A Customised Solution – Part 2

Customer-focused engineering

"The equipment andsystems for our customers fulfill the required functions," says Kleigrewe."But we also observe our customer's standards." One of the customersis an international manufacturer of petrochemical products. As a single-sourceprovider of filling, palletising and packaging systems, Beumer Group providedthem with a complete packaging line. This includes a form fill seal system (FFSsystem), the Beumer paletpac palletising system, and the Beumer stretch hoodhigh-capacity packaging system. It also includes conveying technology for thepallets, SCADA, a warehouse control and a warehouse management system, aguiding system for the fork-lift driver and a yard management system. "Weare in constant dialogue with the user to work out the requirements and matchthem with our modular system," describes Kleigrewe. "The result is acustomised solution."

Industry4.0 - high expectations

"The increase innetworking and automation brings us on our way towards Industry 4.0," saysKleigrewe. It creates highly interlinked system structures with a high numberof involved people, IT systems, automation components and machines. The userscan significantly improve the organisation and control of their logistics valuechain. The system, machine and product controls must be horizontally andvertically integrated into dynamic communications networks. This createsdigital engineering consistency through the entire logistics value chain - inother words: it is about the intelligent networking in the supply chain."Making this possible in Industry 4.0 requires the development ofpowerful, linked sensors and actuators. This networking, however, leads toenormous amounts of data and metadata along the logistics value chain,"explains Kleigrewe. Another factor is globalisation: data management is nowspread out over different locations, countries, even continents. Horizontal andvertical interfaces can quickly become cost drivers in factory automation."Cloud computing offers an efficient technological base for holdingdata," says the automation specialist. This service can replace or expandexisting structures. Cloud computing also allows you to process significantlylarger data volumes compared to traditional server solutions. In addition, real-timedata can be synchronised with historical data. Uniform interfaces of the cloudservices are currently in development. 

The software interfacestandard OPC (Unified Architecture) is useful for making data available betweenall systems of a company. "It meets the most important requirement fordata communication in Industry 4.0'" explains Kleigrewe. "Thisstandard allows you to establish the communication between devices, controllersand applications, regardless of the individual driver. OPC UA can be directlyembedded into devices, sensors and controllers. Data from different,non-compatible and open standards from different areas can also be transferred.

What will the future looklike? Kleigrewe has a clear idea: "The processes in distribution centerswill run fully automatically, from order to delivery, around the clock, sevendays a week. This changes the requirements completely, and we are alreadyexperiencing this change."

Edited from various sources by Rebecca Bowden

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/product-news/18022016/a-customised-solution-2-525/