The Delta industrial automation product range, supplied exclusively by leading distributor ElectroMechanica (EM), is proving highly popular due to a trend towards increased automation in industry.

Delta is one EM’s fastest-growing product ranges, as industry strives to contain costs and increase productivity, EM Automation Engineer Cecil Rogers comments. Key system automation products in the Delta range are programmable logic controllers (PLCs), AC motor drives (variable-frequency drives), and servo and motion controllers.

“These technologies are machine-control components that enable production lines, conveyors, plants, and any other type of electrical system to become fully automated,” Rogers explains. The biggest applications at present are the manufacturing, processing, and packaging sectors.

Delta PLCs, for example, are ideal for bottling lines, plastic-bag making machines, filling machines, injection moulding, and other control processes where there is no human interface. Delta Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) can be used to operate system components such as pumps, fans, and air compressors. In addition, Delta has dedicated drives for elevator control, with EM carrying a wide range of drives for high-end applications for standard escalators and conveyor belts.

EM Automation Engineer Luke Chandata highlights that EM has carried the Delta brand for over 20 years. The past 18 months has seen it introduce a new range of Delta products. These include the AS300 series PLC, the 3G DX cloud router, and the DOP-100 human machine interface (HMI). Latest products from Delta are the MS 300 drive range and CIU Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.

The AS300 is a compact modular mid-range PLC that provides for a high-performance multi-purpose controller designed for many types of automated equipment. Features include a 32-bit SoC CPU for enhanced execution speed (40 000 steps/ms), and support for up to 32 extension modules, or up to 1 024 inputs/outputs. It is used in automated equipment such as electronics manufacturing, labelling, food packaging, and textile machines.

The MS300 is the next-generation of high-performance and standard compact vector drives with superior drive technology, providing a compact drive that is 40% smaller in size than previous iterations. Features include PLC capacity for simple programming needs, communication slots for various communication cards, and a USB port to make data uploads and downloads quick and easy. These drives save space, reduce set-up and wiring time, and provide for high-efficiency and exceptionally stable system, thus giving companies increased competitiveness and operational efficiency.

The 3G DX cloud router is Delta’s answer to the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), ensuring remote site access to individual machines and entire factories for data acquisition and even email retrieval. This allows plant owners to deal with any breakdown situations proactively and cost-effectively. The router supports Modbus TCP, Modbus ASCII/RTU, and MC protocols.

By using UMTS/HSPA and 3G technology, it is able to support a wide band range (800/850, 900, AWS 1700, 1900, 2 100 MHz), and is also downward-compatible with the GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G network. Other features include automatic APN parameter matching and connection redial and built-in real-time clock (RTC) and network time protocol (NTP) time synchronisation over a network.

The DOP-100 adopts the latest Cortex-A8 high-speed processor and display panel with high brightness, contrast, and colour. With the advent of ‘smart’ manufacturing, cloud applications are becoming more popular. For customers new to the cloud, the DOP-100 series features built-in Ethernet and other applicable network functions, including file transfer protocol (FTP), e-mail, remote monitoring and control with virtual network computing (VNC), and Network Time Protocols (NTP).

The CIU SCADA system is an industrial-data visualisation software for ‘smart’ management of factory equipment and production processes. The system uses automated management functions, including real-time system monitoring, data acquisition and analytics to assist users to collect data throughout the plant, as well as constructing a management interface for production-line visualisation. “This aids in creating remote monitoring, system management, and plant digitisation, thus enhancing overall factory production efficiency,” Rogers concludes.