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Electronic Drives and Controls to Share Building HVAC Automation Expertise in May 8 Presentation at BuildingsNY 2018 Conference

Posted on May 3, 2018June 25, 2018 by Christine McQuilkin

Engineering Consultant Bob Pusateri of Electronic Drives and Controls, Inc. will share best practices for installation and maintenance of energy-efficient variable frequency drives (VFD) to maximize building owners’ utility cost savings over the life of HVAC systems.

Parsippany, NJ –May 6, 2018 – Electronic Drives and Controls, Inc. (EDC), a leading control system integrator and field service company for industrial automation and drive technology, today announced the company will present at the BuildingsNY 2018 Conference on May 8, 2018 at the Javits Center in NYC at 10:45am. The presentation, entitled “Ensuring VFDs Continue to Save You Money,” will be given by EDC’s Engineering Consultant, Bob Pusateri.

In his presentation, Bob Pusateri will share what building managers can expect from VFDs’ energy cost savings and how to maintain those savings. Bob graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1987. Since then, Bob has gained over 25 years’ experience in industrial controls, specifically with variable frequency drives and motion control. Before joining EDC as an engineering consultant in 2004, Bob held various relevant positions in manufacturing, sales, project management and development. Bob’s experience has given him exposure to thousands of applications in dozens of automation brands.

When asked what he is looking forward to most about the presentation, Bob says, “It has been known for decades that VFDs can significantly reduce a facility’s energy consumption, thus helping owners and managers contain costs while pleasing Mother Earth. We show you in simple terms how VFDs do it and how to keep them running around the clock.”

The BuildingsNY 2018 Conference brings together building owners and managers, facility and maintenance managers, superintendents, architects, contractors, developers and engineers with an opportunity to discover new ways to reduce overhead, manage risk and identify cost savings.

Pre-register for BuildingsNY ’18 and Bob Putaseri’s presentation here: http://www.buildingsny.com/en/Contributors/5571084/Pusateri-Bob

About Electronic Drives and Controls, Inc.
Founded in 1968, Electronic Drives and Controls, Inc. (EDC) is a CSIA Certified control system integrator with a large field service team specializing in AC and DC drives, PLCs and factory automation. Family owned and operated for 50 years, EDC’s team of engineers and technicians has great depth of experience integrating new control systems and breathing life into older equipment. EDC has the engineering capability to design, build, start up and service projects from the sophisticated to the simple and the service support team on call 24/7/365 to keep it all running at peak efficiency from day 1 and for years to come. In addition to the company’s certifications as a Siemens Solution Partner and a Rockwell Automation Recognized System Integrator, EDC is a factory authorized/factory trained service center for over 40 drive brands.

Electronic Drives and Controls Field Service Engineer Scott Sullivan Featured in Webcast

Posted on September 14, 2022September 15, 2022 by Georgia Whalen

Congratulations are in order to Electronic Drives and Controls Field Service Engineer Scott Sullivan who joined CFE Media and Technology for a VFD Technology focused webcast on September 14, 2022. Find the full webcast here!

Sullivan has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and specializes in the application of variable speed drive (VFD) technology and on-site field service of AC drives. Since joining EDC in 2016, Sullivan has served on EDC’s field service support team performing repairs, preventive maintenance services, start-ups, training, and much more for AC & DC drives, PLCs and factory automation.

This webcast was well received by over 260 participants and focused on helping to explain why markets for variable speed drives are growing so precipitously and how they contribute towards efforts for enhanced productivity and sustainability in a wide range of industries.

“Scott did an amazing job and the information presented was a tremendous resource for all. This was a team effort and the team behind Scott’s webcast also deserve major kudos. Peter put together an excellent presentation and the product built was highly regarded by CFE Media,” said Deborah DeLuca, Vice President of Electronic Drives and Controls.

“The audience was highly receptive, and their questions were sophisticated and in-depth showing the level of the audience EDC and CFE Media attracted.” Any unanswered questions and answers will be published as part of a promo of archived webcasts along with the transcript.

Webcast learning objectives:

AC drives significantly reduce energy consumption
Common applications for AC drives
Common methods of AC drive regulation

More info on the event is provided by CFE Media below:

Variable speed drives provide effective speed control of AC motors by manipulating voltage and frequency. Controlling the speed of a motor provides users with improved process control, reduced wear on machines, increased power factor and large energy savings.

