New entry in CIM systems lets you start small & expand later.

A well-known name in plastics machinery controls, Barber-Colman Co. of Loves Park, Ill., is reentering the market for CIM systems that link machines to real-time process and production monitoring networks. First announced at the NPE show last year, the company's new PC-based "Foxtraker" system links MACO or other controllers on injection molding, blow molding, and extrusion machines. With a $25,000 price tag for a four-machine system and an architecture that permits easy expansion, Foxtraker is intended to be an entry-level system that appeals to processors both large and small. "We think it's a good thing to start with a small installation of just a few machines. Once customers see the value of a network, they'll add more and more machines," says Alan Smith, director of marketing. Subsequent machines (up to 32) can be added for $3500 each. "Foxtraker is a good way to dip your toe in the pool," says product manager John Kuenzler.

PLATFORM INDEPENDENT

Foxtraker is built around Barber-Colman's new I/A Series, a PC-based system that handles all the supervisory-control and data-acquisition tasks. Kuenzler notes that the I/A Series is "platform independent" in that it runs equally well under Windows NT or UNIX operating systems.

Barber-Colman has designed the I/A Series as a system that can easily grow from modest roots into a large-multi-plant installation. "It's scaleable from a PC up to a SPARC workstation and beyond," Kuenzler says, "with literally hundreds of thousands of data points possible."

Joe Graf, a Barber-Colman software engineer, points out that Foxtraker differs from other CIM systems in that it employs a "deterministic scan." He explains that this characteristic lets users set slower scan rates at the physical I/O connections for less time-sensitive variables. "That allows you to get more data without tying up bandwidth with non-critical information," Graf says. And unlike a multi-tasking system, the Foxtraker's deterministic scan always scans all the I/O points, Graf notes, which prevents the loss of data if a critical control function temporarily interferes with I/O processing.

Foxtraker includes specific application software for injection molding, blow molding, or extrusion. Pre-packaged modules contain the operator display that is used to set up their process-monitoring parameters, quality tracking, production schedules, recipe storage, job-status display, and alarms.

Foxtraker's $25,000 price tag includes all installation and wiring costs as well as two days of on-site support.

EASY INTEGRATION

Although Foxtraker can collect data from other makes of controllers, processors with MACO units on their machines have the advantage of a simple serial link from the controller to the network. They don't need a separate data-acquisition box or extra instrumentation at the processing machine. "We pull back exactly what the MACO is reading," says Kuenzler.

Processors not using MACO controllers will need a separate data-acquisition unit near the press and extra instrumentation, which together drive costs up by about $3000/machine.

To make data-collection easier for MACO-less machines, Barber-Colman offers a new low-cost data-acquisition unit called DACO. "It's essentially a streamlined MACO," says Smith. DACO, which lacks an operator station, is now in beta testing. It supports what Barber-Colman claims is an emerging market preference for lower-cost systems in which process-monitoring data are not displayed at the machine itself. "People want to get away from the little black boxes," says Smith. "We're seeing a definite trend toward 'blind' data acquisition."

UPCOMING DEVELOPMENTS

Smith reports that four Foxtraker systems have been sold since the NPE introduction. He expects Foxtraker to be of greatest interest to injection and blow molders. Smith has seen some response among film and sheet extruders, but he notes that "extrusion is often a slow, stable process that doesn't gain a lot from this kind of monitoring."

To address sectors of the extrusion market beyond film or sheet, Barber-Colman will introduce a low-cost product for applications requiring a relatively small number of control loops.