OMAV relies on Gefran’s expertise: a partnership of excellence in the aluminium extrusion
Advanced solutions combining safe and precise heat treatment control with an accurate monitoring of the production variables
Gefran and Omav
In the aluminium extrusion sector, accurate temperature control represents a key requirement to achieve a high-quality finished product. This is why, OMAV – a company specialized in the design and manufacture of aluminium extrusion lines – relies on Gefran as a trusted partner for its cutting-edge technology in the control of resistive loads, which guarantees reliability and precision even in the case of critical production processes such as industrial heat treatment.
“Gefran’s collaboration began in the development of an advanced control system designed for a 45 MN press, used in the extrusion of drawn aluminium, specifically built for the automative industry” states Giuseppe Benedetti, Area Manager – Electrical Division in Omav, who continues ”Gefran, thanks to its consolidated know-how, has worked on an advanced solution that is capable of combining safe and precise heat treatment control with an accurate monitoring of the production variables, satisfying high standards of transparency and accessibility as per the CQI-9 norm”.
“There are three elements that distinguish Gefran’s offer: technology, reliability and easy integration in the Client’s automation architecture” comments Renzo Privitera, Sales Director in Gefran, who concludes “Therefore, OMAV and Gefran share a common goal, that corresponds to the manufacturing of measurement solutions, capable of improving the performance of end users, by also reducing their environmental impact”.
OMAV Full-electric heat treatment plant
To reach this goal, the Full-electric heat treatment plant built by OMAV has integrated Gefran’s 3850T Multifunction regulators series, GFXTERMO4 multi-loop controllers and GPC power controllers.
The 3850T series, conformed to the AMS2750 norms of the aerospace sector and to the CQI9 norms for the Automative, satisfies the needs to control the production cycle and to record data, which can be stored and exported to standard or crypted CSV, thanks to the advanced Datalogger feature, with a minimal sampling rate of 1 second. The Batch Report option also allows to link stored data to a batch production code, guaranteeing the full traceability of the production batch.
The overheating conditions prevention is given to the GFXTERMO4 control unit. These devices are limit controllers with FM certification, which represents an additional value for OMAV. In this application, the GFXTERMO4 are used to signal alarms states, to the benefit of a higher level of safety for the plant.
Lastly, OMAV chooses the GPC power controllers for the smart management of electrical resistances. These devices, equipped with analog and digital I/Os for the retransmission of process variables and alarm signals, are distinguished by even higher-performance features in view of Industry 4.0 and predictive maintenance. On the diagnostics side, the 12 thermocouples on these devices, 6 of which are located at the line and load terminals, enable the detection of overheating due to irregular tightening or loosening during use, thus contributing to prevention from machine downtime.
The partnership
“The collaboration with Gefran provides numerous advantages, among which stands the sharing of specialized know-how, that stems from the synergy between the respective technical departments, and represent for OMAV a notable additional value” comments Giuseppe Benedetti, Area Manager – Electrical Division in Omav, and concludes “From the pre-sales phase to commissioning, Gefran’s experts supported us, precisely and consistently, in evaluating the most suitable solutions for each individual application.”
Renzo Privitera, Sales Director of Gefran states, “This project is the perfect example of a synergistic collaboration, to which we are proud to have contributed,” and concludes, “We look forward to the future with enthusiasm, ready to continue this journey together and to develop new technologies that can guarantee excellent operational and sustainability standards.”