Enhanced Safety, Guaranteed Production: Retrofit of a SERMAS Saw
Discover how Alps Group addressed hardware obsolescence and ensured the long-term reliability of the saw by retrofitting the entire automation system while improving safety.
Context
Novelis is an industrial company specializing in the production of rolled aluminum products and is the world’s largest aluminum recycler. It operates across several key sectors: automotive, supplying sheets for bodywork (doors, hoods, etc.); aerospace; beverage cans; and various specialty products, including electronics.
The foundry produces aluminum bars weighing approximately 15 tons, which are then rolled for the automotive market. The saw’s role is to prepare these bars before rolling.
Commissioned in 2007, this saw relies on an aging technical architecture, including obsolete PLCs and servo drives.
SERMAS Saw Automation Retrofit
In 2023, Novelis requested a pre-study to identify obsolete components and determine a replacement strategy for the cabinets and certain installation elements. The client decided to replace the Siemens architecture with Rockwell equipment, widely used throughout the foundry. Shortly afterward, the execution study was commissioned.
The retrofit enabled:
- Resolution of automation component obsolescence
- Replacement of certain outdated electrical components
- Upgrading electrical cabinets to current standards
- Implementation of improvement requests
- Compliance with machine safety regulations
Réalisations
Alps Group performed a full retrofit of the installation, including nearly 20 motors—11 of which were servo motors and 330 I/O points. To successfully execute the project, the team carried out:
- Design and fabrication of electrical cabinets to meet updated safety standards, integrating Rockwell equipment
- Replacement of servo motors
- Creation of a new PLC program
- Machine risk analysis
- Restart of the installation within 3 weeks
We would also like to highlight the team’s remarkable flexibility in postponing the project following the floods, all without any loss of information or oversights.
Several tests were carried out during production before the shutdown, which allowed the commissioning to proceed smoothly and very quickly. By the start of the third week of downtime, the first bars were already being cut.
The installation has been operating for several months with everything functioning correctly, thanks to the careful selection of replacement equipment.