Give your equipment a second life

Even if your machine is running satisfactorally today, increasing age brings with it risks with respect to reliability of the controller and the electrical components.

For many control components spare parts become difficult or impossible to find after 10…15 years, and support from the manufacturer of the controller is maybe no longer available.
Electrical parts, especially switching devices, are subject to mechanical wear and must be replaced after their predicted useful life has expired.

The requirements on functionality have changed over the years:

Quality management demands complete logging of the process parameters.
Automatic production based on recipes regardless of the operator is necessary in order to ensure consistent quality.
The innovation cycles of products are becoming even shorter, which results in the demand on flexible and rapid readjustment of the processes.

Of course these problems can be solved easily by purchasing new equipment. But this option is less desirable in many cases due to the high investment.

The cost-effective alternative: Retrofitting of the equipment control system

Depending on the individual requirements of the equipment owner we can retrofit the:

Control
Electrical installation
Selected technical components on the equipment.

Reliable industrial PC’s, often in combination with PLC’s, are the basis for visualization including parameterizing, recipe management and process documentation, as well as for controlling the equipment.
The use of modern components with Profibus interface – such as decentralised peripheral modules for digital and analog signals and valve clusters – enable simple customisation of the controller for systems of various sizes and complexities. This results in a reduction of the cabling complexity and increases the operational reliability.
Retrofitting the electrical equipment involves replacing worn parts with modern components and reconfiguring the installation to meet current requirements for occupational safety. The documentation, in particular the schematic drawings and switching component lists, are revised as part of the retrofit and updated as needed.

The benefits are obvious

A retrofit gives the equipment owner the reliability of a new system, but at a significantly lower cost.
The function of the equipment controller is ensured for the next years and you now have the option of implementing new technological functions. Process and batch logging meets the requirements for quality management, while updating the documentation makes future maintenance and servicing of the equipment easier.
We have a broad range of experience especially in the field of vacuum equipment. Retrofit concepts for a variety of equipment are at your disposal:

Inline Sputter equipment Z600, Z660, ZV 6000, ZV 1200, HZS 02
Sputter equipment: Z550, Z590, Z700
Coating equipment: BAK 640, BAK 760, BAK 1200

We will be glad to advise you and work with you to develop a retrofit concept custom tailored to your equipment.

Webcam of the construction of the new AIS building

Ad-hoc information:
The AIS is becoming part of
the Roth & Rau concern

AUTOMATICA
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