In an effort to create a more lean process and improve product quality, a large manufacturer of controllers and drives for automatic doors and blinds sought a modern and cost-effective solution for quality testing motors for external blinds.

After many years of manually assessing each motor in a “noise cabin”, the company sought an automated solution. The manual process was timely and subjective. Each operator would evaluate the noise level generated by the engine and assess whether it was within the permissible limits or if it was too loud and would be labeled as defective. Varying ambient noise levels in the production facility made evaluations difficult, while each operator’s independent evaluation further complicated the process.

It was determined that engine vibration directly correlated to the engine’s noise level. While measurement of the vibration level was simple enough with condition monitoring sensors, to properly analyze the data, it was necessary to integrate the sensor with the machine control system. This would allow data to be collected on the HMI panel, archived and relevant information be displayed to the operator.

The company found just the solution in Balluff’s condition monitoring sensor. The compact sensor provides vibration analysis and was simple to integrate thanks to its IO-Link interface. Set up only required the installation and configuration of an IO-Link master block and to plug the sensor into the appropriate port.

Use of the BCM created an automated, data-based solution that not only saves valuable time but ensures that all engines are held to the same high standards.