siemens.com/sinumerik

“Plug and Play” at 2000 meter depth Precise manufacturing of plug connectors for deep sea use

10465.indd 1 27.12.11 15:05

An experienced team that considers reliability and flexibility as important success factors in the daily business life: Spinner service technician Sven Jacobs, Gisma production manager Michael Königsmann, Gisma CEO Tobias Frerck, and Siemens sales representative Alois Penzkofer, author of this article.

Securely and Reliably on the Sea Bed......by using CNC machine tools from Spinner...

To connect electrical and glass-fiber cables securely and reliably on the sea bed,

special plug connectors are required – a product that the specialists of Gisma

Corp. based in Neumünster, Germany, committed to solve in the 1980s. Accord-

ing to the company management, an important success guarantee is the high

quality stock removal manufacturing in which for many years

Sinumerik-controlled CNC machine tools from Spinner have been performing

their service.

Only a few companies could register increased sales in 2009 and claim that it was a good year. This, however, was the case for Gisma Steckverbinder GmbH, Neumünster (see box), as CEO Tobias Frerck emphasized: “We had in 2009 a small growth of 3.4 percent and will also further grow this year.” One of the impor-tant factors for our continuing success is the plug connector manufacturer’s broad customer base. Its customers are not only shipyards, the offshore industry and the military, but increasingly companies from the market segment of renewal energies (marine current power plants and wave power plants). “This has allowed us in the past to always compensate for any sales fluctuations of individual industry sectors with increased demands from other areas”, stated Tobias Frerck. What all user sectors have in common are the high technical demands made on the reliability and service life (up to 25 years) of the products. After all, that what is installed on the sea bed at an average depth of 1500 to 2000 meters can only be replaced with enor-mous effort – in such a case, the repair costs would exceed the cost of a defective plug connector by a factor of 1000. Not least, this is a reason why Gisma products do not have much in common with classic standard connectors for PCs, workshops, house installations.

They are constructed to be fail-safe, de-signed to withstand the highest pressure loading but still function according to the “push and pull” principle. An important detail: The housings are often filled with oil. This means even at an underwater pressure of more than 300 bar the contact between pin and socket can be established without problem and without significant force application. Because the oil guarantees reliable pres-sure compensation, the plug connector housing can be thin-walled with the consequent material and weight savings. Power plugs in a new dimension Gisma achieves all improvements and further developments in close coopera-tion with its customers. For example, the single-pin power plug for underwater tur-bines of the offshore industry developed in 2009 and 2010 is designed for service voltages of 12 kV at 400 A and must be able to be connected when it is wet. The expected fault-tolerant service life is 25 years. Not only is this performance data impressive but also its dimensions: It can be as long as 3000 mm and has a diameter of around 300 mm. A first prototype is already undergoing labora-tory tests; the delivery of the power plug is expected at the end of 2010.

10465.indd 2 27.12.11 15:05

At Gisma, without exception, all Spinner machines are equipped with high-quality Siemens drive and control technology, as also the TC 77 of the 800 series. In accor-dance with VDI/DGQ 3441, this turning machine achieves a precision accuracy of 2 µm in the X and Z axis

...and by using Drive Technology from Siemens

For this and many other plug connectors, the Neumünster company undertakes not only the design and manufacturing of the plug, but also the selection of the cable. Gisma CEO Frerck explained: “This means we have the overall responsibility for the cable-plug combination and our customers have just one contact. Because we know exactly which criteria the cables must satisfy, all parties profit from this solution. After all, who is helped with a fault-free plug connector if the cable is not appropriate?” Manufacturing with precision accuracy in the µm range To satisfy the high demands of the underwater technology, in particular for plugs for glass-fiber connections, a manufacturing accuracy in the µm range is required. Furthermore, the associated materials must be corrosion-resistant, as Gisma CEO Frerck explained: “For this reason, we machine almost exclusively salt-water resistant bronzes, stainless steels and even more demanding materi-als, such as Duplex-, Superduplex steels, titanium or high-performance plastics like PEEK (polyetheretherketone). Only in this way can we guarantee the highest function reliability for our customers.” Correspondingly important are the machines and controllers used for the stock removal. This is why for many years Gisma has been trusting, among others, milling and turning centers from Spinner – all equipped with Siemens Sinumerik CNC controllers. For master industry tradesman Michael Königsmann, production manager at Gisma, a matched combination: “Our Spinner machines are exclusively equipped with high-quality Siemens drive and control technology. Not least a reason why the machines seldom fail.” Königsmann was particularly impressed by the TC 77 universal turning machine from the 800 series that was purchased at the end of 2006. Among other things, the housing for the new, large power connector was turned on it.

