Siemens collaborates to offer smart production transport system
17 December 2024 
Siemens is collaborating with a Canadian specialist in magnetically-driven production-line transport systems, SuperTrak Conveyance, to offer a smart technology for moving items efficiently in production machinery. They say that the technology, which can integrate with Siemens’ TIA Portal engineering platform, will boost machine throughputs and shorten machine-building cycle times. It will also reduce engineering efforts, improve quality, and enhance performance, especially for packaging applications.
SuperTrak’s new Horizon3 closed-loop magnetic transport system – launched at the recent SPS show in Germany – moves items between production-line stations on shuttles/carriers that are powered by linear motors. The technology is said to lead to high-performance, cost-effective and space-saving machine designs.
The closed-loop linear transport system supports a variety of layouts. Each shuttle can carry up to 3kg, and they can operate just 50mm apart, allowing objects to be moved at high speed with high throughputs. Acceleration rates of up to 40m/s² are possible and repeatability is claimed to be ±0.01 m
By combining the mechatronic system with Siemens’ Simatic controllers and TIA Portal’s motion control functions, the system can help machine-builders to optimise movements in their machines.
“By leveraging Siemens’ strengths in automation and digitalisation alongside SuperTrak Conveyance’s expertise in smart conveyance, we’ll help solve the manufacturing challenges our customers face on a daily basis,” says Rainer Brehm, CEO of Siemens’ Factory Automation business. “Together we’re enabling manufacturers to build and deploy high-performing and innovative automation and transport systems that increase throughput and reduce operational costs.”
The Supertrak hardware can be linked to Siemens’ Simatic S7-1500T controllers, allowing users to implement motion tasks that can be synchronised with other axes. Shuttles can be controlled independently using TIA Portal technology objects which enable a variety of motion configurations, such as grouping several shuttles together, or clamping containers between pairs of shuttles to perform filling operations.
Animated 3D simulations of the systems can give machine-builders insights into ideal layouts, required shuttle numbers, and throughput.
“Smart conveyance enables a more effective process design that helps machine-builders and manufacturers achieve higher performance in a smaller footprint,” says Ben Hope, director of product commercialisation at SuperTrak Conveyance. “Combine that with full integration in TIA Portal, and users can now utilise our technology together with Siemens’ motion-control tools.”
- In 2015, Siemens and Festo announced a production-line transport technology called MCS (multi-carrier system) that uses carriages driven by linear motors to move items around production machinery. In 2019, they integrated their MCS with Rexroth’s TS 2plus transfer system which uses standard building blocks to create transport carriers.
