Vecoplan invests in intelligent shredding

‘I am proud to say that 2023 was a record year for Vecoplan once again. It marks the fourth consecutive year our business grew – despite the challenging global market,’ says the company’s head of recycling Martina Schmidt at IFAT.   

‘Revenue reached a new high, we added 100 new employees and we’ve been working hard to realise new product innovations. Four are being presented here in Munich.’

The German tech provider also plans to invest EUR 13 million this year. A significant portion will go towards expanding capacity at the production site at its headquarters in Bad Marienberg.

No overload

The development includes the digitalisation of the recycling lines. ‘Data can be used to avoid errors that arise when shredders are set manually,’ says Paul Mockenhaupt, who runs Vecoplan’s digitalisation department. ‘A lot of machine parameters can now be managed automatically.

‘It’s becoming more and more important to equip our machines with intelligence so that customers have better support. To improve shredding, we have created an electrically powered ram.’

Users can set the torque, and thus the pressure applied to the material, very precisely. The electrical ram moves the input steadily towards the rotor on the shaft. The new variant is also more dynamic and faster, raising the throughput.

The fully automated control system uses continuous speed analysis and electrical current evaluation to detect machine overload at an early stage in the ongoing shredding process. If extraneous material is encountered, the rotor shaft stops within milliseconds, preventing damage to important components.

After a short counter-rotation, the Vecoplan drive returns to the required direction within seconds.

Remote operation

Another new feature is smart, vibration-based detection of tramp material. ‘Our solution is self-teaching,’ says Mockenhaupt. When the shredder starts, sensors record all the important information, such as material properties, cutting grades and cutting geometry.

In case the parameters change, operators can simply adjust the settings – this can even be done remotely.