“We planned to test the new equipment in March 2020, when people came from different parts of the United States and other countries. COVID-19 has changed everything.” Kimberly-Clark’s Gabriel Pacheco spoke about his team and how its suppliers overcame travel restrictions due to the pandemic. launch a completely refurbished toilet paper machine.
The show must go on, especially when you’re making toilet paper and paper napkins. It’s no secret that consumers around the world are demanding more paper towels as they work more and stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, if you’re a manufacturer like Kimberly-Clark and already refurbishing old toilet paper machines to meet growing demand, how do you overcome an ironic Catch-22 twist like the pandemic stopping you from rebuilding that toilet? paper machine? Same car?
Kimberly-Clark operates several plants in the United States, but it had a machine that had to be rebuilt at its plant in Mobile, Alabama. The machine was installed in 1965 and has reached the end of its useful life. It uses GE drives to control its large motors, as well as a Honeywell TDC 2000 distributed control system (DCS) and a Modicon Quantum programmable logic controller (PLC) to control distributed I/O points.
“All of these systems are outdated and have been lame for a long time,” said Gabriel Pacheco, electrical engineer and project manager for Kimberly-Clark Professional. “Replacement parts and maintenance technology are difficult to find.”
This week at the Rockwell Automation Home Expo, Pacheco spoke about his team’s experience “Developing New Tissue Paper Machines in a COVID-19 World” at the Process Solutions virtual user group event.
Toilet paper machines usually have a wet end where the pulp passes through different paths and a dry end where the tissue paper is rolled up. The new machines are designed to provide unified viewing and management of components from multiple OEMs.
Pacheco says Kimberly Clark’s design has many other benefits, including a common integrated drive control platform and safety features that will improve reliability and uptime, and reduce drive operating costs.
“It also gives us greater access to service resources, including remote support, which will also reduce support and licensing costs,” Pacheco said. “It wasn’t just a modernization; it was a complete reconstruction. We removed the old machines and their drives and installed completely new drives and controls. There were some issues with this, such as the location of the old organization, which meant we had to also reroute a lot of other connections so we could keep other computers running.”
Pacheco added that his team also wants to make the new machine’s systems and drives easier to use for operators and to coordinate the new mainframe drives with the many existing smaller drives on the ancillary equipment. Another major challenge was that the Kimberly-Clark mobile plant team had to work with OEMs from Italy, Sweden, Finland and Canada, as well as the Rockwell Automation and DCS drive teams for remanufacturing.
Key phases of the tissue machine modernization project included demolishing the old equipment, including the firebox and basement floors, and then constructing new structural sections to support the new mechanical and electrical systems. Construction and engineering checks will be followed by pre-launch process control checks.
“We also had to replace the substations that supply the main drives. One substation is on the wet side, another is on the dry side, and the third supplies the new electrical panel,” Pacheco explained. “We also replaced nine drives with Rockwell Automation PowerFlex 755 split wet-end and dry-end drives and added several HMIs (human machine interfaces) integrated with the main DCS system. Previous TDC 2000. Controls have been replaced with Rockwell Automation ControlLogix V. 30 controllers and their PlantPAx process libraries. We also use Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk View and FactoryTalk Historian software and thin clients.”
Pacheco added that the kitchen handrail safety features on the new machines are also handled by ControlLogix and new safety relays that are integrated into the overall DCS system. Likewise, the old Burner Management System (BMS) with Honeywell and Modicon controls was replaced with a new combustion chamber and BMS with safety PLC and HMI, which were also integrated into the new DCS. This new BMS is divided into “wet” and “dry” parts, including data acquisition servers, FactoryTalk Historian, thin clients, scanners and HMIs. They are all integrated into one of two enterprise networks for critical or non-critical communications, which also connect other racks, drives, substations and routing equipment.
Pacheco said the refurbishment of the tissue machine was approved in January 2018, with closure and dismantling beginning in September 2019 and beginning in April 2020. However, like many other efforts, it was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The old machine produced its last roll of paper towels in September 2019, demolition and construction will continue for six months, we plan to inspect the new equipment in March 2020 with people from around the US and other countries. The situation has changed, Pacheco said: “We had to make a new schedule. “We must maintain social distancing to test equipment and launch personnel on site. Then on April 3, we reported a case of COVID-19 in another area of the facility and all of our equipment suppliers had to go home. This makes our initial launch on April 13th look like it won’t happen. “
Despite the seemingly major setback, Pacheco says his team and their vendor partners figured out how to set up remote support that would allow everyone to see the machine’s components and continue to work on it. “We installed cameras, wireless hotspots and cellular hotspots, and added iPads and other tablets with headsets so those working in the field could get technical assistance,” Pacheco explained. “We even tested gaming headsets and found that the ones that we found most useful were the 3M Bluetooth headsets, which connect to headphones, canceling out noise from the machine and allowing the user to hear distant sounds clearly.”
Pacheco added that the design/launch team and their remote colleagues also use PTC Vuforia augmented reality software to illustrate points of view in captured images and collaborate using Skype and Microsoft Teams video conferencing services.
“The camera and support tools on the tablet allow all players from Kimberly-Clark, our OEMs, Rockwell Automation and others to see what’s happening and share it with each other,” Pacheco said. “We completed debugging on April 20, and started making paper again on May 9.”
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Post time: Jun-03-2024