Lawrence Equipment headquartered outside of Los Angeles CA, designs and manufactures state-of-the art flat bread and fried snack equipment used in single small scale and multi-national large scale operations throughout the United States and Europe. The company’s tagline – “The edge on automation” summarizes their commitment to advanced technology and superb customer service.

As part of their continuous improvement program, Lawrence Equipment searched for the most efficient automation solution for their Mega Series Press. With a capacity of up to 3,000 dozen, 6” diameter tortillas, chapati, roti or wraps per hour, the Mega Series press is designed for large wholesale and supermarket production. In the demanding and competitive market of food processing equipment, machine yield, quality and uptime are non-negotiable. Customers from across the globe rely on the performance of Lawrence Equipment’s high-end presses. When designing the Mega Series, the Lawrence engineering team focused on specifying components that provide value, improve ease-of-use and ensure dependability. They especially appreciated the PositionServo’s outstanding programmability and flexibility as well as the expert support provided globally by Lenze – AC Tech.

With the PositionServo, servo-actuated indexing is now a standard feature of the Mega Series press; It accurately arranges the array of dough balls on a Teflon mesh conveyor belt with the exact speed, acceleration and distance so they are fed continuously and evenly into the oven. The servo drive monitors feedback signals from the motor and continually adjusts for deviation from expected behavior. Also, PositionServo drive parameters are stored in the drive’s EPM (Electronic Programmable Module), allowing Lawrence Equipment engineers to create programs once and then simply copy them in seconds, saving time and avoiding errors. According to Lawrence Equipment, since the inclusion of the PositionServo in the Mega Series Press it has contributed to a significant increase in throughput. Lawrence Equipment is currently considering  incorporating the 940 PositionServo across all its machine platforms.

PositionServo Benefits

• Superior Performance

• Quick, Intuitive Programming

• Removable Memory (EPM)

• Seamless Integration Into System

• Global Support

• Multiple Communication Options

• Outstanding Value

• Product Availability

For three years running, Lenze-AC Tech products have been recognized by Plant Engineering. In 2006, the SMVector Nema1 familyof AC drives and in 2007, the SMVector Nema 4x family of AC drives were both chosen by a panel of industry experts as a finalist for the Plant Engineering magazine Product of the Year Award.

In 2009 the PositionServo with MotionView set-up and Configuration tool embedded within the drive (eliminating the need for external software) so impressed the Plant Engineering Magazine’s readers that they voted it the winner in the servo product category.

Criteria for finalists
Product of the Year is a prestigious award bestowed by Plant Engineering magazine. The recipients are manufacturers who have come up with the best ideas to make plant operation better and smarter.

The process
Plant Engineering subscribers who have buy/specify responsibilities are invited to cast an electronic vote to choose the finalists. The votes are then tabulated to pick gold, silver and bronze winners in each category.