“NPE is an important opportunity to reintroduce ourselves to the market,” says Bob Schlegel, president of Athena Controls. “It’s been six years since the last one. Lots of older people have been retiring and new people are entering the industry every day. This is our chance to refresh people on who we are and what we do.”

As Schlegel points out, the Who and What for Athena Controls is a 60-year-old, prominent supplier of process controls for plastics. “Our products are standardized and familiar. What makes us different is being able and willing to customize our products to fit the mold you want to run. It’s in our DNA: We sell basic features and functions, and if the customer wants to tweak those or change the software, for example, we can do that. Many of our competitors are not willing or able to do that. We don’t just sell you a product; we make it do what you want it to.”

Schlegel emphasizes that this approach produces both the most functional and most economical solution for the customer. “We provide just what the customer wants — we can add to the basic features but not overload it with ‘technology creep.’”

This philosophy is evident in the company’s newest products on display at NPE. First and foremost is the new BEDROS XL hot-runner temperature controller, which has 32 to 120 zones, up from 8 to 32 zones for the standard BEDROS model. “We’ve been asked so many times if we could do 90 or 100 zones for applications in caps and closures, food and beverages, personal care, health care and sometimes even automotive applications.” In one case, this hot-runner controller was used in thermoforming a huge truck part in an enormous mold with numerous embedded sensors. Athena wrote special software to ensure no cold spots over the surface of the mold.

The new BEDROS XL controller has been made easier to expand and includes a larger (12-in.) touchscreen and embedded Windows 10 IoT with ability to interact with Industry 4.0 protocols. Says Schlegel, “These features enable the BEDROS XL system to serve as a platform to support Industry 4.0 technologies and to customize solutions. The interface is simple and easy to use, and we have licensed open-source software that is compatible with the OPC-UA communication protocol that is becoming standard among all kinds of machine builders.”

Schlegel regards the new controller as a customizable platform, rather than a fixed product: “We’re selling a range of capabilities, but we didn’t want to overload it with a lot of ports and communication standards on the basic model. That would only add to cost and make us just like everybody else.”

Industry 4.0 compatibility is also built into the newly upgraded 16CX single-loop 16 DIN-sized, panel-mount controller on display at Athena’s booth. With upgraded display and components, the 16CX includes open-source communication capability, making it easier to integrate with 4.0 systems and easier to set and change parameters remotely. What’s more, the 16CX is backward compatible with previous 16 Series DIN controllers that Athena has supplied over 30 to 40 years for extrusion and packaging machinery. “There’s no rewiring necessary to replace older models with the latest one,” Schlegel says.