FULLY-AUTOMATIC NARROW STRIP FINISHING AND CONDITIONING SHOP FOR ELECTRICAL STRIP PRODUCTION AT ELEKTROBLECH-BOCHUM GMBH

The facility consists of several interlinked, automatically operating sections in which coils that have been slit from a parent coil are con veyed in horizontal axial position as far as the palletizing station. The slit coils are first of all held in a buffer storage and distribut ion system, then consigned to order-related packages in the separation and order-picking section, and finally are placed coil-eye-up on pall ets. The fully automatic facility has been in operation since 1989. As the outputs have increased, the facility has been expanded at various locations to accommodate the now of materials. This has necessitated a redesign of the plant management system. The entire data processing system has been structured hierarchically to include a production mana gement level for management of the order-related data, a plant managem ent level for logistical planning, visualization, command and control, and a basic automation level for movement of the individual facility components. The finishing and conditioning shop was upgraded during on -going operation without any loss of production. The new management sy stem already controls 85 % of production a few months after being comm issioned.