Visualization and control of the testing of custom-made trailers' electrical circuits and brake systems at Pacton B.V.

Pacton B.V. is the largest manufacturer of custom-made trailers in the Netherlands. Its manufacturing plant is located in the eastern part of the Netherlands in the city of Ommen.

With a team of 275 employees, the company produces about 2,500 trailers per year. With such high production, Pacton is a leader in the national and international transport business.

A trailer by Pacton

The Reliance SCADA/HMI system is used to test the electrical circuits and anti-lock braking systems (ABS) on new truck trailers.

Electrical circuits

After a trailer is built, all electrical circuits are tested for errors (e.g., a missing or broken light bulb). For every new series of trailers that is being built, a recipe is created. This recipe contains all settings and reference values for that specific series of trailers. The settings are used to specify which circuits should be tested and the reference values specify the amount of current that should flow through a circuit.

Testing ABS brakes

After all circuits have been successfully tested, the brakes of the trailers are tested. This test is vital for a reliable anti-lock braking system. For this purpose, the Reliance application starts an external test program.

Troubleshooting

In case of a failure, an alarm is triggered. The operator can use a remote control to manually activate the circuit in question. This gives him/her the opportunity to determine the exact cause of the failure while on location with the trailer. Alarms can only be dismissed after entering a comment.

Quality assurance

As part of the quality assurance process, a report is printed for every trailer. It indicates every test value and it proves that the trailer was checked OK.

By automating the test procedure, the operator is enabled to work more efficiently and it allows for less human error. On top of that, the speed of the quality assurance process has been increased significantly. The Reliance SCADA/HMI system plays a key role in this process and provides all necessary tools on a cost-effective base.

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