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Case Study

Water | Wastewater

New control system for automated measuring system improves communication, saves space

Summary

• TheFordMeterBoxCompanyneededtoredesignits

automated measuring system for testing water meters

• Thenewsystemneededauniversalcommunication

solutionthatallcustomerscoulduse,andtheconsole

neededtooccupylessspacethantheoriginal

• FordMeterBoxworkedwithNeffEngineeringand

PhoenixContacttodesignasystemfeaturingPhoenix

Contact’sVehicleMountTerminal(VMT)industrialPC,FL

mGuardandseveralotherproducts

• Theupgradedautomatedmeasuringsystemfeaturesthe

universalIEC61131programminglanguageandeliminates

theconsolecompletely

Challenge

Oneofthecompany’spremierproductsisanautomated

measuringsystemthattestswatermeters.Thesystemensures

thatendusersofwatersystemsreceiveaccuratebillsfortheir

waterusage,andthatthewaterutilitycanaccuratelymeasureall

waterproduced.Sinceawatermeteristhewaterutility’scash

register,providingaccurateresultsiscrucial.

ThefirstgenerationofthissystemusedaLinux-basedcontroller

andcustom-manufacturedconsolecabinetlinkedtothemeter

testbenchthroughaseriesofcontrolcablestetheredtothe

consoleasitwasmovedfromteststationtoteststation.If

technicalsupportwasnecessary,thetestbenchoperatorhadto

describethescreendisplaytocustomersupportpersonnel.The

supportpersonwouldinstructtheoperatorhowtoproceed.

Thecontrollersinthefirstgenerationsystemwerebecoming

outdated.IfFordMeterBoxwantedtocontinueusingthesystem,

Customer Profile

TheFordMeterBoxCompany,Inc.,in

Wabash,Ind.,isaleadingmanufacturerof

waterworksbrassvalvesandfittings,

water meter setting equipment and water meter testing

equipment.Thecompanyhasmanufacturedmetertestbenches

forover100yearswithcontinuousimprovementswellintothe

computerage.

Jane Pozek (Industrial Sales Engineer for Phoenix Contact) and Eric Cohee (Senior Product Designer for Ford Meter Box Company) review the machine design.

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theentireprogram

wouldneedtobe

rewritten.EricCohee,

Senior Product

DesignerforFord

MeterBoxCompany,

feltthetimehadcome

to develop a second

generationofthe

system.

Thenewsystemneeded

to address several

issues.Theoriginal

system presented

communications

difficulty.Becausethe

end customers use a

broadrangeof

computer systems,

interfacingthetwo

systemscanbeachallenge.Auniversal,easilyadaptabledata

transferwouldfacilitatecustomers’variousneeds.

Additionally,spaceforthetestequipmentistypicallylimited.Test

benchoperatorsneededamorecompactconsoleoreventhe

completeeliminationoftheconsole.Thecontrolleralsoneeded

towithstandtherepetitiveteststhatthecompanyconducts.This

thoroughtestingensuresthatFordMeterBox’sproductswill

standuptothechallengesintherealworld.

Solution

FordMeterBoxCompanyworkedwithNeffEngineeringand

PhoenixContacttodevelopanewtestingsystem.Thenew

systemusedthePhoenixContactILC150ETHPLC,Vehicle

MountTerminal(VMT)industrialPC,FLmGuardsecuritydevice,

SFNEthernetSwitch,QUINTSFBpowersupply,PLCrelaysand

miscellaneouscables,connectorsandterminalblocks.

“Althoughaworkablesystemwasdevelopedearlyintheproject,

westillwantedtosimplifytheoperationforourcustomers,”

statedCohee.“NeffEngineeringandPhoenixContactsupported

ourrequestsandcontinuedtoworkalongsideustoimprovethe

operationofourtestequipmentbyprovidingadditionalhardware,

technicalsupportandsoftwaresolutions.”

TheVMTservesasthemainoperatorinterfaceforthemeter

testequipment.Itprovidesameanstocollectandstoredata

fromthemetertests,whileeliminatingtheneedfortheconsole.

“ByutilizingtheVMTandmountingitdirectlytothemetertest

bench,wewereabletoreducethefloorspacerequiredbyour

console100percent.Thecompactsizeofthecontrollerallowed

morefunctionalityinasmallerpackage,”Coheesaid.Sincethe

VMTis24VDC,italsoeliminatedapotentialshockhazard

associatedwitha120VACsystem.

Tosolvethecommunicationissue,theVMTandILC150usethe

PCWORXIEC61131programmingsystem.Coheesaid,“By

usingtheIEC61131universalprogramminglanguagesand

functions,wewillbeabletoupgradeourhardwaremoreeasilyas

controllersadvanceintechnology.Afterwecomparedallofour

optionstoseveralotherproducts,PhoenixContactwasatthe

topofthelistforpriceandfeatures.”

Coheesaidthatthecontrollersalsoproveddurable.“Becausethe

controllershavehelduptoourextremetestsinthelab,weare

confidentthattheywillalsolastformanyyearsastheprimary

controlleronthemetertestingequipmentwemanufacture.”

PhoenixContactalsointroducedFordMeterBoxCompanyto

theFLmGuardsecuritydevice,whichprovidessecureVirtual

PrivateNetworkcapabilities.Thisallowsthecustomerstoeasily

andsecurelyinterfacetheirmetertestequipmentwiththeir

network,whileallowingFordMeterBoxCompanytoassistthem

withtheoperationoftheequipmentthroughasecureInternet

connection.

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Control box, including ILC programmable controller, modular I/O, systems cabling and power distribution module.

The VMT industrial computer and the meters in place ready to be tested.

TheuseofpreassembledcablesandtheVariofaceadapterand

cablesystemsimplifiedtheassemblyprocess.Coheestated,“Our

processqualityhasimprovedbysignificantlyreducingthe

possibilityofwiringerrorsduringproductionofthemetertest

bench.Althoughsomeofthehardwareitemsactuallyincreasedin

cost,weachievedanoverallcostsavingswiththeplug-and-play

abilityofthecomponentsandpre-madecables.”

Results

Coheesaiditwasanadvantagetohavea“one-stopshopforthe

controllers,computers,powerequipment,relays,Ethernetswitch

andofcourseconnectorsandcables.Whilehavingeverything

under one roof was very convenient and time saving, it ensures us

thatallofthecomponentswerecompatibleforuseonourwater

metertestequipment.”

Becauseallofthecomponentsarewidelyavailablethroughout

theU.S.(andtheworld),itwillalsobesimpleforendusersto

findreplacementpartsifnecessary.

“Thissolutionhelpedustoofferourcustomersadditional

featuresatthesamerelativecost,whilesimplifyingtheset-upand

testingofwatermeters,”Coheesaid.

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Data entry on the touch-screen of the machine-mount VMT industrial computer. The graphical screens were created with the VISU+ HMI software.