Conveyor Technology Retrofit Turns Energy Savings Up and Noise Emissions Down
- Doug Schuchart
- Jul 23
- 5 min read
Motor-driven roller (MDR) controller in machine mountable I/O format streamlines warehousing and distribution
Conveyor technology is the backbone of any logistics company. This led material handling and logistics service provider Arvato SE to completely retrofit the central conveyor line between its Harsewinkel, Germany order picking site and surrounding warehouses. With PC-based control, One Cable Automation, and 200 EP7402 EtherCAT Box modules with integrated MDR controllers from Beckhoff, the system runs more efficiently, quietly, and reliably.
Arvato, headquartered in Gütersloh, Germany, handles all B2C and B2B logistics processes for their customers - from order acceptance and value-added services to returns management - at over 100 locations worldwide.
Arvato maintains warehouse capacities of almost 1 million m² at 28 locations in Germany alone, including several halls with high-rack warehouses in Harsewinkel where orders are picked, packed, and shipped. The high-rack warehouses are connected to the picking area by a central ring conveyor line measuring over 250 m in length.
24-V MDR system slashes noise, boosts speed
The ring’s previous conveyor technology was based on roller drives with three-phase motors. “These drives were very loud, ran continuously along the entire route, and were prone to failure after around 20 years of operation,” says Markus Wolharn, Senior Expert Engineering at Arvato. This led to a conveyor technology update with both mechanical and electrical elements: 24-V roller motors replacing the old drives. The motors are controlled by 186 decentralized EP7402 EtherCAT Box modules with integrated motor driven roller (MDR) controllers. Simultaneously, Arvato converted the existing control hardware to a C6030 ultra-compact Industrial PC (IPC), migrated the software from TwinCAT 2 to TwinCAT 3, and adapted the existing system visualization.
The mechanical conversion of the conveyor line was designed and realized by Budde Systems in Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock. To speed up the conversion work on site, the conveyor line was divided into 125 individual segments, which were completely pre-fabricated and pre-wired at Budde Systems. “This modular production concept saved us a lot of cabling effort and time during final assembly at Arvato,” explains Maximilian Budde, managing director of Budde Systems.
One cable for zero headaches
This modular approach relies on EtherCAT Box module connection technology that uses M8 connectors for the sensor technology and roller drives, along with ENP hybrid connectors (B23) for power and EtherCAT communication over one cable. “This enables a fast and fail-safe connection,” says Stefan Massmann from Beckhoff’s systems engineering team, emphasizing one of the advantages of One Cable Automation (OCA). The Budde Systems mechanics only needed to lay the pre-assembled hybrid cables between the MDR controllers in the individual segments on site and connect them to one of the power supply control cabinets.
To keep the cable lengths to the EP box modules short, 27 control cabinets are distributed throughout the system to supply power to the roller drives. “Each control cabinet supplies several segments and is positioned in the middle to keep the DC voltage drop low,” emphasizes Massmann. The input voltages on the EP box modules were evaluated during commissioning, proving that this approach would work. The only instance that required an alteration was a roller drive where the output voltage of the corresponding PS3031 power supply had to be adjusted slightly.
Each ring conveyor segment has one or two roller drives, along with sensor technology to control their activation. The switches include a barcode scanner to identify packages. All sensors are recorded via the EP box module I/Os. If required, additional I/O modules or other EtherCAT devices can be connected via the integrated EtherCAT junction. “This was the case, for example, with the switch supplier’s roller drives and the barcode scanners,” explains Maßmann.
Future-proofed flexibility
Another key aspect of Arvato’s cabling philosophy is the ability to easily integrate future innovations. “One Cable Automation and the IP67-rated box modules offer much more flexibility in terms of future system expansions,” says Wolharn. The simple connection technology and pre-assembled cables make it just as easy to update the control technology as it is to update the mechanical aspects. The system also demonstrates its advantages when it comes to maintenance. “The HMI shows the troubleshooting service exactly which segment is blocked and which component may need to be replaced.”
When transporting packages, the individual conveyor segments are switched on or off depending on the destination and whether the next segment is occupied. “When the path is clear, the next two transport segments are always switched on to ensure smooth and fast transportation,” explains Dimitri Kool from the Beckhoff systems engineering team. By the time the package reaches the next conveyor, it has already reached its target speed, and the package moves on without losing time or jerking. In practice, each package creates a zone of active conveyors that moves through the ring.
Fast-tracked upgrades with variant management
Logistics operations had to resume quickly during the 10-week conversion period. This requirement was met by splitting the project into two sections. The first section of the modernized conveyor technology – vital for warehouse logistics – was put into operation with a C6030 ultra-compact IPC and TwinCAT 3. Meanwhile, the second, larger section was automated on a legacy PC.
Finally, both software projects were merged onto the C6030 ultra-compact IPC. “With variant management in TwinCAT 3, we were able to achieve this efficiently and work permanently with an overall project in a Git repository,” says Massmann.
One challenge was the continued operation of controllers based on TwinCAT 2 in the connected warehouses. TwinCAT 3 contains prepared data structures that map an EP box module with all variables and significantly speed up configuration. To be able to use this in the modernized system under TwinCAT 2, the data structure was implemented as a function block for TwinCAT 2, and then migrated back to TwinCAT 3.
“This had the advantage of working with identical variable names everywhere and exchanging the program parts between new and existing controllers as required when updating,” emphasizes Massmann. “These global data types for TwinCAT 2 and TwinCAT 3 have significantly accelerated the project planning of the approximately 200 MDR controllers with around 50 signals each,” says Jürgen Bolte from the Beckhoff systems engineering team.
Moving more packages, consuming less energy
The retrofit has increased not only reliability, but also throughput capacity - from 2,000 to 3,000 packages or containers per hour – with significantly quieter operation and lower energy consumption to boot. “The 24-V technology also ensures greater safety if manual intervention is necessary in the event of a jam,” says Wolharn.
Today, the ring conveyor conversion is attracting interest in other Arvato departments and locations due to its energy efficiency and lower noise emissions. But for Wolharn, the advantages of OCA and the EP box modules when adapting the conveyor technology and installation are just as valuable and worthy of attention.
Looking to streamline your logistics operations and material handling systems with more efficient automation? Contact your local Beckhoff sales engineer today.
Doug Schuchart is the Global Intralogistics Industry Manager at Beckhoff Automation