FUSE Application Experiment 29749 · FUSE Application Experiment 29749 Electronic Controlled ... which such a machine works, the intrinsic safety part of the boiler control is realised

FUSE AE 29749 Demonstrator Document Version 1.3 16.08.0019/07/0005/07/00

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FUSEApplication Experiment 29749

Electronic ControlledHot Water High Pressure Washers

User friendly Washers with improved functionalityusing PCB-based Control

“ITM Italia S.r.l”

TTN Consorzio Roma Ricerche


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AE abstract

“ITM Italia S.r.l”., a SME, founded in 1981, with 50 employees, develops,manufactures and sells high pressure washers and space heaters with anannual turn-over of 12 MEUR.The industrial sector is: “Machinery for special purposes”(PRODCOM code: 2950).

Scope of this AE was to develop the electronic control in a new series of “HotWater High Pressure Washers”. The actual machine containing no electronicshad to be improved technologically and the new product included processsensors in the machine and control electronics on a PCB. The FU expertise liesmainly in mechanical engineering and manufacturing technology. The maintechnical experience of ITM is in the fields of mechanics, including constructionand thermal processes (burners).

The main fields of applications of such machines are for washing and hygieniccleaning in the food, transportation and construction industry and in agriculture,other than for hobby uses. Present with local agents in more than 50 countries,the export quote in 1998 reached 65% of the production and sales.

Through the electronic control, extra safety functionalities were added and thereliability of the machine increased with lower maintenance costs. More thancost reduction, improved functionality is the main issue in this AE. Thanks tothis, the market position can be maintained and even improved through the salesincrease.

Since special care had to be taken considering the environmental conditions inwhich such a machine works, the intrinsic safety part of the boiler control isrealised using SMD technology and the SMD-board is covered with insulationmaterial in order to be insensible to humidity and dust (IP65). This board isplugged on the main board inserted in an IP54 box.

It has to be noted that thanks to this solution it was possible to overcome thedifficulties already faced in a previous experience with electronics which provedto be unsuccessful and then prevented the company from undertaking aninnovation in electronic before this AE.

The AE lasted for 8 months (plus one month summer vacations), for a budget of36 kEUR.

With the new electronic controlled machine an increase in 10% of the sales ofthe Mondial-series should be achieved. With the estimated price and costs, apayback of approx. 8.5 months is expected. Considering the medium product lifeof 3 years, a ROI of 645% is expected.

Keywords: high pressure washers, boiler, PCB, SMT, industrial cleaning, sensors, analogueelectronics. , SMD.


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Signature:1 0-125 555 0-321 1 2950 1 IE I

1. Company name and address

ITM Italia s.r.l.via Tasso 35/39, I-37010 Albaré di Costermano,ItalyTel. : +39 045 6201066Fax : +39 045 6200107e-mail: [email protected] : www.itmitalia.com

2. Company size

“ITM S.r.l”., a private company with actually 50 employees, is a SME sited North-West from Verona founded in 1981. With 12 MEUR of sales in 1998, ourcompany operates manufacturing products in the field of cleaning and open-air/space heating.

Following our commitment for continuous improvement in production, serviceand product quality, since January 1998 ITM is a certified ISO 9001 company.From the staff, 3 persons work at the Dept. of Quality (control and assurance),25 in production and 7 in the Technical Dept.

3. Company business description

“ITM Italia S.r.l.” is an independent company that develops, manufactures andsells machines for industrial cleaning, in detail high pressure washers for bothcold and hot water, as well as steam and vacuum cleaners, space heaters andevaporation conditioners. Its commercial structure is based on 25 agents and100 support centres in the whole country.

Our products fall into the PRODCOM 2950, “Machinery for special purposes”.


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4. Company markets and competitive position at the start of the ApplicationExperiment

The high pressure cleaners are present in a wide variety of products for hobby andprofessional applications, ranging from 100 bar up to 250 bar of pressure and different watercapacity (litres/hour). Both cold water and hot water (up to steam cleaner) machines areavailable.

The main fields of applications of such machines are for washing and hygienic cleaning inthe:

- food industry (installations for food processing)

- agriculture (stables, machinery, milking stables)

- construction industry

- buildings

- washing of cars, trucks, forklifts and industrial machinery (including heavy earth movementmachines)

- industry

as well as for private use in hobbies or home. The general industrial sector in which this kindof machines are included is “Machines for special purposes”.

