UNDERSTANDING THE INTRICACIES OF SENSITIVE APPLICATIONS What should manufacturers and OEMs consider when selecting the right reliable and flexible automation supplier who can walk the long road with them? SMC Australia|New Zealand area sales manager Jason Sutton offers important pointers to get the right partner: Selecting the most suitable products for sensitive SMC understands your meat processing requirements – all along the production line Pneumatics for the meat industry – an unlikely but perfect fit! From the pneumatics which are used for the automated cattle gates to the hide puller in the abattoir right through to the packaging machinery. SMC understands that the products used in this industry need to conform to special requirements. Whether it is wash down, safety or reliable accuracy, SMC Pneumatics has it covered – all with energy efficient optimisation. Make the smart choice. Pneumatics and meat processing – a perfect fit! www.foodtechnology.co.nz 31 SMC understands the rigorous standards and hygienic requirements of the meat processing industry. Join the conversation: SMC Pneumatics Australia | New Zealand Group SMC Australia | New Zealand doyoureallyknowSMC www.smcworld.com Global Leader in Pneumatics and Automation Contact us for a consultation: NZ – 0800 1320 762 or NZSales@smcanz.com FT385 applications such as wetter conditions and thinner plastics is vital to the smooth-running of an application to ensure improved efficiencies and reduced downtime. Today, dairy packaging machines are making use of thinner plastics and as such, automation components need to be able to handle the intricacies of such materials. We have come across more and more dairy packaging machines that make use of thinner plastics, and not just any brand can be spec’d. Wetter environments require specific components to do the job too, and to ensure a long service life. There are many important factors to consider when automating an application such as this: More splash - The use of thinner materials/ bottles can result in more frequent splash due to the decrease in material strength. IP rating - Environments such as these adhere to stringent health and safety requirements and as such, an IP67 rating is required when selecting your products. Price consideration - After establishing a relationship, a client will find that customer support should be top of their supplier’s priority list. In understanding the scope and target price, a supplier will understand the intricacies of the application and will walk the journey with you to find the best possible solution. The consideration between selecting a full stainless-steel actuator needs to be balanced against using a standard cylinder with stainless steel inclusions to limit corrosion. The application, occurrence and severity of the splash or wash-down needs to be considered, and an SMC sales engineer will be able to guide you through this. The right products for the right job - These are required to withstand splash zones and wash down. A simple special can be requested to ensure that a standard CP96 ISO cylinder is supplied such that those components likely to corrode are replaced with stainless steel – XC68 and XC7 depending on the level of wash down. In addition, the CG5 stainless steel cylinder uses a special scraper and offers a different rod seal material so that fluid can be wiped off before retracting. As the norm, when the cylinder retracts some fluid will be drawn into the actuator, the special wiper as standard on the CG5 limits the fluid transmission. Seals on the CG5 cylinder are replaceable so the life cycle of the cylinder is extended. An IP67 valve bank paired with the modular EX600 serial interface is recommended to withstand full wash-down and is expandable as a flexible offering. In addition, a diverter is able to divert the sequencing of the machine to increase the speed. High speed operation enables diversion of bottles so that a machine can run more than one bottle on one line. Here, the diverter will sort it to size. Electric drives such as that of the LEJ from SMC is ideal for precision and offers a stainless steel dust seal band as a splash guard. SMC offers air preparation equipment for all environments and a host of applications. Website: www.smcworld.com For sales enquiries please contact AUsales@smcanz.com or NZsales@smcanz.com
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