Precision from the delicate snow chain to the huge anchor chain

The family company Thiele GmbH & Co. KG, based in Iserlohn is a specialist in everything that is in the form of a chain. The expertise ranges from snow chain via huge anchor chains that keep the oil rigs in the ocean in place, up to conveyor chains in mining, so-called scraper conveyors. All products have in common that they are manufactured with the highest precision. Intelligent chains even contain stretch marks and a small chip to measure and to register any change in the chain, no matter how big the chain is.

Monitoring and optimizing of all processes

The expensive special machines on which the different chains are made in numerous production steps ought to run as much as possible without malfunctioning, downtime must be avoided or minimized. Andreas Kemper, head of the electrical engineering staff, already decided for the VIPA 200V controllers, which take up little space in the cabinets, over ten years ago. Originally intended to complement and modernize the existing S5 technology, today VIPA systems work independently, not only in manufacturing but also in access control at the entrance or in the pumping station for the water cooling.

High-Speed CPU in the Hammer of the drop forge

In the drop forge there is a huge hammer in which parts for the conveyor elements in mining are forged. The control commands for the valves of the air suspension that cause the rise and fall of the hammer must be be carried out extremely quickly and precisely, 20 milliseconds here is the measure of things. The time for maintenance and repairs of the hammer were able to be reduced from the original 30% to the present 5% with the new controller, responsible for this is a CPU 315SB/DPM with SPEED7 technology.

Unusual challenges require extraordinary solutions - with VIPA no problem!