As already indicated, ITM is a strong export-oriented company: the export quote in 1998reached 65% of the production and sales. 70% of this export was directed toEuropean countries. Its presence in the international market is supported mainlyby a network of distributors, with agents in some targeted countries (for instanceGermany).

For what concerns high pressure washers, 20% of sales corresponds to cold watermachines. The rest corresponds to hot water machines and the main part (80%) serves theprofessional market.

The italian market of this item is about 75 MEUR (figs. 1997). Besides some big internationalnames, this sector happens to be very segmented and the manufacturers are rather small:35 companies exist in this field in Italy. The main competitors and market shares in Italy areapproximately:

- Portotecnica 10-12 %

- Sirio 5-6 %

- FAIP 7-8 %

- Lavor 5-6 %

- ITM 4 %

In the international market larger and very specialised companies exist. The maincompetitors (with a complete product range and very innovative technology) and theirapproximately market shares in the world are:


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- Kaercher (Germany) 20 % (about 200 MEUR in this field)

- KEW (Denmark) 5-6 %

- WAP (Germany) 3-4 %

While the market in Italy is guided by low cost solutions, the international market asks forexcellent quality with added features like more indicators for an user friendly interface andsafety controls for a wide product range with innovated technology already utilised bycompetitors.

The price of Mondial washer machine is about 2,24Keur instead the Top Gun price is3,120Keur.

Our Mondial series for professional use -on the market since 1996 in different models rangingfrom 100 to 200 bar (up to 5,7 kW) and for different mains supply (single or three phase)-had a large success because it has the following competitive strengths: reliability,robustness, compactness and interesting price. On the other hand, it presented sometechnical disadvantage since it had no user-friendly function like a level indicator for fuel,water, detergent, nor a failure indicator and its instantaneous total stop brought someinconvenience.

For a higher professional segment we presented a prototype of a new machine at the Fair“Interclean 98”, the “Top Gun” with improved characteristics: pressure (250 bar), watercapacity (from 900 to 1260 litres/hour), power (from 5,7 to 10 kW). This development aimedto cover the upper range of the existing Mondial series and to add new products in the upperpower range. The implementation of the electronic control has been first implemented in thismodel. After a first experience, the inclusion of an electronic control in a simplified versionwill be analysed for the Mondial model.

In 1997, about 1500 units of the Mondial machines were sold and 1200 in 1998. In 1999 atotal of 1000 machines is forecasted (Nov. 99) but in 1999 already 250 Top-Gun have beensold.

The strengths of these existing products consist in their reliability and their robustness, butthey lack more advanced features that are now expected by end users. In fact, from an Froman analysis at “Interclean 98”, it is estimated that around a 10% more machines can be soldcontaining electronic control. In fact, future products in the field of high pressure washers willalways need more and more “intelligence” in order to increase their functionality and safety,save energy, reduce maintenance costs and be more user friendly. The optimisation andmonitoring of many functions like combustion (right mixing of air and fuel), mixing of detergentand water, supervision of operation is now possible with the use of electronics at areasonable cost. Large competitors are already using microelectronics and it is clear that thefuture products will have more functionalities.

As mentioned above, we observed lately that the amount of products containing electronics isincreasing rapidly. This is true not only for the high-end products but is being realised also forlow cost products. Large Companies are already developing such products and smallcompanies have to follow these steps investing in technology.


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Economic history of AE product (last three years):

Years 1997 1998 1999n.pieces sold 1500 1200 1000

5. Product to be improved and its industrial sectors

The existing product to be improved can be seen in Fig. 1, where the drawing ofa machine with the main components is shown.

The product is universally known (for example in car washing stations). A pumpraises the pressure of water (cold or hot water through a boiler) ;with thepressure gun the pressurised water is used for cleaning. A pressure sensordefines when the gun is “open” and activates the pump.

Power supply is either 230 Vac single phase for the smaller machines (lowerpressure) and 400 Vac three phase for the 150 and 250 bar pressure machines.The actual machine uses no electronics but only electromechanical protectiondevices and contactors.

