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Replacing Cables on a Transport Cart
Challenge
Transport carts move stacks of fiberboard across facilities, dragging a 36-conductor cable behind it. This cable unrolls and rolls onto a spool dozens of times a day, every day.
Over time, this cable breaks and must be replaced, causing production delays and increased maintenance costs. Operators are left trying to predict when the cable might break based on wear in attempt to avoid unplanned shutdown during production peaks.
Solution
Using two DX70 Node and Gateway pairs allows the transport cart to be controlled wirelessly, eliminating cable breaks and production delays.
A Gateway from pair 1 and the Node from pair 2 are installed in the control panel while the remaining Sure Cross components are installed on the transport cart.
On the cart, sensors connected to the Gateway and Node inputs determine both the position of the cart and the position of the cart’s load of fiberboard. The outputs of these devices are linked to discrete motor control signals from the control panel.
Installing the wireless devices eliminates the expensive 36-conductor cable, which must be shipped from Europe, replacing it with a simpler, locally sourced four-conductor cable.
The Sure Cross wireless solution reduces maintenance costs and production delays caused by the damaged cable and unplanned shutdowns.