Case Study: ENGEL speeds development of injection molding machine controllers with MathWorks Model-Based Design

ENGEL Speeds Development of Injection Molding Machine Controllers

ENGEL, a global leader in injection molding machine manufacturing, needed to speed up development of closed‑loop controllers and reduce costly, time‑consuming, and sometimes dangerous hardware testing. To address this, ENGEL adopted MathWorks’ Model‑Based Design approach, using MATLAB, Simulink, and Simulink PLC Coder to move from hand‑coded Structured Text and spreadsheet analysis to model‑driven development and simulation.

MathWorks enabled ENGEL to model the plant and controller, run closed‑loop and fault simulations in Simulink, generate IEC 61131‑3 Structured Text with Simulink PLC Coder for PLC deployment, and analyze test data in MATLAB. The new workflow let ENGEL develop and debug algorithms before hardware was available (for example, synchronizing two drives required only minimal prototype changes), cut the number of hardware tests, shortened commissioning time, improved controller quality via automated test suites, and sped up test‑data analysis.

ENGEL

Hannes Bernhard

Head of Control Engineering and Development