The following scheme represents the electromechanical block diagram ofexisting product:

sales

1500

1200

1000

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1997 1998 1999e

years

n.pc

s

sales


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1 Water intake filter2 Water tank3 Magnetic water softener4 Pump5 Pressure gauge6 Pressure switch7 By-pass valve8 Pressure switch9 Safety valve10 Water flow regulator11 Detergent level sensor12 Detergent tank13 Detergent flow regulator14 Boiler15 Thermostat16 Safety thermostat17 Lance18 Boiler fan19 Fuel oil pump20 Solenoid valve21 Fuel oil filter22 Fuel oil tank


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23 Fuel oil level sensor


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Disadvantages and limits of existing product:

The actual product is very reliable and very robust. The disadvantages of theactual product can be summarised as follows and determines the reasons toinnovate:

- Fuel level: No level content is indicated on the machines. When the gun isactivated the burner can start even if no fuel is present and a lot of white fumesare produced (excess of air for the combustion).

- Detergent level: No level content is indicated on the machine.

- Water presence: It is not indicated on the machine.

- Instantaneous total stop: When the high pressure gun is deactivated, thepressure in the pump decreases and no water circulates. The burner of theboiler is stopped immediately in order to avoid overheating. So in case of shorttime operations (change of hand by operator or changing working position) themachine goes on and off continuously.

This means that the electrical motor that drives the high pressure pump iscontinuously connected and disconnected to the main supply. As it is known,the peak current needed by an induction motor is between 6 to 9 times thenominal current at full load: so, the stress of the motor, cables and switches ismuch higher with danger of overheating.

- Simultaneous stop of fuel electrovalve and fan: when combustion stops, fumesand combustion particles rests remains inside on the ducts and boiler.Maintenance is necessary from time to time.

- Machine status : The operator acts only on the main switch (pump) and on asecond switch for the boiler and has no operative indication (i.e. a lightindicating whether that the electrical power supply is connected or not).Failures or operator errors are not indicated (example: water supply notconnected, fuel or detergent not present, etc.). The man machine interface issimple but poor.


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Fig.1.- DESCRIPTION OF THE MONDIAL - MACHINE

1. DIESEL FILTER

2. CONTROL PANEL

3. WATER CONTROLGROUP

4. HIGH PRESSURE PUMP

5. DETERGENT TANK

6. ELECTRIC MOTOR

7. FUEL PUMP

8. FAN GROUP

9. BURNER

10. FUEL TANK

11. HIGH-PRESSURE,WATER OUTLET

12. WATER INLET

13. ELECTRIC WIRE


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6. Description of the technical product improvements

The improved product is a Top-Gun model of pressure washers where bothsystems for hot and cold waters have been implemented.The system is set up by two boards:• the main board performing the control system; (with an SMD board protected

with resin plugged on the base-main board).• the interface board;the printed circuit board block diagram of the main board is indicated in the nextfig.

SIGNAL

CONDIT.

DRIVERS

LED

&

FILTERING

Temp. Sensor 1

Temp. Sensor 2

Pressure Sensors

Level Sensors

Photocell ( Light sensitive

resistor )

2

2

MainsPOWER SUPPLY

DRIVERS

ACTUATOR

Burner On/Off

7

Power on

Pump On/Off

Boiler alarmOvertemperatureLow Level Detergent/Fuel

Water missing

3

Fuel electrovalve

Burner Fan

Pump Contactor

Pump On/Off

Boiler On/Off

Reset

Fig. 2.- Block diagram of the control electronics of the hot water high pressure washer.

The inputs to electronic circuit are the input sensors ( levels, flame andtemperature detectors) and push buttons. The control block implements asequence of command to set up the needed timing and alarm.

Sensors used are commercial OEM.

The signal processing is implemented into two sections: an analog front end(based only on passive components, transistors, diodes, and operationalamplifiers) that reads the status of the sensors, and a digital section (based onpassive component, diode and CMOS inverter gates). All the digital logicfunctions (OR, AND) are implemented using diodes and resistors (wired logic),and the memory functions are implemented using passive components andCMOS inverters. Timing and delay are done using resistors-diode-capacitorsnetworks. This approach (as the logic function is very simple) assure a very lowproduction cost and an efficient stock management (only few type of standardlow cost components).


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The critical part of the board corresponds to the burner/boiler control and wasrealised in SMD in a separate board and inserted as a component on the mainboard; this board is protected with resin to be insensible to humidity and dust (IP65). SMD components are necessary for this board to reduce the dimension(horizontal and vertical) making easier the protection process and the insertionon the main board.

SMD components (that are the same used on the plug-board) are also used onthe main board (on the underside of PCB) to assure an efficient stockmanagement.

The output of the board is the driver commands for the actuators of the highpressure washer ( electrovalves, power for the pump motor, ventilator).

