Decorating, Printing, Finishing: Taking Corona and Plasma Surface Treatment Beyond Industry 4.0

Denmark’s Vetaphone, with local representation across North America and a recognized leading globally supplier in corona and plasma surface treatment technology,  has taken Industry 4.0 to a new level according to company CEO, Frank Eisby.  “Many see integrated display as the end-game – we see it as the beginning and have made it available on our iCC7 unit since 2017,” he commented.

The overall aim of Vetaphone designers is to facilitate technology operation so that it is as easy and effective as possible.  By making control of the surface treatment system an intuitive task, and collating and utilizing feedback from operators who use the technology in a commercial environment on an everyday basis, Vetaphone claims to have refined the function to its maximum point in current working conditions.

Explains Eisby, “On the iCC7 we keep the front page of the display simple, with optional in-depth sophistication that allows the operative to explore more detailed information as required.  Our iCC7 logs function and maintenance requirements, with remote analysis via a download tool and USB port.”  In taking Industry 4.0 to the next step, Vetaphone is well aware that surface treatment alone is only part of the process.  A hardware interface, such as Profinet, is just one of the many different types available on Vetaphone equipment that allow centralized set-up and control from the main machine HMI.  Centralized HMI allows one operator to oversee production, including several lines at the same time.  The company provides free software advice during implementation of the interface, which with graduated feedback provides the operator with only the information required at that stage – although full details are accessible at any time.