Festo Valves Increase Production for Croatian Automotive Company

Producing twenty times more

The Croatian auto cosmetics company Alfa Car aimed to raise manufacturing by a factor of twenty. To accomplish this, a new industrial plant’s whole production cycle was automated. For more than 200 process valves, Festo provided a total solution, including project management.

For the purpose of making automobile cosmetic products, a variety of ingredients, such as water, alcohol, glycerine, surfactants, oleic and acetic acids, sodium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide, are kept, transported, blended, and packaged. Complex process automation solutions are needed for this. Here, the Croatian auto cosmetics firm Alfa Car has made a significant advancement. The entire production cycle was entirely automated as a new manufacturing facility was being built, from the raw ingredients through the bottling line for the completed goods. The seamless automation of the process valves was one area of emphasis.

Customized complete solution

The business collaborated with Festo and system integrator Arp Luko to find a solution to the problem. The project management of the automation of the process valves would fall to Festo. Customized full solutions covering the entire spectrum, from the process valve units to the valve manifolds, were delivered to ensure quick integration into the new plant and optimal reliability in the future production process. The explosive atmosphere had to be taken into consideration in particular when choosing the appropriate components.

Reliability counts

For maximum process automation, communication between a large number of various automated ball valves and the new plant’s higher-level control system was also essential. A dependable solution using six valve manifolds of type VTUG connected to a PROFINET bus satisfied this need. In this way, more than 200 ball valves from various manufacturers can be totally automated. Alfa Car and Arp Luko were relieved of some of the burden when it came to developing and putting in the new plant by using a single provider for the ball valve solution. The project was also made simpler by the comprehensive cooperation of the numerous process valve vendors, which Festo handled as part of its project management mandate.