The TC 77 based on a rigid meehanite cast iron bed with large hardened and ground guides permit high stock removal speeds and exhibit good damping and rigidity properties. It is equipped with a water-cooled motor spindle that permits turning accurate to hundredths of a millimeter shortly after switch on. The machine also has a counter-spindle and twelve tool stations with driven tools. “This makes it possible to manufacture some workpieces with a single clamping where previously several clampings were required”, confirmed the production manager. The TC 77 achieves the required precision without problem, as Spinner service technician Sven Jacobs emphasized: “In accordance with VDI/DGQ 3441, we achieve with our turn-ing machine a precision accuracy of 2 µm in the X and Z axis.” Uniform CNC concept since 2000 To achieve time savings, the modern CNC, a Siemens Sinumerik 840D sl, is equally important. Since 2000, Gisma has been using exclusively controllers of the large German group for the manu-facturing. CEO Tobias Frerck mentioned the reason: “With the standardization of the controller we have acquired the basis that allows our workers to be deployed flexibly and operating errors belong to the past. We could not do this previously because each CNC controller needed to be operated differently. With the Sinumerik controllers, we have only good experience and on the few situa-tions when we required help, we could always rely on a competent service in our region. This is why, today, we trust only in Siemens.” For newly developed products, master industrial tradesman Königsmann and his coworkers create the CNC programs primarily on external PCs in DIN-ISO and send the programs via network to the best suited machine.

10465.indd 3 27.12.11 15:05

Siemens AG Industry Sector Drive Technologies P.O. Box 4848 90026 NUREMBERG GERMANY

Subject to change without prior notice XX/XX Order No.: E20001-AXXX-PXXX DISPO XXXXX XXX26136 GI.SC.IC.XXXX.52.0.05 WS 04102.0 Printed in Germany © Siemens AG 2011

The information provided in this brochure contains merely general descriptions or characteristics of performance which in case of actual use do not always apply as described or which may change as a result of further development of the products. An obligation to provide the respective characteristics shall only exist if expressly agreed in the terms of contract. All product designations may be trademarks or product names of Siemens AG or supplier companies whose use by third parties for their own purposes could violate the rights of the owners.

When, on the basis of existing parts families, new plug con-nectors need to be manufactured, the associated required CNC programs are normally customized directly on the machine. For this task, as also for the machine setup, the user-friendly ShopTurn software integrated in the Sinumerik 840D sl shows its strength. This user interface has graphic anima-tion, is self-explanatory and so, in particular for new cowork-ers, easy and fast to learn. Production manager Königsmann also confirmed this and added: “It has now become fairly difficult to get qualified coworkers. Even assistants trained in other disciplines can learn ShopTurn quickly and so can independently set up the machine within a short time.” The SINUMERIK “Safety Integrated” provides additional assur-ance for the setup mode. It allows the operator to accurately follow the manufacturing sequence with an open machine door. If irregularities occur during the safety mode that per-mits speeds up to 2 m/min, the software ensures a fast stop of the drives after not more than 1 to 2 mm further travel. If something is not clear for the input, a press of the Help key on the operator console activates a help menu. It is just as easy to switch to the text-oriented DIN user interface when, for example, an experienced programmer can describe a complex contour path faster and better with a DIN block. programSYNC: multi-channel programming with Sinumerik Operate At the AMB 2010 in Stuttgart, Siemens for the first time presented in practical use its new multi-channel program-ming “programSYNC” on turning centers from Spinner with Sinumerik Operate. The machines have two or three revolv-ers, each of which is controlled with a separate channel. programSYNC now permits the programs of the channels to be synchronized, edited and displayed clearly as a shared “multi-channel display” on the operator console. Of particular interest: The NC programs can be subdivided into structured machining blocks and displayed with all program steps – in the ShopTurn machining step programming, ProgramGuide cycle support or simply in DIN blocks. The programmer can easily see the associated calculated machining times as bars within the program display. In addition, all synchronization marks (wait marks) with the machining times are indicated and displayed on a line in the various programs and chan-nels. In this way, the programmer can quickly see when a re-volver is not utilized effectively. In this case, the programmer can easily move individual machining tasks and so optimize the complete manufacturing process.

Gisma Steckverbinder GmbH, Neumünster, … … was founded in 1983 by the CEO Manfred Maletzky and as leading manufacturer of underwater plug connectors with 45 coworkers has sales of more than 9 million euros. The company works for various industry sectors throughout the world. Not only shipyards, the offshore industry and the military, but increasingly manufacturers of plants for renewal energy, such as marine current power plants and wave power plants, belong to the company’s customers. In the meantime, Gisma offers more than 3800 different under-water plug connectors. Spinner Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik GmbH, Sauerlach, … …was founded in 1949 by Adolf Spinner and is now man-aged by his three sons Axel, Nikolaus and Ulrich. Today, the company that develops and produces modern machine tools is represented in more than 40 countries in six continents and includes not only small suppliers as its customers but also worldwide operating enterprises of all industry sectors that require metal machining. For many years, Spinner has been growing at a two-digit percentage rate and currently sells more than 1200 CNC machines annually, from small compact turning machines for training, including universal milling centers with three to five axes, through to complex turning cells with seven axes, two spindles and loading technology.

Author: Alois Penzkofer Senior Sales Representative and Global Account Manager Siemens AG Industry Automation & Drive Technologies E-Mail: alois.penzkofer@siemens.com Further information on the topic www.siemens.de/sinumerik

10465.indd 4 27.12.11 15:05