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Turck Banner - The Visual Factory
11-10-2022
PRESS RELEASE
Turck Banner - The Visual Factory
The growing trend across industry to improve efficiency and productivity by gathering and analysing
data is putting large amounts of information in the hands of management. While lots of data is good,
and areas for improvement are often identified through this process, sometimes it is simple and clear
information that is needed on the factory floor to improve efficiency and productivity, especially as the
demands on each worker’s time is increasing.
Although most machines that frequently need operator attention have a tower light indicating red,
amber and green for the overall health of the machine / process, the operator still has to approach
the machine to read an information display, in order to find out why the tower light is not on green
(indicating that everything is good).
The operator could be far more efficient and productive if the most common conditions affecting a
machine could be identified from a distance.
For example, a light strip that illuminates along its length
which indicates the percentage fill level of a hopper. An
operator with multiple machines could easily see which of
their machines required more material. They would also be
able to gauge how many machines would soon require more
material, how much material to obtain and in what order
they would need to attend each machine.
It is not just the humble tower light that can be improved upon. Visual indication as guidance to
operators can improve efficiency in many different operational areas.
If an E-stop is pressed on a machine, the operator needs to know the
location of the Estop that was pressed before the machine can be
restarted. Typically the machine may have a tower light showing red to
indicate machine stopped, and perhaps an HMI displaying the Estop
location, or a simple location number. However, using illuminated
E-stops, which show red when activated, and having the machine
lighting turn from white to red in the affected area, would guide the
operator to the location quickly and efficiently.
Another example of improving safety and efficiency is in a continuous palletising process.
As floor scanners are often used to protect the area around the robot, the operator needs to know when
it is safe to enter the area without tripping the safety system.
By using coloured LED lighting, the area that is safe to enter can be illuminated green, while the area in
which the robot is currently active is illuminated red. When the robot completes its task in one area and
moves to the next, the illumination colours change to indicate the new conditions. This technique has
been seen to greatly reduce the number of accidental stops from people stepping into the red area.
Fork List truck Presence
Using the large multicolour strip lights, to indicate the presence of fork
lift trucks and AGVs, on the corners in corridors and aisles in warehouses
can improve safety and avoid product damage by collisions.
load positioning,
In areas where the drop zone is
obscured by the load being transported, lights showing the position of
the load within the drop zone improve the speed of the operation and
avoid damaging the load.
In this application, on the horizontal light, the green area represents
the load and the yellow area either side shows the distance from each
edge. This allows different width loads to be positioned accurately.
The driver can also be guided towards the centre of the drop zone
by turning one of the yellow areas red
to indicate that the load is too close to
that side, then turning amber as the load approaches the centre position,
eventually turning to yellow when the load is positioned within the desired
tolerance. The vertical light shows the distance from the back of the drop
zone, the light changes colour to indicate the optimal position.
Indication is not limited to red and green. The full RGB spectrum of colours can be used. This can be
combined with animation and sound to convey multiple statuses, effectively giving your machine its
own voice.
The same area on a light can change to a different colour, thus indicating the same information but
with a different priority. For example a light indicating Takt time can gradually illuminate green along
its length to represent the time passing but, as the time duration approaches its maximum, the green
illumination can turn amber and then red. The percentage of the light illuminated always represents the
time duration, while the colour represents the urgency.
Sometimes it is useful to display machine status that may not appear to be
relevant to the machine operator. A good example of this is Machine Startup.
Machine Startup could be indicated by animating the light to produce a
circling effect in the lights. The machine operator may not be particularly
interested in the startup indication but if a machine further along the
production line is indicating an issue with material shortage, being able to
see that the machine supplying the material is starting up, may indicate that
the current issue will resolve itself with no further action required.
Turck Banner Ltd have a vast array of LED lighting and indication products
specifically designed for industrial use. Many of these products can be easily
programmed with a free graphical user interface program. Programming can
be done dynamically by a PLC or pre-programmed and activated by discrete , analogue,
IO-Link or pulse modulation.
The use of visual indicators to impart information from a distance can make huge gains in workplace
efficiency, safety and environment.
For further information contact
Joni McDonough, Marketing Executive,
Turck Banner Ltd, Blenheim House, Blenheim Court
Wickford, Essex. SS11 8YT
Telephone: 01268 578888 Email: joni.mcdonough@turckbanner.com
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