The most significant energy savings can be achieved in applications with a variable torque load. Reducing a fan’s speed in a variable torque load application by 20% can achieve energy savings of 50%. Therefore, for most motion control applications, reducing motor speed is often the easiest way to get large energy savings.

AC drives significantly reduce energy consumption by varying the speed of the motor to precisely match the effort required for the application. To vary the speed of the motor dynamically, a closed-loop regulator that considers the measured output of a process is required. Common applications where this is used include pressure, level and temperature control. The most common method of regulation is the PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) control loop.

Want to hear Scott’s webcast that could transform your energy savings and efficiency? Listen here!

Resolutions to Common Wire and Cable Pain Points In Informative New Website Page

Posted on November 16, 2022November 16, 2022 by Georgia Whalen

With industry-leading knowledge and 50 years of expertise, Electronic Drives and Controls authored a new website page to help you advance your wire and cable lines and deliver attainable solutions to current and future issues you may face.

As you may know, operating a wire or cable production line can be complex and daunting. As many systems and processes run simultaneously, a small malfunction can result in significant waste, rework, delays, or down time. With drawing, annealing, stranding, jacketing, spooling, and even packaging involved, EDC’s new educational guide to resolutions for common pain points in wire and cable production lines is a true game changer.

To view the full website page visit below:

Issues you may be facing include:

Drawing line runs too slow or will not hold speed regulation
Excessive wire breaks
Annealer voltage regulation is inconsistent
Excessive set-up time due to mechanical intervention required
Hot or cold spots in extruder barrels or unable to maintain proper temperature in barrels or dies
Improper colorant or compounding mixes/weighs
Unable to maintain proper wire tension throughout jacketing line
Unable to maintain proper ratio between extruders
Footage count is too long or too short in your rewind line
Finished product touches the floor or scuffs
Obsolete drives and/or PLCs
Difficult to train new operators on older equipment without a rich graphics display and dashboard.
Analog controls should be replaced with digital to eliminate variations due to temperature, humidity or electrical noise
Shift-to-shift set-up inconsistencies
+ many more!

This website page gives you multiple options of fixing your wire and cable pain points, depending on the nature of the problem, the time available to address them and, of course, your budget. There are many relatively small steps you can take to take a bite out of the larger issue. Or it might be time to retrofit the whole line, without needing to install a more expensive, completely new line for a fraction of the cost and in less time.

You deserve to feel confident in the future of your wire or cable production line and EDC is here to help. Reach out to EDC today and we’ll help you tackle your production line obstacles, no matter how small or large!

From Cruise Control to Complex Industrial Systems – A Deep Dive into PID Control

Posted on March 13, 2025March 13, 2025 by Brittany Smist

When it comes to industrial automation and process control, PID Control (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) is one of the most widely used and effective methods for maintaining stability and precision. You may think you know PID, but you might actually know P&ID, which stands for process and instrumentation diagram—a completely different tool used for illustrating control systems and instrumentation layouts. While P&ID is a blueprint for systems, PID Control is an active feedback mechanism that keeps processes on track by continuously adjusting variables like temperature, pressure, flow, and speed. This distinction is crucial for anyone working in automation or process control. But what exactly is PID Control, and how does it work? Let’s break it down with a relatable example.

PID in Action: Cruise Control

To understand PID Control in an accessible way, think about the cruise control system in your car. This everyday application uses PID to maintain a constant speed, regardless of changes in road elevation or wind resistance. Imagine you set your car’s cruise control to 60 mph – the system continuously monitors your speed (the process variable) and compares it to your desired speed of 60 mph (the setpoint). If there’s a difference, the controller calculates an error and adjusts the throttle to minimize that error. This feedback loop keeps you cruising smoothly, and it does so by leveraging the three components of PID Control: Proportional, Integral, and Derivative.

Proportional Control (P): Immediate Adjustment

The Proportional component reacts directly to the current error—the difference between the setpoint and the actual value. The larger the error, the stronger the corrective action.

Example in Cruise Control: If you’re driving at 55 mph but your cruise control is set at 60 mph, the controller gives more gas. The greater the difference, the more throttle it applies.
Limitation: When used alone, proportional control tends to hunt around the setpoint. This means the car will oscillate, constantly overshooting and undershooting the target speed without ever fully stabilizing. This happens because proportional control reacts only to the current error without considering past trends or future changes.