The operator input is given through the 3 buttons: pump and boiler on/off (isseparated as machine can operate with hot water or cold water) and a resetbutton in case of any alarm or dangerous operation. This button has beenincluded for safety: the operator has to check the error source (leds) and thenquit the alarm before operation can continue.

All the disadvantages of the existing product indicated above are avoided byimplementing the right electronic control and interface circuitry.

Also added functionalities and safety related control were done. Therefore theadvantages of a solution with electronic circuitry are the following:


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- Level control: of fuel, detergent and water.

- Delayed Total Stop: when the gun is deactivated, the burner should continueworking for about 10 seconds (it is a short time compared to the thermal timeconstant of the burner). So in short time operations as described above, themachine will run continuously, smoother and will not stop. This is not only morecomfortable for the operator, but avoids operator delays. Since the number ofstart/stop cycles will decrease, an improved parameter is the reliability of theproduct with a higher MTBF of the machine.

Therefore the electrical cable connection, that can be very long for outdoor use,does not need to be oversized.

- Flame detection: a main item for safe operation is to include a sensor for flamedetection in the control scheme. Fuel injection and proper work of the burnerdepends on a right ignition and a right fuel burning.

- Post Ventilation: The fan provides the right quantity of air for a goodcombustion in the boiler. Since, as in all combustion processes, gases areproduced, it is desirable that the fan starts a few seconds before the start of thecombustion and that the fan stops a few seconds after the combustion ends; inthis way the gases and particles are pushed through the exhaust pipe as rest ofthe combustion process when combustion stops. The maintenance effortneeded is then strongly lowered.

- Man Machine Interface: Using a dedicated control panel with leds and switches,a user-friendly and immediate interface between operator and machine isachieved.

- Intrinsic safety: If flame is missing the boiler has to stop. If water is missing notonly the boiler but also the pump has to stop (put the machine into a safe state).

During the project it has been decided to include also the main transformer andfuse on the main PCB board so that all the subsystem can be tested in advanceand less cabling is needed. The main board contains both SMD components andstandard components as connectors, relays, etc.

The critical part of the board corresponds to the burner/boiler control and wasrealised in SMD in a separate board and inserted as a component on the mainboard; this board is protected with resin to be insensible to humidity and dust.

The interface implemented between operator and machine is an user-friendlycontrol panel.

The interface PCB is very simple, with LED and key (switches/pushbuttons). Aseries of led have been put on in order to have an easier functionality's control (power supply, alarm, burner on, water failure).

This board has been design separately from the main board so in case of futureproduct modification, only this user interface part needs to be re-designed.


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This system adds a modularity feature to the product.

The complete unit is then located in a IP54 control box.

The main board has components on both sides: on the rear also SMDcomponents are presents. See in the next picture the back view with SMD onthe solder side:


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The main transformer has been included into the board so that no externalconnections and extra protections are necessary. The board presents SMD forthe electronic signals (partly covered with resin) and the standard components(through hole) for relays, connectors, fuse, actuators.

Finally the SMD technology allow a best insulation through resin in order toachieve IP65 protection degree.

7. Choices and rationale for the selected technology, tools and methodology For our application, three kinds of technology can be considered for the project itself(standard components, microprocessors and PLD-FPGA) and two technologies for theproduction (standard PCB or SMD).

The use of microprocessor in the final product is surely a positive point from the marketingpoint of view (innovative, high technology) but for us it represents some problems, namely:

- the engagement needed is high in a completely new field for us with no internal support

- we have no competence in house in order to make changes or updates of SW

- we have not the mentality of the SW in the product at the moment

- it is better to make one step at a time.

From a technical point of view we don’t use a microprocessor because:

- control functionality required is very simple.

- We don’t read continuos values from sensors but only thresholds (min and max) or on-off status.

- We don’t have a display and a keyboard on actual product.

The PLD-FPGA solution was also evaluated (with the effort of TTN and subcontractor), butwe have preferred a discrete solution because:

- the digital functions required are very simple (AND, OR and few latches).

- The required precision for timing and delay is very low.

- The cost of discrete solution (passive components and CMOS NOT gate) is lower than aPLD based solution.

- Modularity and programmability are not requirements for this product.

This opinion was agreed also by the TTN after taking our expertise and Know-How intoaccount so that standard and discrete electronic components were chosen to be used(analogue and digital).

Obviously also the PLD- FPGA technology is not suitable for the product innovation.

