So says Cheryl Thierfelder in a recent phone interview about machine developments. Thierfelder is vice president of sales and marketing at VBS, a California-based manufacturer of liquid nitrogen dosing systems used to pressurize hot-filled containers, usually plastic bottles or aluminum cans or bottles.
“Our customers are asking for additional line integration capabilities,” says Thierfelder. “For example, if our system runs out of liquid nitrogen, the customer wants to pull that signal and automatically shut down upstream equipment.”
That means the VBS system can’t be an isolated island of automation. Its controller must be networked with the packaging equipment that surrounds it. By making its systems available in either Rockwell- or Siemens-based formats, says Thierfelder, VBS gives its customers their choice.
“Both Rockwell and Siemens are recognized leaders and both make good equipment,” says Thierfelder. “There tend to be camps devoted to either one or the other. Sometimes these allegiances are simply based on history, or they may stem from corporate discounts offered to, say, a Coke or Pepsi as long as they purchase a certain number of units over the course of a year. We don’t want to be in one camp or another.”
