HMS technology underpins connected machines

Paper-slitting machines from American machine builder JSI are well connected indeed. By using technology from HMS Industrial Networks, and system design by Millennium Controls, JSI can remotely access and control machines via the internet and enable wired and wireless communication between different machine parts.

To access the machine remotely, JSI and Millennium Controls installed an eWON Cosy from HMS – a remote router which allows users to log in securely via the internet to perform machine monitoring or even programming and maintenance. This means that operators can change blades from a safe distance inside a plant or indeed from anywhere in the world.
The eWON Cosy is connected to the machine’s PLC (a Rockwell ControlLogix L7); in turn, the router communicates with the cloud-based eWON Talk2M service where users can log in to access their control system.
With many moving parts in a machine, cabling can be difficult and cumbersome. However, by mounting an Anybus Wireless Bolt on the paper-slitting machine, JSI can offer wireless communication between the PLC cabinet and different parts of the machine.
An Allen Bradley PLC controlling the machine communicates using EtherNet/IP, the preferred network of Rockwell Automation-based systems. The PLC communicates seamlessly with most other systems and components in the machine, but JSI wanted to use a stacklight to show the current status of the machine, and this stacklight used Modbus-TCP communication. To enable the stacklight to communicate on EtherNet/IP, Millennium Controls suggested HMS’s EtherNet/IP Linking Device, which acts as a translator between the stacklight and the PLC, enabling them to communicate.
For further information www.hms-networks.com