Instant Factory Automation
by John Uske who today is automating industrial machines at high speed and low costs using splice point technology.
This site has been created to show off a high speed method of automating industrial machines with PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers). It is called splice point technology, a method pioneered by John Uske to achieve maximum results in the shortest possible times at a minimum of cost.
For this project our rebuild team was tasked with joining 2 separate and distinct packaging machines together and making them operate together in unison and act as one with each other. First we had to remove the head assembly from a free standing Auger Filling machine made by All Fill, which is used to dispense granular powdered products into free standing rigid containers, then we had to mount and join the auger head of this machine with what is called a Vertical Form Fill Seal Machine made by the Wright Corporation, which is also commonly referred to as a bag making machine. This machine (VFFSM) was supposed to create a potato chip style bag around the powdered granulated product as it was being dispensed in fixed amounts by the auger filler head. In the end this machine would be bagging uniform fixed amounts of powdered product at high speeds. We were advised by the CEO that it should run as fast as we could make it go. This description of the objective was the only plan we all had prior to start. After that we all did our jobs from straight out of our heads.
What does it take succeed at high speeds?
Before I go any further l must tell you that the 2 major keys to success on a project like this is to work in a company with forward looking management that invests in it's employees in terms of training, and resources and is not afraid to bet on their own people when taking strategic risks. The 2nd is to have a great team of co-workers who can look at a project and know just where and how their skills fit with the objective to be achieved with no questions asked. Here we had simple conceptual sketch on a clipboard (see the above) of how the auger filling machine should be mounted on the top of the bagging machine. The welders, mechanics, and machinists all went into action to do what they needed to do to make this happen both quickly and precisely. Their work created the foundation for my job, which was to build the electric system to run these merged machines as one. The photo below shows the PLC based electric system that was designed by me straight out of my head while I was building and installing the electric system. There was no prior plan. All I knew was that I had to make a machine that would deposit powdered product in fixed amounts to a bag making machine, and that I only had 8 hours on a single Saturday to do it, because my bosses needed to show their clients a running machine on Monday.
So what is splice Point Technology?
Next was the design part: The essence of this plan is KISS. (Keep it simple stupid). On a rebuild project this method eliminates waste, unnecessary man hours, and unneeded expenditures for supplies. Now on a rebuild project, rather than ripping out all of the pre-existing components and wiring to make way for an all new system, which takes a lot of time to build. What I do instead is try and use as much of the existing wiring and components as much as possible. Like traders at hedge funds who survey world economic data to find buy, sell, and hold signals. I survey the machine to look for the wires that are coming out of the electrical system that carry signals like run, stop, go, pause, etc. These signals are my pallet of colors and the blank electric panel is the canvas where I will bring them all together. I trace all the wires until I find a point where most of them are in proximity to each other. This is the SPLICE POINT. This is where I will cut into the system with wires, terminals, relays, sensors and computers PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) to create a point where I can control all the behaviors on the machine via software I program into the PLC. In the case of the machine featured on this web site, I had to find all the wires that could be of probable future use on the Auger filling machine and on the Bagging machine. These were them brought together on terminal strips in a new electric cabinet. This was where the SPLICE POINT was created. As you can see I installed a PLC, Power Supply, Clutch Controller, and some relays and then I programmed the whole thing to work as one single unit. This part was done in 8 work hours from start to finish with no prior plan. All I knew was the objective to be achieved. That was my plan or guide for this project.
