Visualization and control of machines used for the manufacture of wood products at the Pakistani company Pakitex Boards

January 25, 2023 | Reliance SCADA

Pakitex Boards Private Limited is the leading manufacturer of melamine and laminated products, plywood, and chipboard in Pakistan.

In 2021, a system for the control and visualization of machines used for the manufacture of wood products was installed at Pakitex.

Control system

The system consists of a large number of PLCs (Delta, Mitsubishi, Siemens) and the Reliance SCADA/HMI system. Communication between the PLCs and Reliance is provided by the Modbus protocol.

The purposes of the implementation of the Reliance SCADA system are as follows:

• Accurate and timely data (typically real-time) enables more efficient, reliable, and safe operations, leading to optimized plant and process operations and energy savings;
• Data logging;
• Remote data access from anywhere;
• Many utilities still rely on manual labor to perform distribution tasks that can be easily automated with SCADA systems, thus increasing labor productivity;
• Data can be displayed in various formats (e.g., HTML, PDF, CSV, XLS, XLSX, XML) based on user requirements;
• Operators can use, for example, powerful trend analysis and reports to identify future problems, improve routine equipment maintenance, and identify areas for improvement.

Benefits of using Reliance SCADA for end customers

• It reduces the time for fault identification and restoration.
• It is fast in obtaining a response.
• It allows displaying plant processes and production.
• It provides data of plant processes and production.
• It allows remote access from anywhere.
• It increases compliance with regulatory agencies through automated report generation.
• It allows communication with third-party software solutions (machine integration with SAP using API).
• It provides a reliable 24/7 automated system.
• It increases the life of the equipment used by an immediate knowledge of system performance.
• It makes the operators' jobs easier by presenting graphical statistics in real time.
• By maintaining a record of all plant statistics, the Reliance SCADA system enables improving production quality, preventing unforeseen failures, and avoiding downtime.
• It allows communication with iMAL (integration with SAP using API).

The Reliance SCADA system (Reliance Control and Reliance View) is used to monitor processes performed by various machines (each machine represents a different process). The control system can be accessed from remote locations over the Internet.

The machines for which the Reliance SCADA system is implemented are:

Core dryer machine for the plywood production line:

The core moves through the drying machine in several layers along rollers. The target moisture level after drying is around 7–11 %, which is precisely the right moisture level for gluing the core.

A sufficient drying temperature is 160–180 °C. The core passes through the machine for about three minutes. To make sure the quality remains even, the drying conditions and the moisture of the core are continuously monitored by Reliance.

The Reliance SCADA system is used to:

• Maintain the moisture level of the core by controlling the damper valve
• Monitor and control the speed of roller conveyors used for core transportation
• Monitor and control the temperature inside the dryer for a better production rate

Wide-belt sanding machine:

Here the wide-belt sander sands the wood products (e.g., plywood, chipboard, medium-density fiberboard). A rubber conveyor carries the wood through the machine while a wide abrasive belt removes material from the top surface to a specific thickness.

The Reliance SCADA system is used to:

• Monitor the speed of the conveyor belt
• Monitor the current and temperature for the safety of the main motors
• Monitor the energy analyzer parameters for energy consumption data

Woodworking hot press machine:

The hot press machine is used to produce plywood. Its function is to glue plywood at high pressure and high temperature. The machine has a hydraulic system, using both the steam and hot oil heating methods.

The Reliance SCADA system is used to:

• Monitor temperatures
• Monitor the machine's pressure when pressing the core
• Count plies for the purpose of production monitoring

The Reliance SCADA/HMI system performs the following functions for all the machines:

• Transferring shift-related data using API for SAP integration
• Interlocking the machines with the Reliance SCADA/HMI system
• Monitoring the operating time and efficiency of the machines per working shift
• Fetching complete data analysis reports for production
• Generating date and shift cumulative reports (Excel)
• Providing users with different access rights (Reliance's thin clients)
• With the help of Reliance's thin clients, production engineers and operating staff are able to monitor the status of the machine continuously and set parameters both on site and from remote locations
• Logging daily data to reports (production reports, shift reports, running reports, daily reports) and presenting graphical statistics in real time

Examples of visualization windows

The machines' communication status

Reliance's Project Structure Manager

Visualization of the core dryer machine

Visualization of the core dryer machine (data in detail)

Visualization of the wide-belt sanding machine

Visualization of the woodworking hot press machine

Visualization of a core patching machine

A hot press shift detail displayed in Reliance Smart Client

A sanding shift detail displayed in Reliance Smart Client

An administration panel (various machines)

An administration panel (various machines)

A production real-time trend

Shift reports

A production report

Analyzer statistics

Try the Reliance SCADA/HMI system

Try the Reliance SCADA/HMI system on several example projects or download the installer of the trial version for free.