Maximizing ROI: How Allen-Bradley Drives Can Save You Time and Money in the Long Run

Allen-Bradley PowerFlex AC drives, Kinetix servo drives, and PowerFlex DC drives combine a comprehensive range of innovative features and power options to deliver more capable, versatile, safe, and energy-efficient motion control solutions that help meet demanding application requirements across a wide variety of industries, including semiconductor manufacturing, oil & gas, automotive manufacturing, mining, power generation, aerospace & defense, water and wastewater, food and beverage, fiber and textile, metal processing, pulp and paper manufacturing, maritime operations, and chemical processing.

The drives are essentially used to run critical operations in a competitive industrial automation marketplace, which necessitates the need to realize a significant return on investment (ROI) for these drives. ROI can be maximized by improving the efficiency of operations, simplifying drive installation and commissioning, minimizing system downtime, and reducing maintenance costs. In this article, we will review how Allen-Bradley drives enable users to maximize their ROI.

How Allen-Bradley Drives Help Maximize ROI

Allen-Bradley drives are available with a variety of innovative and state-of-the-art features and functions that enable users to save time and money over the life of an installation for an optimal return on investment (ROI). The features and functions include:

Innovative, Modular/Compact Design

Most Allen-Bradley drives, such as PowerFlex 523 AC drives, Kinetix 6200 servo drives, PowerFlex 525 AC drives, and Kinetix 6500 servo drives, feature an innovative, flexible modular design that supports a range of power, control, and communication modules providing a faster and easier way to install and configure motion control systems. This helps save installation time and associated costs.

Other Allen-Bradley drives, including Kinetix 5500 servo drives and PowerFlex 40/40P/4 AC drives, deliver integrated safety, inbuilt communication options, optimized power density, and high-performance motor control features in an innovative, easy-to-use compact design. This helps reduce machine footprint, optimize panel space, and simplify machine design, configuration, operation, and maintenance. The simplicity and smaller footprint allow for time and space savings, cost efficiency, and application versatility, providing a high-performance and cost-effective motor control solution for numerous industrial applications, including smart conveyors, packaging machines, pumps, mixers, diverters, fans, fiber-spinning machines, etc.

Single Cable Technology

Some Allen-Bradley drives, like the Kinetix 5500 servo drives, support an all-in-one cable technology, in which a single shielded cable that includes motor power, feedback, and brake conductors is used to connect an Allen-Bradley drive to a compatible motor. Using a single-cable solution for drive-motor connections helps simplify system wiring and reduce inventory, leading to quicker installations and simplified maintenance. This ultimately results in reduced wiring, installation, and maintenance costs.

Power Regeneration Capability

Some Allen-Bradley drives, such as PowerFlex 7000 AC drives, PowerFlex DC digital drives, PowerFlex 755TR AC drives, and PowerFlex 755TM common bus supplies, have a built-in power regeneration capability that assists in minimizing energy consumption. The capability enables the drives to deliver regenerative energy from the connected motors back to the incoming line supply without requiring additional hardware. This provides a much more energy-efficient motor braking solution than mechanical or resistive braking, leading to significant energy and money savings in the long run.

In addition, Allen-Bradley drives featuring inbuilt regenerative braking do not require braking resistors and related cooling equipment, which helps avoid wasteful energy dissipation along with associated installation, wiring, and maintenance costs. Essentially, line regeneration allows for the regenerative energy to be utilized in other applications, enabling users to optimize the power usage of their drive systems and reduce energy expenses. It also provides effective harmonic mitigation; Allen-Bradley drives with integral regeneration capability do also help reduce power distribution problems on the plant floor, improve energy efficiency, and lower energy costs by minimizing/eliminating line-side harmonic distortion.

Advanced Predictive Diagnostics

The latest generation of Allen-Bradley drives are available with advanced predictive diagnostics that help increase the service life of their cooling fans, power semiconductors (IGBTs), relay outputs, bus capacitors, and other critical components. For example, in the case of cooling fans, the drives include prebuilt algorithms that explicitly monitor the performance of the fans and accurately predict their remaining lifespans based on their operating temperature, actual hours operated, and speed of operation.

In most cases, drive failures occur due to faulty or damaged core components inside the drive. Therefore, monitoring the individual operating conditions of such drive components and calculating their remaining lifespans so that preventive action(s) can be taken, if necessary, can help avoid costly equipment breakdowns.

