Sissing Noord - Commissioning Frequency

Sissing Noord in Leek (Groningen) is an expert in the maintenance, renovation and construction of “wet” infrastructure, like movable bridges, pumping stations and locks. For the drives of these structures, itsme supplies the speed drives and, where necessary, also the technical know-how. For projects where Sissing Noord needs this knowledge, specialist itsme offers “some relief”.

Sissing Noord has been active in control and installation technologies for movable bridges, locks, pumping stations and sewage treatment plants for over 25 years. The focus is mainly on “wet” infrastructure, where reliability, safety and speed are key. After all, a bridge or lock should clearly be “out of service” for as short a time as possible. The company generally handles projects in the North of Holland, but they do also get calls from other parts of the country. For example, last year, Sissing Noord was involved with the Roggebotbrug, a new bridge between Kampen and Dronten, and the renovation of the Berlagebrug, a national monument in the heart of Amsterdam.

Stable and Robust

The biggest challenge in maintenance and renovation jobs is connecting old technology with modern technology, says Sissing Noord’s hardware engineer Geert Spaan. “We do projects involving, among other things, movable bridges that are 15 years old or more and need maintenance. This means that old components sometimes need to be replaced by more modern technologies. An example of old technology can be seen in drives that were previously controlled by spindle limit switches and now have to be controlled by electronic encoders. This sometimes requires an extra bit of creativity from hardware engineers, machine builders and suppliers. Speed drives also have to meet current standards. For the necessary components, itsme has been our trusted partner for years.”

“Danfoss speed drives are popular in the world of movable bridges and locks.”

Another challenge lies in components that require expert knowledge for, among other things, commissioning. An example is the variable speed drive that controls the drive of a movable bridge or lock. Spaan: “Sometimes we use variable speed drives that our client prefers and other times existing drives are reused. We often come across Danfoss, a brand that is well-known in the world of movable bridges and locks. They provide the motors with a reliable drive. If there is a glitch, it is usually not in the speed drive, but somewhere else in the hardware or software.” Danfoss’ variable speed drives are very stable and robust, confirms itsme’s product specialist Kevin Valkestijn. “By default, they are slightly oversized, so they are not likely to run into problems.” In the field of control technology, itsme is a certified partner for speed drives from brands such as Siemens and Danfoss; it also provides training accordingly.

Easy Reuse

When it comes to maintenance and refurbishment, these robust Danfoss speed drives usually do not need to be replaced, but rather extended, Spaan explains. “They’re not worn out yet; we just need to add a few modules to make them state-of-the-art technology again. For Danfoss this is very easy.” Valkestijn: “You set a parameter and at the next startup, the drive recognises the new modules and starts working with them.” More and more clients are requesting this type of reuse, Spaan says. However, the speed drives have to comply with the latest safety and web-based control requirements, says Valkestijn. “Danfoss has an ethernet as well as a safety card for this. It makes sure that when you hit the emergency button, the drive stops within a number of seconds and performs a check as well.”

“It’s great to have someone on site with knowledge of commissioning.”

Safety obviously starts with the proper commissioning of the updated control system after project completion. Sissing Noord does about five projects per year for movable bridges, so commissioning is not a daily task. Because of this low frequency, the company calls in the help of an expert. For years, that has always been itsme, in the person of Valkestijn. “We work with these drives much more often than Sissing Noord, who are perhaps working with them once every ten weeks. That is not frequent enough to stay familiar with a drive like that.” Therefore, itsme Industrial Automation supplies the knowledge to set up a drive on site. “That’s expert work. When everything goes well, it seems easy. But if things don’t go swimmingly, you need to troubleshoot and perhaps set deeper parameters correctly to make sure the drive starts controlling the motor as it should. Under such circumstances, it’s great to have someone on site with the proper knowledge. The fact that we drop in for the commissioning is mainly to take the worry out of the equation. I also check the safety settings, although a safety engineer has to sign this off in the end.”

Well Documented

The commissioning always goes well, concludes Spaan. “itsme really knows how to take care of it. When we finish a project, we receive all the documentation and settings pretty soon after commissioning. Even though we don’t need itsme very often, the completion is always fast and problem-free. We never have to chase them up.” The next job is already planned. itsme will take care of the commissioning of an existing Danfoss speed drive at the Havenbrug (Harbour bridge) in Harlingen.

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