Volvo Chassis Rail Punching Line Retrofit


CNC Design recently completed a very challenging project - the retrofit of a punching transfer line in Volvo Truck Australia's facilities located in Brisbane used for machining chassis rails. The project involved complete replacement of the electrical control system and machine re-wiring. In addition the each step from raw data processing to punching had to be understood and a concept for automating this process developed. Extensive work was done for implementing a customized operator and diagnostic interface.

The solution was based on the powerful Siemens SINUMERIK 840D CNC control and SIMODRIVE 611 AC servo drive platform using also interfaces from Moog in order to control the some of the hydraulic axes which were retained. We used a 840D NCU573.4 for controlling 9 real axes with another 10 measuring encoders.

A very important task was to identify and implement solutions to make the machine safe and also easy to operate. Sinumerik's Safety Integrated function was implemented for the first time in Volvo worldwide. This is used for monitoring and controlling the machine functions in the hazardous areas of this machine.

There are no better words to describe this project than the letter received from Mr. Phil Pane, Senior Project engineer in Volvo, Wacol factory, the supervisor for this project:

"The Wacol Chassis rails punch machine was originally designed and manufactured in France in 1976 for Volvo Truck Corporation by a company called Profel. This machine was one of two which punched Volvo's chassis rails in the plant in Sweden until December 1991, It was transferred to the Wacol (Brisbane) in 1991 where it continued to operate and punch all of the holes in the Volvo chassis until this major retrofit.

The motion control for all of the functions out in the field was a mixture of hydraulic, electric and pneumatic. Many of the parts were obsolete and very unreliable. Therefore in 2002 it was decided that if Volvo Truck at Wacol (Brisbane) was going to continue to punch the Volvo rails locally and be able to also punch Mack rails, it would be necessary to either replace or upgrade the existing machine.

Hence in Feb. 2004 the project was commenced by carrying out intensive investigations, both in Australia and Sweden, to determine which of the above would be the most suitable option for the Wacol factory. The result was that a major upgrade of the existing machine would be the most economical and preferred option.

Discussions with various companies both in Australia and overseas and site visits in Queensland and interstate were carried out by some of our project team members. The decision was made to award the upgrade project contract to CNC Design in Melbourne.

The machine was shut down on April 6tth 2004 and production recommenced on July 1st 2004. This was a very significant achievement for the Volvo project team, CNC Design, Acumat and Bradken Eng.

The project had every element that can exist in such a project., risk, complexity, state of art technology, interface of an old machine with new technology, limited time, mix of trades from CNC Design, Acumat and Volvo to carry out the work, process changes within the factory to maintain the business as usual during the upgrade.

The aims and objectives of the project were achieved:

• Upgrade the existing hydraulic punching machine to facilitate the punching of both Volvo and Mack chassis rails;
• Increase machine reliability, efficiency, quality and ensure compliance with the relevant Australian standards with respect to its operation and safety (safety Integrated system)
• Provide real time diagnostics facilities for the operation and maintenance of the machine
• Provide accurate documentation for the upgraded machine and appropriate training for all personnel at Volvo.
• To ensure continued operation of the machine for a minimum of 10 years and meet production requirements;
• To replace obsolete equipment and software and obtain local support for all new equipment;
• To carry out the upgrade in the prescribed time and budget

With the continuing support from CNC Design and the remote diagnosis facility now operating with the upgraded machine we are sure that this machine will live up to its expectations."