Delta Energy Management System Solution for Green Automobile Manufacturing

Automobile manufacturing industries are technology and capital intensive with a complete supply chain that involves many sub-industries. Among them, vehicle assembly plants are the core of automobile manufacturing. The vehicle assembly process includes pressing, welding and assembly, painting, parts pre-assembly and final assembly. Welding and assembly is a crucial stage in the process that also consumes a huge amount of energy. As the demand for green manufacturing grows, how to control energy consumption has become an important issue for the automobile manufacturing industry.

To meet the increasing need for energy control, an automobile manufacturing customer of Delta sought an energy management solution for its welding and assembly shops. Collecting and analyzing the usage data of the main production and energy-consuming equipment in the production line can offer guidance for future operation policy. Delta designed a complete energy management system solution based on the customer's needs for different energy resources such as water, electricity, and compressed gas consumption.

This solution uses the Compact Modular Mid-range PLC AS Series as the master controller to manage the system. Four of Delta Power Meter DPM-C520 are equipped for data collection on the main production line in the welding and assembly shops. An Ethernet wireless communication network constructed using 31 Delta Industrial Ethernet products including IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n Wireless AP, Unmanaged 8-Port FE Ethernet Switches and Unmanaged 5-Port FE Ethernet Switches connects all devices in the system for energy consumption data transmission. The data collected by the power meters can be applied for further analysis of power usage and key indicators management. Delta's solution helps our customer monitor the energy consumption status of the welding and assembly shops and supports green automobile manufacturing.

In actual application, Delta's energy management system solution brings the following benefits to our customer:

• Precise energy data collection: Equipped in the main production equipment of welding and assembling shops, the Delta Power Meter DPM-C520 precisely measures electrical energy and power quality parameters, including power factors, harmonics, and current/voltage unbalance. Its wide LCD screen displays four lines of data and supports Chinese text. The DPM-C520 is compatible with CE and UL standards for reliable power measurement. The built-in RS-485 communication port supports MODBUS for transmission of all measurement values. All electricity data can be combined as a parameter group that allows master controllers access at the same time and enhances the overall performance of the energy management system.

• Stable Ethernet wireless network structure: Delta applies IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n Wireless AP, Unmanaged 8-Port FE Ethernet Switches and Unmanaged 5-Port FE Ethernet Switches based on the various requirements of different energy-consumption equipment to construct an Ethernet wireless network. The intuitive design of the operating interface provides users with easy access and packet exchange protection. All products comply with UL, CE, and FCC standards and support various communication protocols for excellent safety and interconnected performance. Tailoring various application needs of the welding and assembly shops, Delta's Ethernet products are suitable for operating temperatures ranging from -40°C to 75°C and offer a highly stable network environment.

• Flexible and all-around energy management: Delta's energy management system solution applies the Compact Modular Mid-range PLC AS Series as the master controller to manage the system. The AS Series features Delta's self-developed 32-bit SoC CPUs for enhanced execution speed. It supports the Modbus communication protocol and up to 32 slave stations. As the master controller, the AS Series connects all controllers of the devices for data collection via a wireless network, offering real-time data transmission to control the overall energy consumption status in the plant. The AS Series adopts IEC programming software for easy hardware configuration and parameter setting without manual reference or additional programming, enabling flexible adjustment of energy collection sources.

Delta's energy management system solution fulfilled customer's expectations for real-time energy consumption monitoring in the welding and assembly shops by integrating the Compact Modular Mid-range PLC AS Series, the Ethernet wireless network, and power meters. Further analysis of the collected data can be used as guidance for setting up a future operation strategy to achieve energy-saving goals. Delta continues to offer comprehensive solutions to meet our customer's diverse requirements, and to ensure an outstanding future together.