Consumables
Aberdeen Journals Ltd replace Press Controls System
Tuesday 25. May 2010 - Aberdeen Journals Ltd, part of the D.C. Thomson group, have placed an order with Harland Simon to completely replace their press control system.
The existing system, which began life as an Allen-Bradley system back in 1991 was upgraded by Harland Simon in 2001 while Aberdeen Journals was still part of the Northcliffe Print group. At that time, the intelligent part of the system was replaced including the press control consoles and the management system, but most of the I/O was left in place in order to reduce cost and disruption. Now, as Aberdeen look to secure trouble free production for remaining lifetime of the press, they have again turned to Harland Simon to provide it.
Raymond McRobbie, Assistant Managing Director at Aberdeen Journals said, “We have had a long and excellent relationship with Harland Simon. The controls upgrade is not as a result of problems with the existing system, although many components have become obsolete, but is a reflection of the confidence we have in our future. Electronic equipment that was state-of-the-art when it was installed in 2001 has now been superseded by newer technology. This upgrade will in effect give us a brand new control system with many day-to-day operational benefits and at the same time secure our production into the future”.
The project will see Harland Simon substantially upgrade the press control consoles with a new user interface and underlying architecture. At the same time the proprietary processors that were used to simplify the original press upgrade will be replaced by off the shelf Allen-Bradley plcs and the Siemens plcs that were used when the press was extended will also be replaced by Allen-Bradley equipment.
Rob Watson, Sales Director at Harland Simon said, “Were delighted to be working with Aberdeen Journals again. This order is very typical of a number that we have on our books at the moment, where forward-thinking press sites are upgrading their press controls without doing major work on the presses themselves. We think they show that the industry as a whole is unlikely to invest heavily in metalwork again, but realises the need to provide a secure production platform in terms of the control system for the foreseeable future”.