From the very beginning, it was a particular challenge for the designers of the packing machines to develop weighers with partners or later alone that were approved as legal for trade by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) (formerly the Reichsanstalt).
After decades of cooperation with various weigher manufacturers, Haver & Boecker developed its first own filling electronics in the 1980s using analogue technology, which were used as FE weighers in Roto packers from 1984 and later also in inline packers.
With the ME (Micro Electronics), MEC (Micro Electronics Compact) and the MEC II, a microprocessor was used for the first time in HB weighing technology. These weighers were very compact and impressed with a digital weight display and a keypad for entering the weighing parameters.
The MECII-20 weigher following this model series was the first electronic weigher for Haver & Boecker to be tested and approved for verification by the PTB (1999). It achieved a weighing accuracy of 20 g.
The subsequent MEC III – was approved by the PTB in 2003 – was equipped with an Ethernet interface. This enabled worldwide remote maintenance of the HAVER packers via the Internet.
The sixth generation of the self-developed system, the MEC4.0 (based on the Fourth Industrial Revolution = Industry 4.0), goes far beyond the previously known requirements for a weighing system. It’s a modular machine control system that’s both a weigher and a controller – effectively fulfilling customer wishes for even more flexibility, speed and ease of use. The MEC4.0 (PTB approval 2012) works with two microprocessors: one in the weighing module for the legal-for-trade part of the weigher and one for the PLC control for the machine functions. The PLC is freely programmable using the CODESYS programming language – so that not only the specialist personnel in Oelde, but also the HB service technicians can make any necessary programme changes during commissioning on site. Another advantage of the MEC4.0 is that it can also be used as a pure PLC control for other HAVER machines without the weighing module.