Integral Control (I): Remembering Past Errors

The Integral component accounts for accumulated past errors to eliminate steady-state discrepancies. Instead of just reacting to the current error, it continuously adds up small errors over time and makes adjustments accordingly, ensuring the system reaches and maintains the setpoint.

Example in Cruise Control: If you’re driving uphill and the car consistently falls short of 60 mph, the integral component remembers this underperformance and gradually increases the throttle to compensate, ensuring a steady speed.
Drawback: Integral action can make the system feel sluggish or slow to respond because it gradually builds up the required adjustment.

Derivative Control (D): Predicting Future Changes

The Derivative component anticipates how the error is changing over time. Instead of just reacting to the error itself, it considers the rate of change and applies corrections early to prevent overshooting or instability.

Example in Cruise Control: As you approach 60 mph, the derivative component eases off the gas before you reach the setpoint, preventing an overshoot. It effectively “dovetails” into the target speed with smooth adjustments.
Benefit: This predictive action reduces overshooting and improves system stability.

PID Control in Action: How EDC Delivers Precision and Stability

Wire and Cable

While looking at the cruise control in your car is an easy way to start understanding what PID is, we aren’t building cars here at EDC. To get a better sense of how this method comes into our everyday work in the wire and cable industry, a classic use case to look at is in dancer position control. This is commonly used when feeding a material (like wire, cable, or plastic film) from a nip roll into a winder. If the winder is going too fast, it pulls the dancer upwards, indicating that the material is being stretched too tightly. Conversely, if the winder is too slow, the dancer drops, signaling slack in the material.

Proportional (P) detects the difference between the dancer’s current position and its setpoint.
Integral (I) helps maintain a consistent position, preventing hunting and oscillation.
Derivative (D) anticipates overshoot as the dancer approaches its setpoint, easing adjustments for a stable position.

Properly tuned PID control ensures stable tension in the material, preventing breakage or inconsistent winding quality. EDC has utilized this in projects like the traverse winder upgrade and other applications involving spools and winders.

Variable Frequency Drives

Nearly all drive systems at EDC involve variable frequency drives (VFDs), which often require precise tension control to maintain product quality and consistency; this is another place where we employ PID. In systems with intermediate stages (e.g., between two drive sections), load cells measure the tension. PID control uses this feedback to adjust the speed of each drive, ensuring consistent tension.This approach was particularly relevant in our project with Wieland metals, where maintaining precise tension was crucial for operational efficiency and product quality.

Proportional (P) provides immediate adjustments to maintain the desired tension.
Integral (I) fine-tunes the system by compensating for ongoing errors, preventing long-term drift.
Derivative (D) anticipates rapid changes in tension, ensuring smooth transitions and preventing oscillation.

Temperature Control in Extruders

In applications like extruders, where multiple heating zones must be controlled, EDC uses PID for precise temperature regulation. Extruders have several zones, each requiring a specific temperature to ensure consistent material properties. PID control adjusts the heating elements to maintain the setpoint. Accurate temperature control is vital for maintaining material consistency and preventing defects in the final product.

Proportional (P) adjusts power to the heating elements based on the current temperature error.
Integral (I) compensates for temperature lag, ensuring steady-state accuracy.
Derivative (D) anticipates rapid changes, preventing overshoot or oscillation.

The Benefits of PID Control

PID control is a cornerstone of modern automation, ensuring process stability, energy efficiency, and high product quality across industries. By continuously adjusting control outputs, PID minimizes fluctuations, leading to smoother, more consistent operations that reduce wear and tear on equipment. This not only extends system lifespan but also lowers operational costs by decreasing the need for frequent maintenance.

In industrial settings, optimized resource utilization is critical, and PID controllers help by minimizing waste and improving efficiency, whether in manufacturing, chemical processing, or energy systems. Additionally, precise process control plays a key role in regulatory compliance, ensuring industries meet strict safety and quality standards.

At the end of the day,PID improves automation reliability, allowing systems to function predictably with minimal human intervention. Whether stabilizing temperatures in an extruder, regulating flow in a chemical process, or ensuring precise motion control in robotics, PID enables smarter, more adaptive automation that drives productivity and consistency.