Safety is a top priority for companies and facilities not only because it protects its workers but it can also protect its machinery. When developing safety and control systems, facilities tend to focus on the machines and products inside the facility, but outside factors should not be forgotten. Companies should look beyond what is controllable in their facility when setting up their motor control centers.
Motor control centers typically monitor different levels on motors such as torque and start up and shut down procedures. This ensures that machines cannot start and stop without notice and there are proper safety checks in place to know how long and at what speeds the motor can run. New technology called programable logic controller or PLC can also be added to control motors. Including a PLC into the control center can improve it dramatically and prevent even more safety hazards.
Modern field buses can play an integral role in PLC's and help gather data.
These field buses can help in providing safe shutdowns for facilities by monitoring both the machines and motors in the plant and also the power and data coming in. Tracking data is key to quality and production in modern facilities. Having proper data tracking integrated into motor control centers can also be easily changed to adapt when plants grow or reorganize.
Some of the benefits of PLC's and field buses include easy mobility as stated above. There is no required rewiring when adding or taking away motors. But PLC's also offer better reconfiguration time when a shutdown or problem occurs because it can be cut down increasingly due to the new technology. PLC's can be retrofitted into older systems, but at times it can be much more efficient replace the system since new technology will allow for easy mobility once it is installed.
To find out how you can integrate more safety sensors beyond the walls of your facility go to our website www.premierautomation.com or talk to one of our specialists today.