Maybe in the future the company will undertake to increase its expertise also on upper levelmicroelectronics technologies therefore the best choice at the start of the project is to carryout the PCB technology.


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Main requirements for component selection were:

- All the components to be used have to be standard and should have at least more thanone supplier.

- Low cost.

- The critical section of the control chain has to be protected from humidity and dustwithout increasing too much the cost of the whole electronic control.

The critical section of the control chain was implemented in a separate small board, plugged(as a complex components) on the main-board, to protect it from humidity and dust. Thissmall board was covered with resin, assuring an high protection degree (IP65). SMTcomponent was used to reduce the dimension of the plug board, making easier theprotection process. This solution reduced the production cost because only the criticalsection have an IP65 protection as the other parts have a normal IP54 protection.

During the AE different combinations were considered; in all cases bulky components likerelays and connectors can not be avoided or had to be installed separately with higher costs.Finally the solution chosen integrated on it the control section (with SMD components), theplug IP65 board, the bulky components an also the transformer for the power supply,reducing cabling and getting an electronic board that could be integrally tested beforeassembling. The complete PCB is than contained in a plastic housing ensuring protectionfrom humidity.

The CAD, routing and lay-out was done outside as we don’t have such facilities.

Tests of all functionalities were done during the evaluation phase.

At this moment we have decided to use external sub-contractors for the activities related tothe electronic design. Main reasons for this choice are:

- Our actual product is mainly electromechanical and our new products scheduled up to2001 will use an electronic control section similar to the one developed during the AE.

- The electronic control implemented don’t have innovative solution and an intellectualproperty protection is not necessary.

- We don’t depend from a single subcontractor because the technology chosen is anordinary one and now (thanks to the FUSE experience) it is not difficult for us to select analternative technology supplier.

8. Expertise and experience in microelectronics of ITM and the staff allocated tothe project The main technical experience of ITM is in the fields of mechanics, including construction andthermal processes (burners). Also a discrete expertise in the CAD design of plastic mouldsand product engineering is available. We have no person related to the electronic field in thecompany.

Experience in project management and specification of the electronic part of a project wasmissing; we wanted to learn to plan such a project and to make correct specifications for asubcontractor and an estimation of cost and project duration.


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A new person was hired to work in the project and to be a basis of electronictechnology in the company for future developments. This technician was hiredafter the confirmation that the proposal had been accepted and 3 month beforethe AE start, so that he was able to learn about the own company products.

The persons involved in the project were three: the Technical Manager, a seniortechnician/designer of the technical dept. and one electrotechnical technician.

ITM staff participated to each phase of the project, giving particular attention tothe specifics to be followed, thus extracting the maximum outcome from theSubcontractor’s support and therefore the first approach to electronic boarddesign was very positive and fruitful for a mechanical skilled company.

9. Workplan and rationale The workplan originally developed has been organised in 5 work packages. Planned andactual efforts are indicated in the table.

Work package 1: Management (8 months)

The goal of this work package was to co-ordinate all the activities and partners, ensuring thatthe work proceeded as planned, that deliverables were produced on time and that the finalobjectives were met. ITM was responsible for this work package, including setting upmeetings and checking technical progress against the workplan.

The reporting progress on a monthly basis was done tracking of the production ofdeliverables, including this document after project end.

Work package 2: Training (3 months)

The main objective of this work package was to provide the fundamental knowledge involvedin the selection of the circuit architecture, choice of the technology (standard or SMD), testingand production. Both ITM and Subcontractor were responsible for this work package. Otherthan discussion with the subcontractor, also visits to PCB suppliers were included.

Work package 3: Specification (3 months)

This work package comprised the preparation of a document that specified the functionalityof the product to be developed. The requirements for the system were defined, regardingelectrical and mechanical aspects to fit in the new machine. ITM was responsible for thiswork package.

Work package 4: Design (4 months)

This work package included the circuit design that was done mainly by a subcontractor andthe implementation of the prototype to use in the machine. This involves developing thehardware circuit and adapting the mechanics. The subcontractor was mainly responsible forthis work package.


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Work package 5: System evaluation. (3 months)

The objective of this work package was to test and to evaluate the system. The functionalityof the system was checked against the initial specifications. ITM was responsible for thiswork package.

Initially functionality test was done with the subcontractor. System evaluationwas done afterwards mainly by ITM.

The technology transfer process was developed initially with an one-dayoverview of the technologies involved in the project. Afterwards training timeincluded support in testing and signal analysis and search for failures, ad a visitto a manufacturer of PCB.

