Costs cut by 30% November 1st 2008 State-of-the-art controls
based on a variable speed
drive from ABB have cut
the energy consumption by
one third on an injection
moulding machine at
McKechnie Automotive and
Engineered Plastics in
Pickering. The control panel
was designed and supplied
by ABB Drives Alliance
Partner, Halcyon Drives.
Rob Howlett, senior
process engineer, explains
"We carried out a Pareto
analysis across the whole
factory and found that this
machine was particularly
inefficient because of the
way it was being operated.
We contacted Halcyon, who
designed a control system
that they said would save
around 30%. We couldn't
believe it would be that
much so we arranged a
three-month trial and found
it actually saved 33%."
The panel combines an
ABB industrial drive with an
interface from Powermiser,
which provides a costefficient
link between the
drive and the injection
moulding machine motor.
The entire project is set to
deliver a payback of less
than two years. More articles from ABB Ltd: |