Modern Allen-Bradley drives also combine predictive diagnostics with advanced notification functions to help reduce unscheduled system downtime and related costs by enabling predictive maintenance – a type of condition-based maintenance strategy that makes use of data-driven insights and innovative predictive analytics to forecast and prepare for possible equipment/component failures.

The predictive diagnostics continuously monitor the operating conditions of the drive and connected motor, colleting critical data regarding the health of the drive system components. They then apply predictive algorithms to analyze the collected data and forecast potential failures long before they occur. Advanced notification functions, on the other hand, provide users with real-time alerts of required maintenance based on the predictive diagnostics. This helps the users to refine their maintenance schedules to be as profitable as possible, execute timely repairs/replacements, and minimize costs related to unplanned downtime, ultimately enabling them to maximize their investment returns.

Cost savings and ROI of using Allen-Bradley drives with advanced predictive maintenance functions include:

• Reduced system downtime
• More targeted maintenance, with drive components being replaced as necessary, before they expire
• Reduced material and labor costs
• Enhanced machine-level and system data analysis
• Optimized maintenance tasks
• Higher productivity
• Efficient inventory management
• Improved plant safety
• Increased overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)

Innovative Safety Functions

Enhancing machine and personnel safety on the factory floor not only prevents equipment damage and workplace injuries, but it also lowers compensation claims, operational costs, and maintenance costs.

Allen-Bradley drives are provided with integrated, hardwired, or networked Safe Torque Off (STO) and/or Safe Speed Monitoring (SSM) safety functions that are TÜV Rheinland certified for safety-related motion control applications rated up to and including Safety Integrity Level (SIL) CL3 per IEC EN 61508, IEC 61062, and EN 61800-5-2, and Performance Level e (PLe), safety Category 3 (CAT 3) or Category 4 (CAT 4) in conformity with EN ISO 13849-1. These safety solutions help increase the functional safety of a drive system and protect equipment and personnel from preventable accidents, consequently saving time and money through reduced machine downtime and fewer work-related injuries.

The Safe Torque-Off function allows the drive output to be disabled so as to remove the motor torque without disconnecting the power supply to the entire machine. With a no-torque state, drive set-up and maintenance tasks can be carried out safely. The Safe Speed-Monitoring function allows users to monitor and reduce the speed of a drive system accordingly, to permit operators to safely access a danger zone to execute some types of work without completely powering down the machine.

In addition, all Allen-Bradley drives are manufactured in compliance with relevant global IEC and UL standards to optimize personnel and equipment safety. In essence, ensuring conformity to specified safety standards and regulations can help increase machine productivity, improve process efficiency, maximize equipment availability, and reduce workplace accidents and associated costs.

Sync-transfer Control

Allen-Bradley smart VFDs (Variable Frequency Drives) with sync-transfer control capabilities, like the PowerFlex 6000T medium-voltage AC drives, enable users to maximize system efficiency, reduce hardware size and costs by up to 50%, and conserve energy.

Synchronous-transfer technology provides speed control and controlled starting of multiple motors using just one Allen-Bradley AC drive, resulting in capital and operational cost savings of up to 50%. It also supports redundancy for maximum machine uptime. An Allen-Bradley VFD with sync-transfer control can be used to regulate the speed of multiple motors, one motor at a time, as per the operating conditions of an application. You can also use it for soft-starting large permanent magnet or induction motors to limit their inrush current. This helps minimize mechanical wear and tear of the connected motors, thereby prolonging their service life. It also reduces operating costs, consequently maximizing your return on investment.

In addition, with sync-transfer technology, you can match the power output of your Allen-Bradley AC drive to the utility’s line power using seamless sync-down and sync-up transition. On doing so, you can then transfer the connected motors from the drive output to the utility power supply. This direct-on-line operation helps reduce peak energy consumption, resulting in significant energy cost savings over the life of an installation. It also helps eliminate torque and current transients, leading to increased process uptime.

Whether you need a new Allen-Bradley drive or are looking to upgrade your existing drives, our website, Dosupply.com, has everything you might need and more. We also have a team of specialists ready to help you pick out the best drive for your needs, each of which comes with our two-year warranty. Stop by today, send an email, or give us a call and we will be more than delighted to help! We also have more articles, like the one you have just read, here!