From the specification point of view we had a clear idea of what should beobtained, so that the workplan could be kept on time with only very smalldeviations due to overlapping with other activities. One month of vacations wasnot planned in advance as date of project start was not clear. The projectduration was finally 8 month (+ one month vacations on August) to have samplesworking.


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The final workplan was as follows (no specific changes occurred during the AE): FINAL WORKPLAN FOR PROJECT 29749

M O N T H S

Activity1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1.-ManagementProj. Mgmt. A

Dissemination U2.- Training (1) G3.- Specification USensors, Functionalities, I/O SSystem : Safety, Enviromental T4.- Design

HW - Design CCAD / PCB sample / Assembl. L

Mechanical CAD modific. O5.- System Evaluation SFunctionality & Sensor Tests E

Eval. on the machine DField Tests

Please note: month 7 the company was closed for vacation.

FU plannedeffort (p/d)

FU actual effort(p/d)

Subcontractor’s planned costs(keuro)

Subcontractor’s actual costs(keuro)

Planned totalcosts (keuro)

Actual totalcosts (keuro)

WP1 14 20 0 0 4.62 6,4WP2 10 11 1.5 1.5 3.5 3,5WP3 19 23 3 3 7.63 7.7WP4 8 8 9,5 9,5 11.65 11.2WP5 28 26 3 2 8.6 8TOTAL 77 88 17 16 36 36.8

The risk analysis is related to the lack of experience of company in the electronics field, thenthe planned activities at the start of the project could need additional time, but it did nothappen.

10. Subcontractor information

After looking for some people working in electronics and possible partners or subcontractors,it seemed that our project was a standard part for the electronic world. But we needed asubcontractor that could understand our application, our product and could help us with theproject. The subcontractor tasks were to interface to the work related to the PCB (layoutdesign, PCB manufacturer) and to help the company in the testing phase and to support it inall Experiment phases.

The subcontractor was selected on the base of its previous positive experience ofcollaboration with other companies in this area. The subcontractor works mainly making


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electronic projects for SME’s and know the industrial application of electronics. It’s anEngineering consultant co. (named PG drives) with a staff of two people and a longexperience in industrial electronics and automation including signal and power electronicsand industrial automation. Its relevant experience consists in the development of electronicproducts for the automation in different technologies (PCB, SMT, microprocessor), µP-based

vector control of motor drives, µP control for rolling mills, RS-485 and fibre-opticscommunication, design of power electronic circuits.

Another key point is logistic: the subcontractor is based relative near to us, so that a fastsupport was possible.

It is important to have experience with industrial applications in harsh environments and tohave knowledge with sensors and automation.

No specific discussion agreement was agreed with the Subcontractor but an ordinarycontract with payment based on activities carried out for each milestones has been effected.

The relationship with the Subcontractor was developed through several visits and training onthe job. The product specifications were defined with particular attention to the technologyused to assemble the components on the board. The SMT technology allowed to increasethe safety level of the electronic part (working in a difficult environment), and this was the rightanswer to the specific needs of the company, still recovering from the bad consequences ofthe previous experience with electronics. This was possible since the Subcontractor, whowas familiar with boilers for domestic use, worked in the same area of application of the AE.

11. Barriers perceived in the first use of the AE technology

Knowledge Barriers:

- For a company working in the mechanical field and with no expertise in theelectronic technology, the start in the electronic technology was a barrier: weknew we needed the inclusion of electronics in our products but we didn’thave the expertise, the know-how and the human resources to solve theproblem.

- All projects have a certain risk. With a new technology, these risks can not beestimated any more. Any disturbance is taken as an unknown problem and seeneven larger as they could be. A support to deal with this kind of problems isnecessary.

Cultural Barrier:

- A natural barrier was given by the inertia to enter a new technology and bythe fact that the “possibilities” of the new technology are unknown. All of ustry to go ahead in our own competence field, with the old inertia. Innovation isa beautiful word but difficult to introduce in “every day work”.

- A fundamental barrier for ITM Italia was a previous bad experience withelectronics carried out many years ago. The electronics board were


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purchased and assembled on the machines but devices did not work, theproject cost was very high and many customers were lost. The mainproblems were identified in the environmental conditions where such amachine works: water, steam humidity, high temperature and vibration are anormal working field. After this experience the company left the system builtup with electronic board and came back to set up it with the simple electricalconnections and relays.

