Dispensing soft, medium or firm
itsme helps Radium Foam to find the best weighing solution
These days, soft, medium or hard has become a championship question. While for Belgian-Dutch Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen it will mean tyres, Radium Foam in Maastricht is dealing with a similar question involving the production of pillows. The pillows they make come in three varieties: soft, medium and firm. For that distinction to be done properly during production, the raw materials need to be dispensed very accurately – itsme was able to recommend a very suitable solution for this in the form of Siwarex WP251 weighing electronics from Siemens.
Radium Foam has been producing high-quality natural latex semi-finished product for mattress toppers for more than half a century, says project and technical manager Frank Verkoelen. “It is undoubtedly very niche, but there is definitely demand for our products. Production is done over five shifts, and we have our own technical service team during the day shift.”
Accurate dispensing
Two years ago, Radium Foam started working on a new product, pillows, Verkoelen adds. “We sell these according to weight, in three classifications: soft, medium and firm. Among these there is a further distribution between the raw materials, since if soft is on the schedule, for example, the product obviously needs to be soft. That’s why our technical team set up a dispensing unit with the help of itsme’s technical expertise, because it’s important that the raw materials are dispensed accurately. We have just finished the first live test, and the results look good.”
“We required an accuracy of 50 grams, but are already between 10 and 20”
Radium Foam required an accuracy of 50 grams, states engineer Ralph Brands. “With the loadcell that I had first requested, that didn’t seem to be possible. We selected a different loadcell in consultation with itsme, who also suggested the Siemens Siwarex WP251 for the weighing electronics. We already had a good experience with Siwarex, and I simply told them what level of accuracy we needed, based on which they recommended the WP251. For a dispensing of 1 to 2 kilos we reached an accuracy of between 10 and 20 grams, while still in the process of fine-tuning.” An important advantage of this solution is the direct coupling, adds Thijs Hanssen, technical sales engineer at itsme. “The measuring signal in millivolts goes straight to the control, meaning no more measuring or conversion errors. The basic calibration for the weighing system is also in good order in advance, so you only need to align it with your own processes; Radium does this step itself.” Brands goes on to explain that “that’s what we have calibration weights for; we had already automated that calibration step quickly. It can be done by someone from our technical team of R&D, so there’s no need for a programmer to come in.”
Forward-looking advice
Itsme has also given its support to another automation of the pillow production process, which involved three presses, each with their own Siemens PLC, according to Brands. “We wanted to fit these with a Profinet switch to allow them to communicate with each other as well as the main PLC network. Profinet is linked to our SCADA system, through which we manage and log everything. Thijs gave us advice on which switch we ought to choose.” They decided upon what’s known as a managed switch, explains Hanssen. When it comes to these kinds of questions, we take stock of our customers current and future needs, looking at what they want and their level of expertise, and we suggest one or more possible options based on that. The managed switch may be a little overdone at this moment in time, but it is becoming more and more important. Networks grow, and for asset management purposes you will want to get more and more data from your network. That means you need to know what’s putting strain on your network. With unmanaged switches you are blind in terms of performance, whereas with a managed switch everywhere you will know exactly where the potential bottlenecks are.”
“The more a network grows, the more important a managed switch becomes”
The three presses each received a valve island, which also created a difficult decision regarding communication with the PLC. Siemens works with a particular brand for that issue, but Hanssen knew that a valve island from Festo would be a good alternative. Brands agrees. “We had already selected valve islands ourselves earlier on, but Festo’s solution is far more compact and works much better.” Hanssen adds that “We are Siemens’ Value Added Reseller, but we have also been a Festo dealer for years. They saw that we could be interesting for them as a Siemens dealer, and that turned out to be the case. This year we have been very successful in a number of projects due to the Siemens-Festo combination. The control aspect will always be Siemens, while the underlying I/O platform may be a mix of Siemens and Festo.”
Challenging delivery times
Expansion and modernisation will continue to be possibilities for Radium Foam over the coming period. However, if and when these things will take place remains unclear, Verkoelen notes, due to factors including the material shortages that are currently affecting the entire industrial sector. “Our dies and moulds are made from aluminium, which is now 2.5 times more expensive than it used to be. That means your budget will be gone very quickly, leaving you trying to shuffle funds around. But if we are going to plan anything, we’ll get in touch with itsme early on.” For Brands, that contact is definitely a good thing: “Whenever I email Thijs with a question, I’ll always receive a quick response.” However, itsme knows the same problem all too well, Hanssen adds. “Delivery times are challenging for us, so we try to think alongside Frank and Ralph in order to get them their items at the right time, or to switch to a different option if something isn’t available.” All to make sure that the natural sleep experience at Radium Foam goes undisturbed.
Growing thanks to a natural sleep experience
With more than 120 employees, Radium Foam in Maastricht produces high-quality natural latex comfort materials under the brand name of Vita Talalay. This material is used in top-quality mattresses, such as the ones made by Auping in the Netherlands. Radium Foam wants to support a healthy lifestyle, by offering the most natural and sustainable sleep experience possible. Two years ago the company also began to produce pillows. Now, almost 600 pillows come out of the factory every single day, which will be scaled up to 1,000 at the beginning of 2022. The entire company is growing quickly, which is why new work will begin on a new logistics building in the spring of 2022. This means that production will receive more room at its current location. For any potential expansion and modernisation in the area of automation, itsme will be a natural choice of partner once again.