Using emulation to reduce commissioning costs on a high speed bottling line

E²M/Polytron builds high speed filling and packaging systems for Fortune 100 companies. In the last year we have developed a process to improve the quality of these systems that uses the new emulation technology in Brooks Automation´s AutoMod simulation tool. The method, called PolySim, enables us to functionally test control logic on a simulated 3D model of a system prior to startup. Our first application was on a new line for Gerber Baby Food. The project had been done without the use of the new technology and there were some on-going controls problems, with the high speed label application area a month after startup. Using our PolySim method enabled us to isolate and fix these controls problems in two weeks without interfering with production. With the problem fixed, Gerber saw an 11% increase in line efficiency