This background of course brought a general profound distrust towards this kindof innovation, especially at the management level. The sales department was infact reluctant to promote this AE, having to face a strong resistance from thewhole company.

Financial Barrier:

- In a small company where any effort has to be balanced with the availability ofresources, the possibility of investing money in a known technological sector canbe calculated better that in case of a new technology.

12. Steps taken to overcome the barriers and arrive at the improved product

Knowledge Barriers:

- We hired a technician that –supported by the subcontractor- should help us tomake a step into electronics and to develop this technology into the company.The support of appropriate subcontractor enabled a know-how transfer.

- The risk of new technology and the estimation of costs and resources wasafforded with consultants and a fixed price contract. This helped us to see even“unknown” problems with a certain tranquillity.

Cultural Barrier:

- The collaboration with the subcontractors was a mean to have a betteroverview of the technology, to know about it possibilities, potential and risks.In case of technical problems the support of the experienced subcontractorswas a plus.

- The TTN provided us with a decisive support in solving everyday problemsconnected to the introduction of this new technology in our production and toperform a feasibility study for achieving desired results. For avoiding theproblems encountered in the previous experience, the company scheduledeach activity with a final milestone for checking the work done. Thespecifications were defined together with the subcontractor help, and theharsh conditions were verified on field.

- Every aspect of this AE had to be carefully checked to be 100% sure of itssuccess. This wasn’t an easy nor a fast task, but it was the only way tosuccessfully overcome the general lack of confidence towards thisinnovation, linked to the previous bad experience already described.


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Financial Barrier:

- in a small company the steps have to be planned with detail. Accuracy in theforecasting of the activities was the only way to overcome this uncertainty.

13. Knowledge and experience acquired

Knowledge was acquired in the following areas, in line with our expectations:

- Project Management: We increased our capabilities of project managementin electronic technology. For sure not all problems are known now, but wehope that we can better define a project and target the “electronic”specification of future projects.

- Project specifications and control: we have acquired experience in definingrealistic specifications, their interface to the needed sensors, makeevaluations of existing sensors and test the final product in agreement tothe given specifications.

- We acquired the capability to define specifications for the design of an electroniccontrol section, selecting the most suitable technology (and this was a primary goal).

- It is important for us to control that the final design is compliant with our specification.

- It is important for us to acquire the capability to test an electronic board (duringdevelopment and production).

- Tests: It is important to define the tests in advance with the subcontractorsso that errors or production failures can be avoided.

- The choice of experienced subcontractors is of primary importance. It isimportant that the subcontractor has expertise in the application field andnot only in the electronic field.

The project done allowed us to: a) increase the safety of the machine operatorsthrough electronics, b) specify the electronics, c) analyse the sensors needed,d) understand the limits and capabilities of some technologies (analogue, digitalelectronics, SMT) and e) be in the position of evaluate and test an electronicdevelopment. Strong limits are given by the availability of electronic personnel.

14. Lessons learned

The lessons learned through this AE can be summarised as follows:


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- the company checked each design activity to ensure that the requirementswere satisfied; by this way the results have been achieved, contrary to theprevious experience;

- at the end of the project the company is able to do a correct evaluation ofan Experiment that foresees PCB implementation. The most importantfeature of this Experiment that avoided the drawback encountered previoustime, is the useful collaboration between the subcontractor and thecompany. The responsibility shared, each task has been carried out withthe suitable skills and continuous check has been done on each phase. Thesensors signals have been particularly monitored and redundant operationsin the machine sequences have been realised in order to allow the machineto work correctly.

- The tests performed have been very important for the correct machinefunctioning on the rough environment conditions. For this aspect weunderstood the importance of SMD technology and the benefits taken to.

- It also has to be reminded that the choice of subcontractors understandingproblems related to company product and application field is a key factor.

- This experience led also to the decision to hire an engineer who will be in charge of theupkeeping and ,eventually, upgrading of the electronic part. He will be required to have acertain skill in electromechanical design in order to have a global vision of the product .

15. Resulting product, its industrialisation and internal replication

The final board contains a mix of both: SMD for the signal electronics (partly covered withresin) and the standard “power” components (through hole) like relays, connectors, fuse,actuators.

To keep contained dimensions, one small board for the control of the combustion –as usedin heating controllers- is done separately and inserted as plug-in in the main board.Connections are soldered to have a better MTBF.

The resin has been concentrated in the “intrinsic safety” part of the project (related to thecombustion part).

