Industries
Shipyards

Progress Engineering has applied a variety of controls across multiple steel fabrication machines used in shipbuilding. Some of these include:

Brake

A 400 ton brake had antiquated, mechanical OEM controls, which caused the customer multiple problems with uneven blade travel, improper positioning and hard to troubleshoot hydraulics. Operators set machine parameters manually with wheels after consulting clipboard based, paper logs. In addition many parts were only available through the OEM with long lead times.

Progress Engineering supplied a complete and highly simplified hydraulics package with PLC based digital controls. The new system allows for a recipe to be selected on a touchscreen HMI (new recipes can be added at any time) and the new hydraulic controller and LVDTs maintain precise position and speed of the brake, all with COTS components.

Presses

Both a 300 ton and 500 ton press needed more reliable positioning and better operator feedback. We provided new joystick controls and an HMI to show the operator where he was during the process. The HMI also includes multiple pages of diagnostics to indicate why the press may be locked out or simply not operating. Downtime is reduced and throughput was increased.

Shot Blast & Paint

A shipyard had an antiquated, unreliable material handling system, and an equally problematic spray gun positioning system, which was severely impacting production and causing uneven painting of steel parts. We provided new servo controls and a more reliable mechanical arrangement for positioning of the paint spray guns, while also adding VFDs on the material chains. A new HMI provides complete diagnostics to indicate most operational faults. Uptime has increased substantially and the yard can continue to run while they wait for a brand new line to be installed.

Shipyards often are in need of advanced control capabilities and machine upgrades, to improve quality and reduce production times. Call or email us to discuss how we can help you.