After the successful installation of the first SmartLine corrugator control system a little over a year ago, Erhardt+Leimer Corrugated Division have made significant upgrades to the system’s capabilities as it has been adopted by the corrugated industry.
Developed by Erhardt+Leimer Corrugated Division, SmartLine optimises the production of short runs of digital pre-print by reliably synchronising the corrugator to the change of print within a single roll. Although the core functionality of the SmartLine corrugator control is unchanged from the initial design, the subsequent roll-out has introduced features to make installation on different corrugator types both faster and more cost effective. SmartLine is now installed on a variety of corrugators with control systems ranging from almost 30 years old to “state of the art”.
An important step for the corrugator control has been the introduction of an OEM interface. This enables very tight integration between the SmartLine and corrugator control systems and, when coupled with ‘dynamic’ SmartLine, gives the optimum in corrugator performance: reliable, high speed running with accurate setup change synchronisation (both dry end and wet end) to the changing print. Another significant advantage of the OEM interface is its availability through a simple, industry standard, communications interface making installations very cost effective. No additional hardware or interlocks are required as a single Ethernet cable is used to link the systems and convert the SmartLine system into a ‘black-box’ that requires no operator interaction. This interface has already been adopted by Fosber and successfully implemented on its Syncro corrugator control system.
In addition to the corrugator aspects that E+L have been developing over the last months, SmartLine is now able to provide a full production workflow. This assists in the creation and handling of rolls from pre-press, to the digital press itself, through any roll editing that may be required before being produced on the corrugator. The SmartLine workflow is designed in an independent, modular way to allow only those parts required to complete the customer’s existing workflow to be utilised. Interaction between the modules is defined using a software Applications Programming Interface (API) to give both comprehensive functionality and flexibility.
The first step in the SmartLine workflow is the SmartLine Generator which prepares the SmartLine (in PDF format) for integration with the customer’s artwork. A simple API enables complete automation of this pre-press process to be achieved for both ‘static’ and ‘dynamic’ SmartLine options.
The SmartLine DataLogger monitors the digital press production. The primary purpose of this is to generate a ‘roll results’ dataset using the printed SmartLine as a ‘mile-marker’ system. These roll results can be enhanced with data from an image inspection system ready for use during the roll editing process.
The DataLogger’s API not only provides details of the press’s digital roll production, but enables performance monitoring for KPIs such as running speeds, downtime and waste production.
The SmartLine Editor module is the latest addition to the workflow and automates the doctoring of a printed roll. The first system has just been delivered and planned for installation in conjunction with Webco Engineering Inc.
SmartLine Editor takes over the speed and positioning control of the editor to bring the defect areas rapidly to the operator’s edit position. The operator simply requests that the next defect is positioned and the editor will advance to the correct point within the roll and advise how much waste is to be removed. After the defect has been removed, the next waste section will be located and so on until the processing of the roll is complete. A major advantage of the SmartLine Editor system is that it also incorporates the DataLogger functionality – so a roll results dataset is prepared which accurately reflects the final roll content rather than an ‘estimate’ of the expected content. Again the flexible API allows the results of the editing and the performance of the edit process to be monitored.
E+L Corrugated Division is part of the privately owned E+L group with subsidiaries located around the globe providing installation and technical support in all of our markets. The training and practical experience that these various teams have received over the last year, plus SmartLine’s comprehensive remote support features, mean that, in the travel-restricted world we are facing in the coming months, E+L can continue to effectively install and support SmartLine systems throughout the world.
What next for SmartLine? E+L Corrugated Division are already working on some significant new features for quality control in the digital workflow which we look forward to announcing very soon!
(Source: International Paper Board Industry, May 2020, p. 74-77.)