Replacing the proprietary Interbus Loop Encoders, Harland Simon engineers have installed remote I/O at The Des Moines Register in order to facilitate a better way of interfacing to new devices. This enables the use of off-the-shelf components such as proximity sensors which are more readily available and often at a lower cost. Prior to the upgrade the publication was relying on using rarely available parts with built-in fieldbus interfaces to connect with their manroland system.

John Staiano, Managing Director – Americas for Harland Simon comments: “Separating this project into multiple phases has allowed The Des Moines Register to maximize their upgrade potential, whilst minimizing cost and impact on production.”

The extensive experience of Harland Simon’s project managers and engineers of carrying out this type of retrofit helped ensure that the project was completed without requiring any down time. Harland Simon uses off-the-shelf hardware which means that if components fail, these can be sourced locally from multiple suppliers, ensuring parts are always available and at a competitive price.  Coupled with using control software that is open and available to the end user, this approach has helped build an enduring maintenance partnership with The Des Moines Register and other newspaper publishers around the globe.

About Harland Simon
Harland Simon is one of the world’s leading supplier of newspaper press control and management systems. With its roots going back to 1915, the company has been providing innovative, user-friendly and reliable solutions to the newspaper printing industry for over thirty years, from ‘turnkey’ systems for new presses to cost effective upgrades on existing presses.

Utilizing the benefits of industry-standard hardware and software platforms, Harland Simon offers a complete range of products and solutions including press drives and controls as well as associated computer management systems and production tools. It’s an approach that Harland Simon has used on many occasions previously on systems supplied by Goss, Rockwell Automation, KBA, Honeywell, EAE and manroland to improve performance, minimize waste and maximize production quality whilst keeping presses in daily production.

(http://www.harlandsimon.com)