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  • Free expert help
  • Trusted for over 20 years

ABOUT US

Automation Products and Systems Ltd were formed in 2010. Based in the North West of England we are about 5 miles away from the M6/ M62 junction.

20 YEARS EXPERIENCE

Automation Products and Systems Ltd can offer the following services

Using the correct control system architecture is a vital part of producing a machine which can achieve the desired performance whilst coming in on budget. Choose the wrong components and the engineering time can be stretched causing costly delays in delivery and development costs. Choose hardware that has much more functionality than the machine requires and this can also add to build costs. At APS Ltd we have a depth of experience to ensure that that the correct choices are made early enough in the design to ensure an excellent solution.

After consultation with the customer a detailed quote is provided which encompasses the specification that has been laid down. Using Autocad Electrical a design is developed which is provided for approval by the customer. Once the design is fully approved the design goes onto the manufacturing stage.

We emphasise the need for quality, accuracy and aesthetics in our panel and component build. Our panels are judged on the following

  • Do they meet current legislation and safety standards?
  • Do they work to the functionality determined in the specification and design?
  • Does the panel look professional?

Our engineers are trained to fulfil all the criteria you require in a panel. We use vigorous and complete testing procedures to determine any non-conformance to the design and test documentation is produced and available to the customer. All jobs are photographed in great detail to ensure a good record of what has been produced.

The same criteria applies to the PLC design as to the hardware. Choices made at the early stage of the project can be crucial to the efficient flow of the project. This aspect requires a much deeper understanding of the machine process than the hardware design. Once the concepts have been fully formed as much software is done at our premises as possible. The PLC controls the process of the machine and needs to communicate with other hardware which may have other functions such as a screen.
Motion control is basically the control of a motor. This can take on many forms such as basic speed control, torque control and positional control. There are many applications within these main divisions including electronic Cam applications and winding applications which may use a mixture of speed, position and torque control to wind a material with the correct tension whilst its speed needs to change as the diameter builds up. We have many years of experience in applying motion control to many various applications and integrating it into systems with a master PLC.
This is the interface with the system and the user. This should be simple to use whilst providing all the information the user and engineer need to be able to get the most out of the machine. The user will be interested in being able to use the machine as quickly as possible so a recipe screen could be written to recall repetitive functions with numerous amounts of input data. The engineer is interested in maintaining production so a detailed diagnostic functionality is essential. Once the software is fully tested and debugged any ongoing issues are usually hardware related. All drives should have full diagnostic coverage as well as any instruments or sensors on the machine.
Once a hazard analysis has been done the machine is given a performance level to which it must attain to conform to EU standards. The performance level owes more to the hardware design to determine how many faults must occur before a dangerous failure occurs and other issues such as diagnostic coverage of the safety components. Once this has been done the functionality of the safety components can be designed and written. This may involve separate safety zones or motion based safety such a safe limited speed. Once the safety program has been commissioned it must be vigorously tested and validated in accordance with current safety legislation.

Many of our customers want to take one component and assemble it to another without draining their own valuable resources on what is a relatively simple job. APS Ltd provide thousands of assembled components at prices which make it more economically viable than doing it in house.

If you have any such requirement please contact us to discuss further.

Once the panel has been fully commissioned we are still able to help should the need arise. For crucial components of the panel a list of essential spares is provided. On site support is available for all the panels that we have supplied.
The benefit of using A.P.S. is that you can select some or all the services above dependent upon your requirements.
CONTACT US

MEET THE TEAM

ANDY FLETCHER

Managing Director

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DEREK CLARK

Director

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OUR GUARANTEE

We were fortunate enough to start with a strong customer base and it did not take long for us to establish ourselves as a serious company in the field of control and automation. Our customers have high standards and we know from experience that the control system is a fundamental feature of any machine. After all, this is where the operator works and so the quality and aesthetics of the control system can finish the look of the machine in a professional way.

However, this is not the whole story. There is also the issue of machine safety, of which the control system design is fundamental, and also the conformity to standards as laid down by the European Union. Automation Products and Systems Ltd take these issues seriously and are able to produce a certificate of conformity for every system it designs and builds. Safety is a very complicated issue (see our comprehensive guide) and many customers find the standards a bit of a minefield which they are tip toeing their way through. Automation Products and Systems Ltd can help in this matter as we have a lot of experience in this field.

Building and designing control systems would be of little benefit if the customer does not have the software experience to make the system work. Automation Products and Systems Ltd are happy to be able to offer a complete service which include PLC software, Motion control software, Visualisation software and drive parameter set up.

We are also flexible in what we can offer. Some of our customers ask us to assemble special cables and connectors with the result that we have shipped many thousands of components and can to date claim to have zero returns for this service. The reason for this is that we invested and built a special test system and we use this to test the product three times during the assembly. The last of these tests are while the packaging is already applied. This gives us the confidence that the assembly is secure.

Automation Products and Systems Ltd are a growing company because our focus and priority is our customer. If you have an enquiry about anything that you think we might be able to help you with, please don’t hesitate to contact us via our contact page.

Our software engineers are experienced in all leading software packages:

  • Design: Auto Cad Electrical
  • PLC: Codesys PLC Designer
  • Visualisation: Visiwin
  • Safety PLC: Safe PLC2
  • Drives: Engineer/Easy Starter

LETS WORK TOGETHER

CALL: 01744 733769

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