The cabling has been rationalised. It has been decided to use connectors and pre-manufactured cables to decrease costs in the machine production process.

For industrialisation 4 month are required and related costs of 12 KEUR. The main steps ofthis phases consists in the realisation of a plastic housing for the electronic main board to beinserted in the main control box, and in the design of a plastic front panel for the leds and theother user interface disposals. The first pre-series of the electronic Top-Gun is planned forJune 2000 and Nov. 2000 for the Mondial.

The potential of replication is mainly targeted to the application of a circuit with reducedfunctionality and costs for lower power machines. At circuit (CAD) level the hot-water andcold-water electronic was separated so that we plan to do a cost analysis also for cold-waterapplications, a sector that is much more cost sensitive.


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But also in other products (space heaters) the technology developed could be of use (burnercontrol, flame detection) and will be analysed at the end of 2000.

(Top GUN T photo)


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16. Economic impact and improvement in competitive position

Marketing analysis and enquiries by agents was done about the introduction of models withelectronic and completed at the Interclean 98 fair. The new models are complementary to thestandard ones and will integrate and complete our product lines.

The results indicated that an electronic model can increase the sales 10% of the upper partof the Mondial for the first year and 15% of the Top Gun. It has been also estimated that about5% of the Mondial customers would change to the electronic machine. In the 2nd and 3rdyear the quantities should increase and stabilise in about 18-20% of the Mondial series.

The innovation will be introduced also on the Top Gun model.

A conservative evaluation has been done taking the price of competitors with similarmachines into account. It has been considered that nowadays the marketplace can acceptaround 110 Euro higher price for the functionality offered by the electronic circuitry.

The estimate of the cost of the electronics were kept very well. A slight increase of theassembled and tested PCB was in any case compensated by the fact that the circuitincludes the transformer and the relays on it. So, the cost difference to the standard machineis around 52 Euros, less than initially estimated.

The units to be sold in the coming years will be set up by machine with old technology and bymachines with electronics boards.

Then for the next years the washer machines products will be:

sales forecast:

UNITS to be sold(without AE innovation):

2001 2002 2003

TOP GUN 400 400 400Mondial 900 1000 1000

UNITS to be sold(with AE innovation):

2001 2002 2003

TOP GUN (withelectronics)

50 100 150

Mondial (withelectronics)

100 150 150

TOTAL UNITS

to be sold2001 2002 2003

TOP GUN 450 500 550Mondial 1000 1150 1150


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The price for the a Mondial washer machine is about 2,35 KEur, instead the priceof Top Gun washer machine is about 3,23 Keur ( about 110Euro more than theold price).The profitability improvement due to the AE innovation is each year 15% of thenew product turnover.The ROI is related to FUSE investment with added industrialisation costs. Over 3years duration of the product, (since for year 2000 the new machines producedare considered as pre-series), a ROI of about 645% has been estimated.

With these numbers, the payback period has been calculated to 8.5 months.

The technological jump of having microelectronics will put us as a partner with bettertechnology and then more reliable for the future in front of our customers. The new product isalso much more user friendly, safer, modular, compliant with IP 65 protection degree, allowsuse both with hot and cold water.

Our catalogue offer will then be completed with electronic controlled machines, giving abetter choice to our customers.

sales forecast improvement with electronics introduction

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

2000 2001 2002 2003

un

its TOP GUN (sales)

Mondial (sales)


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17. Target audience for dissemination throughout Europe

The target industrial sector locally identified is the Others special purposemachinery (prodcom code 2950 )

This innovation can be an useful example for all manufactures of machinery forliquids cleaning and washers.

The best practice of this AE is focussed on first approach on electronicstechnologies by company with mechanical skills. The problems faced up by thecompany can help others firms that desire to innovated their electro-mechanicalproducts but are not be able to perceive the related risks or think that these typeof technologies is not suitable for small companies.At the start of the project the ITM technicians needed help for defining the boardspecification and had some difficulties to understand the SMD technology whomthey never used.Another problems arisen during the proposal realisation was the cost of theboard. For company it was a question never faced up and the TTN together withthe subcontractors give suggestions on right assessment of board realisation.The introduction of an electronics board into products addressed to harshenvironment determines specific problems that can be interesting for companyworking with such a particular product. They can be stimulated to replicate theITM experience.

Documents

FUSE Application Experiment 29749 · FUSE Application Experiment 29749 Electronic Controlled ... which such a machine works, the intrinsic safety part of the boiler control is realised