The Automation Behind Valpak’s Printing and Distribution Operations

Most of us are well acquainted with the Valpak coupons we receive in the mail each month. But do you realize how much advanced automation technology goes into producing those familiar mailers? When you open the next Valpak mailer you receive, think about this: You are likely the first human to touch those coupons.

瓦尔帕克（Valpak）在佛罗里达州圣彼得堡的2亿美元，470,000平方英尺的印刷和分销设施（其所有优惠券邮件都均已生产），这很可能是我参观过的最自动化的设施。在西门子作为其年度自动化峰会活动的一部分的一部分中，我仔细观察了该设施中所容纳的技术。西门子技术在中心的新闻和整理室中扮演关键角色。

See a video highlighting the automation at Valpak in action.

The press room houses two Goss presses (each about the size of a football field) running 24/7, five days a week. These presses, moving at speeds up to 2,100 feet per minute, produce Valpak’s four color coupons at a rate of 100,000 impressions per hour. Capable of printing single and two-panel coupon inserts simultaneously, the presses require no manual press checks. According to Dave Smith, Valpak’s plant director, “checks are done digitally in the plant’s quality lab where every step of the manufacturing process is monitored.”

西门子可编程逻辑控制器（PLC），驱动器和人机界面（HMIS）用于自动化压力机的操作。每条压力机都有大约25个西门子的主控制驱动器和几个西门子的微型主驱动器以及五个西门子S7-400 PLC和两个S7-300 PLC，以及许多SIEMENS ET200和ET200M I/O模块。西门子的WINCC监督控制和数据获取（SCADA）服务器提供了新闻数据Valpak用于改善操作的用途，包括估计/实际设置时间，工作的平均速度，纸质浪费以及停机时间进行准备和维护。

The collation process starts after receipt of a print reel delivered to the collators via automated guided vehicles that navigate through the facility via a wireless network. Ten collators operate in the facility. Each collator continuously handles cutting, stacking, packaging, addressing and traying of the printed coupons. Valpak’s collation system is run via the integration of five Siemens S7-400 PLCs integrated with a WinCC SCADA server to manage 25 web clients used for process visualization and system control. Each PLC controls one mail tray system (where the envelopes are placed in USPS delivery format) and two collators.

This array of five Siemens PLCs replaced 40 PC-based controllers used previously for collator control. “Not only do we have a longer life span with Siemens PLCs—10 to 15 years versus 5 years with PC-based control—we were able to improve process and systems efficiency since all collator and mail tray control functionality is integrated with Siemens hardware and software,” Smith said. Mail tray control was formerly part of a PLC/SCADA platform designed for Valpak by multiple vendors and OEMs.

史密斯指出，碰撞器上使用集成的西门子技术允许Valpak“为当前和未来的业务增长创建无限制的系统功能，处理Rewinder Roll Docord of Wrap缺陷，允许选择性的人口统计插入物，并提供独特的地址匹配，并提供插入的匹配项用条形码确定了一件，并连接到邮寄地址。”史密斯说。