Page 8 - Machines Italia Vol. XIII Next Generation Manufacturing

OPERATOR TRAINING
means it has a smaller profile gripper, and a flexible tape to drive the weft insertion, versus a positive gripper system with a much larger rapier head. So we’re able to achieve higher speeds, on a machine that costs significantly less than some of the other competitors.”
How fast? Carson said one rapier pulls yarn from a filling package, or weft, into the middle of the fabric while the right hand rapier pulls that across, and repeats this motion 600 times a minute. What’s more, he added, “we might have many different weaves across the 60-inch width of fabric in a loom, with up to 180 weft insertions per inch. And the machine has to maintain a constant tension.” Plus Valdese uses over 100 different yarns and 10,000 different colors. On top of that, on average they change the fabric and design 8 times on each loom in a 24 hour period. “We don’t even know what we’re going to weave until an order arrives in house,” said Copeland, calling their approach “mass customization.”
A clear, intuitive interface makes Dell’Orco fiber recycling machines easy to operate.
With all the daily changes on the looms and the associated changes in yarn tension and many other potential settings, Copeland said training of their 150 or so weaving operators is critical. So they’ve taken advantage of both in-house training and Itema’s training facili- ties. “Itema’s had excellent tech services,” said Copeland. “They’re able to send people in to not only teach us about the machines, but also to work on specific problems we may have, so that our tech- nicians understand exactly what needs to be done.” He also com- plimented Itema’s classes for weekends “[so] technicians can work offsite, where they’re able to focus specifically on the machines... learning the best way to set them up and operate them.”
He also said Itema’s South Carolina facility has a large parts in- ventory and “an electronics lab that’s able to make repairs to boards and electronic equipment.” The success of Valdese’s training pro- gram, combined with their capital investments in Itema and other high
tech machines, has enabled the company to reduce their staffing in the last five years, while maintaining their exceptional output.
A friendly HMI makes it easy
For fellow ACIMT member Dell’Orco & Villani Srl (Capalle, Italy, www.dellorco-villani.it/en/), a new human-machine interface (HMI) makes it much easier to operate their machines and diagnose prob- lems. Dell’Orco makes textile recycling and blending plants for the woven and non-woven industries.
Most woven textile production has moved overseas, explained Dell’Orco customer Andy Pirkle, owner of Cross Plains Trading (Chatsworth, Georgia, USA, www.crossplainstrading.com/). But there are many domestic uses for non-woven fabric, and in turn, recycled fibers for these applications, Pirkle said. “We make a re- cycled fiber that can go immediately into the non-woven process. So our fibers can make insulator panels and walls...or insulator and thermal acoustical panels in automobiles...or padding for un- der hardwood floors or carpeting. There are medical applications, absorption applications, all using some degree of recycled fiber.” Thanks to non-wovens and the technology of Italian and other Eu- ropean machinery manufacturers, Pirkle thinks textiles have come back strong in the United States.
He cited two other examples that hit home, while not necessarily conjuring thoughts of a “textile”: Swiffer dust pads and baby diapers, the latter of which Pirkle described as “one of the most highly engi- neered textile products in the world.” Diapers have multiple layers such that one layer absorbs the liquid while others wick it away from the baby’s skin. Pirkle added that many of these products are still made with 100% virgin fiber, which is derived in part from oil. Recy- cled fiber is a more cost-effective replacement that doesn’t sacrifice quality in the final product.
To recycle fibers, the Dell’Orco machinery first chops it into piec- es and then, by gripping and pulling through the waste, it draws out fibers. Since a recycler like Cross Plains is generally not in control of the input, the Dell’Orco machine must also handle undesirable ingre- dients. For example, the machines mechanically remove buttons and zippers during the process as a matter of routine. But “we’ve found gearboxes and motors,” exclaimed Pirkle. “We have a collection of people’s company name tags. It’s crazy what you find in there.”
To help with these challenges, Dell’Orco has created more sophis- ticated technology than has previously existed in recycling, to include an icon-driven, user-friendly HMI. Clear tables indicate the required in- puts to start a test run, such as the speed of the cylinders and convey- ors, the distances of the cylinders and the feeding blade, or the num- ber of units in use, among other factors. Once the operator is happy with the quality and production rate, they can save the mechanical and electrical parameters for that run or future use. Conversely, the opera- tor can start with an existing program and modify it as desired. There is also visual guidance for the cause of any faults that occur in the pro- cess. And they’ve introduced an on-line self-service portal.
8 Volume XIII | www.machinesitalia.org