Sterling Systems & Controls, Inc. (USA) - Sterling Systems & Controls, Inc. announced it has developed and implemented the capability to automate the ingredient batching of the rubber compounding process. Using a hybrid ingredient bulk material batching system that combines minor bin and bulk bag ingredient batching, Sterling Systems has been automating rubber compounding and replaced the slower, labor intensive manual batching with an efficient, fast and accurate automated system.

For the purposes of automating rubber compounding the minor ingredient batching system is customized and can be configured with virtually any number of bins and bulk bag stations. In one installation, the compounder used 10 Ingredients (7 bins and 3 bulk bags) that directly fed existing containers. These batches were weighed via a gain-in-weight system on the Roller Conveyor, also provided by Sterling Systems & Controls. Further customization included a Dust Collection System for dust control during the automated ingredient batching.  The overall system provided also included dust collection ducting, a pallet platform, a stairway to gain access to the work and pallet platform, and a rolling stairway to gain access to untie the bulk bag ingredients.

The automation and control for the system includes a PLC control panel, a PC enclosure with an industrial grade PC, a panel mounted 17” flat screen monitor, a NEMA12 keyboard, and a smart uninterruptable power supply (UPS). The custom batching control software provided by Sterling Systems & Controls, Inc. is easy to use, has virtually unlimited storage of formulas and ingredients, and much more. Sterling Systems & Control also included its WebCentral supervisory control application. WebCentral is a browser-based application that allows you to access the database of a Sterling Systems batching control system application without the need for any software to be installed on the remote PC’s. It allows you to add and remove ingredients, create and manage recipes, manage ingredient and product inventories, setup a batching schedule, and print reports. By simply using a web browser WebCentral can be accessed by any PC that is networked with the Sterling batching control system.