Power Supply for Packaging Machines
2 August 2023
Standardization Creates Flexibility

Mechanical engineers are masters at finding innovative technical solutions to meet customers’ challenges. The crucial elements in this are broad know-how, a wealth of ideas from intelligent experts, the use of advanced technologies and the standardization of processes and technical components.

IWK Verpackungstechnik GmbH successfully combines these elements in numerous customer projects, even as the level of customization keeps increasing. The company is working with its strong partner WAGO GmbH & Co. KG to optimize the electrotechnical aspects of its machine systems.

Based in Stutensee in Baden, Germany IWK Verpackungstechnik GmbH has a 130 year history and has been supplying filling and packaging systems to customers around the world for decades. The company has a good feel for trends, which has helped it consistently impress customers with its cutting-edge technology. At the moment, two mega-trends, sustainability and customization, are especially relevant. “Our customers expect efficient solutions for increasingly flexible batch sizes,” explains Bernd Langlotz, Head of Electrical Engineering at IWK. “Environmental protection and resource conservation are important issues, and our systems and turnkey lines support our customers in addressing them.” IWK’s state-of-the-art machines help their customers implement successful, sustainable packaging despite new challenges, allowing them to remain competitive. The company holds numerous patents for key technologies and regularly receives awards.

Turning Trends into Innovations

When filling and packaging cosmetic and pharmaceutical products, smaller batch sizes usually mean greater machine customization, more frequent format changes and associated setup time. “Four or five years ago, we mostly supplied standardized machines, but the degree of customization has steadily increased to this day, along with a demand for greater automation in the lines,” explains Langlotz. “Our most highly automated system at the moment, the Flexline, is characterized by extremely short format changeover times, because servo motors and controllers handle a lot of the manual work.”

Increasing specialization and customization of their machine portfolio also entail significantly greater planning effort. Timo Raff is responsible for hardware and electrical planning at IWK and knows this issue well: “Whereas we used to customize machines by having multiple options and different format parts, new control and servo technology now gives us much more freedom and flexibility. But to maximize the efficiency of planning and project design, we need standardization – for control processes, components, communication protocols, suppliers, etc.”

Sustainable Capacitors Instead of Lead Batteries

The conversion of IWK’s machines’ electrical buffering demonstrates how the standardization approach can be successfully reconciled with the need to serve market trends: Years ago, the idea arose of switching the uninterruptible power supply required for one type of machine to a more environmentally friendly option. Before that, lead batteries had been used to ensure that, in the event of a power failure, the Windows-based PC used would shut down properly and important production data and machine parameters would be backed up, but IWK now wanted to use modern supercapacitors instead. “What motivated the team back then was the possibility of switching to environmentally friendly capacitor buffering, which would save our customers from having to replace batteries every two years,” recalls Langlotz. “Of course, we couldn’t compromise data storage or machine functionality, so we went through stages of testing, evaluation and redesign.

In the end, we chose WAGO products. The Pro 2 Power Supply is very versatile and offers safety and reliability alongside maximum flexibility and the possibility of standardization.

Timo Raff, electrical designer responsible for hardware and electrical planning at IWK

One of the biggest challenges was choosing the right 24 V power supply. To ensure the capacitor could provide the necessary support power before the machine starts up, the team initially decided to use two separate power supplies: One powered the capacitor and the other powered the PC, HMI and corresponding sensors. “Once the prototype worked as intended, we wanted to further optimize the system and investigate how we could apply the insights from this one type of machine to our entire portfolio,” explains Raff. “So we looked at various power supplies and electronic fuses in depth. In the end, we chose WAGO products. The Pro 2 Power Supply is very versatile and offers safety and reliability alongside maximum flexibility and the possibility of standardization.”

Power Supply at Its Finest

A 40 A WAGO power supply now replaces the two power supplies that used to be required. With intelligent load management and switch-on logic, it first supplies the capacitor with sufficient power when the machine is powered up. The PC, HMIs and sensors don’t start until right after that. With optimal utilization of the power supply, it can fully exploit its 96.3 % efficiency advantage. Thanks to low power loss and a compact design, it saves space in the control cabinet and contributes little to heating. This protects not only the power supply itself, but also the other components in the control cabinet.

“Since a single innovation seldom arises alone, we also took advantage of the switchover to the WAGO power supply for another important change of course at IWK, because, in addition to IO-Link, the power supply unit also ‘speaks’ ETHERNET and Modbus RTU. We see this communication standard as the optimal basis for future developments,” explains Langlotz. The communication system allows a point-to-point connection between IO-Link devices and an IO-Link master connected to an automation system. The master is able not only to transmit commands and read out data, but also to evaluate it. Additional device status or signal quality information enables comprehensive diagnostic capabilities.

“We aren’t taking full advantage of all the extensive communication options the WAGO power supply makes available via IOLink , but we’re working intensively on doing so, since it will benefit our customers,” explains Raff. For example, the power supply provides detailed information not only about current events or voltage peaks, but also about current consumption over time. Information about the wear on actuators, such as motors, can be deduced from such trends, and they can be used to predict critical states. “Such data is important for predictive maintenance strategies, especially for our customers in the pharmaceutical industry,” reports Langlotz. “The more diagnostic data is combined, the more detailed a picture of the system’s status is available. That can also include current and voltage values if an intelligent power supply is used.”

A Winning Combination: Electronic Circuit Breakers

To further expand the diagnostic capabilities, IWK is also considering using WAGO electronic circuit breakers in the future. This step will give customers even more channel-by-channel information on the current consumption values. At the same time, WAGO’s electronic fuses can provide even better protection for capacitive and inductive loads: At 50 mF, the automatic circuit breakers allow switching of high-capacity loads without further measures or nominal current changes. In combination with the WAGO Pro 2 Power Supply, the ECBs now form the standard power supply and overcurrent protection for all types of IWK machines.

“For us, this combination offers the optimal balance between flexibility and standardization,” says Langlotz in summary: “Wherever we need more advanced communication, we can snap the IO-Link modules onto the Pro 2 – without a redesign or new cabinet layout.” His colleague Raff adds: “We can offer our customers not only even greater adaptability and flexibility, but also sustainable approaches: Capacitor buffering eliminates lead batteries, requires significantly less maintenance and thus reduces machine downtime even further. WAGO’s intelligent power supply also lets our customers introduce predictive maintenance concepts and make their filling and packaging processes even more efficient.”

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Power Supply for Packaging Machines 2 August 2023 Standardization Creates Flexibility