Serving the OEM paper converting industry and providing contract manufacturing services for more than 60 years, G. Bretting Manufacturing Co. Inc. is located in Ashland, WI on the southern shores of Lake Superior. The fourth generation of the Bretting family leads the business today.
OEM paper converting equipment converts rolls of paper into folded and rolled paper products such as napkins, interfolded napkins, singlefold facial tissue, multifold paper toweling, kitchen towel rolls, and bathroom tissue rolls. An industry leader in the field, Bretting designs, manufactures, assembles, and tests machines at the Ashland factory prior to shipping to the customer's site for setup and commissioning.
Planning for Success
Bretting recently delivered its first paper converting machine controlled entirely by Siemens hardware and software. The project was a major undertaking for Bretting, Siemens, and local Siemens distributor Standard Electric and was deemed a great success, according to Dave Vedder, C.G. Bretting's director of engineering. (Shown right, Bretting paper converting machine, utilizing all Siemens controls, including motors, drives, PLC, and motion controller plus related software.)
"Planning and partnerships with our vendors were keys to our success on this first 41-axis Siemens-controlled machine," says Vedder. "We planned for success and achieved it. The project started more than 24 months prior to delivery of the machine to the customer."
Vedder explains the process in more detail:
"The project started with listening to our customers, who had been requesting Siemens automation on our equipment for some time. Meeting customer needs is a Bretting strength. We realized it was time to act. The Bretting Leadership Team commissioned an effort to provide an acceptable solution. That solution comprised Sinamics drives, Simatic PLC, and Simotion motion controllers."
The purchasing department then met with the local distributor, Standard Electric. Meetings were organized with Standard Electric, Siemens, and Bretting within several weeks. Planning for the first Siemens machine was initiated. It was determined the products and software available would satisfy the full range of Bretting machine functionality and other requirements.
Initial planning included:
The establishment of partnerships, along with clarification of pricing, delivery, support, and inventory levels
Small dedicated R&D lab for training, programming, and testing
Training for field service, hardware engineers, and software programmers
First Machine Support for engineering, programming, build, startup, and full commissioning in the field.
Putting the Plan into Practice
A formal customer inquiry for a new machine, including a requirement for a full Siemens automation solution on the customer's new paper converting machine, followed about 6 months later. Bretting, Siemens, and Standard Electric were now well prepared and ready to respond, Vedder explained. Proposals for the machine with full Siemens automation solutions were shared with the customer. A new set of planning protocols was started, one that focused specifically on the first Bretting paper converting machine to be equipped entirely with the new vendor's products and software onboard. (Shown right, Simotion motion controllers, Sinamics drives, Simatic PLCs, and various Simotics motors were used in the building of the first all-Siemens controlled platform machine at Bretting.)
First machine planning included:
Siemens hardware and software engineering coaching
Bill of Material reviews
Schedules for parts ordering and delivery
Machine build support
Machine startup support
Machine installation in the field support
Warranty and field issue support process.
The customer ordered the machine approximately 6 months after the initial inquiry. The plans for the first machine were approved and authorized for production. Some checks and adjustments were required during the machine engineering and build process.
"The combined talents of Siemens, Standard Electric, and Bretting addressed and resolved any issues as they occurred," Dave Vedder explained. "The customer approved the machine during the Final Machine Checkout process. The time from order to checkout was similar to other machines we've produced during recent years."
The machine was then disassembled and shipped to the customer's site in Europe. The reassembly, startup, and final commissioning proceeded without issue. The machine is currently running successfully in the field, with no significant service issues reported, according to Vedder.
Planning and partnership were key to the success of this first export paper converting machine with Siemens automation onboard, all made possible by the combined efforts of the machine builder, the controls supplier, and the local value-adding electrical distributor.
