability and ease of installation. The vision is to actively contribute to the distribution of water, energy and data. To keep up this momentum, a future-proof automation system is a must. That is why Pipelife asked us to update the outdated hardware and software systems, in collaboration with BAM.
The steps we have taken for our customer
Step 1 | Replace hardware
Pipelife’s automation systems needed to be replaced. And that’s an understatement. There has been no investment in updating these hardware systems for over 30 years. And that entailed the necessary risks. Our goal is to limit those risks as much as possible by installing a completely new Siemens PCS7 system. As a result, we have been able to say goodbye to obsolete PLCs and remote I/O stations.
Step 2 | Write software
To get the new hardware systems up and running, software is of course essential. Old switching equipment without software was partly used. One of our software engineers has started his functional design from scratch.
Before he could get started, he first wanted to know the ins and outs. What was the transport process of PVC raw materials like? Only when he had a picture of this process from A to Z could he make the translation into a writable software package.
Step 3 | Zero measurement and commissioning
In the meantime, one of our hardware engineers had made a baseline measurement of the current installation. Based on this, the E-drawings and the P&IDs were updated. Once all preparations had been made, we proceeded to convert and commission the entire installation. We achieved this in two weeks, during the construction holiday in the summer of 2021.
We have delivered a fully customized solution for our customer. In this process, material management, order handling and recipe management have been taken into account. At Pipelife we have built a completely new Siemens PCS7 control system that automatically controls all processes.
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Are you looking for software or hardware specialists? Or a consultant who takes the time to help you get to the bottom of your issues? We would love to hear your story! Simply contact us for a productive meeting over coffee.
