Ossid machinery improves reliability and performance with Mitsubishi Electric Automation portfolio
Case Study
BACKGROUND
Ossid, a Battleboro, NC-based tray packaging equipment manufacturer and a ProMach company, was started back in the 1970s as a small fabrication shop that refurbished older wrapping machines before developing what would become the first Ossid 500 inline overwrapper. This product caught the attention of ProMach in 1999, which then acquired the company. Since then Ossid has been expanding its machine offerings while leveraging technology.
CHALLENGE
Ossid’s original machinery was developed for the poultry industry, but over the next several years, the OEM expanded its portfolio to include form, fill, seal (f/f/s) machinery offerings for the medical device industry, as well as new and improved versions of its original 500SW machine to improve efficiency for the produce and red meat industries. These new equipment lines were created solely because of customer demand, which is one of the contributing factors to Ossid’s growth as a company. At the same time, technology advances in controls have put pressure on Ossid to expand customer features and accuracies.
SOLUTION
When it comes to equipment expansion, it’s critical to have a comprehensive control system that both Ossid and its customers can depend on. The OEM uses Mitsubishi Electric PLCs, servo drives, HMIs and Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) on its tray sealers, f/f/s lines and shrink overwrappers to ensure its equipment is reliable and can stand up to the operating requirements its customers demand.
For example, one of Ossid’s shrink overwrapper lines needed a powerful control system to help address a common issue that arises during shrink wrapping. This specific piece of equipment, the 500ESS, is used to shrink the ends of the packaging. But there’s a problem that occurs with most traditional heat tunnels, which is that they can cause the distortion of a company logo or any information printed on the outside of the packaging.
Thanks to Mitsubishi Electric’s precision PLC and Servo system, Ossid’s 500ESS machine allows its customers to run printed shrink film on its overwrappers without the fear that their logo or any information will be distorted at the end of the process.
“The 500ESS is a necessary part of our 500E end seal system,” says Mike Rogers, Ossid’s Overwrap product line manager. “The Mitsubishi Electric components have been a trouble free part of what has turned out to be a workhorse piece of equipment.”
High Performance MR-J4 Servo Drives and FR-D700 VFDs L Series Control System
RESULTS
The OEM ultimately chose Mitsubishi Electric because of the supplier’s respected reputation in the industry, and since they began using these components, Rogers says the partnership between the OEM and supplier has served them well.
While Rogers says that Ossid rarely runs into issues with the Mitsubishi products, when they do call on the supplier for support, he says Mitsubishi Electric has always been swift to respond and act.
“We put a very strong emphasis on after sales services in technical support and same day shipments on parts,” Rogers says. “Our customers rely on their equipment to perform day in and day out, and we pride ourselves on being there should a problem occur.”
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