Digitalisation has developed into a decisive lever for growth in practically every sector of industry. Because digitalisation is the central key to greater productivity, efficiency and flexibility, it formed the focus of the Siemens presentation at the 2015 Hannover Messe. Speaking at the press conference prior to the fair, CEO of the digital factory division Anton S. Huber said: “True gains in efficiency can only be achieved today by optimising and networking systems and processes along the entire product and production life cycle. Digitalisation opens up a whole new scope for producing companies to develop and manufacture products and solutions quickly and efficiently. Anyone who consistently leverages these opportunities will benefit from a decisive competitive edge.”
Over an exhibition area of 3500 square metres, the Siemens booth featured a wide range of solutions and products from its group-wide growth in fields of electrification, automation and digitalisation under the banner: ‘On the way to Industrie 4.0 – Driving the Digital Enterprise’. As well as the integration of renewable energies into the energy system, a variety of industrial solutions such as Totally Integrated Automation (TIA), Integrated Drive Systems (IDS), Industry Software and plant data services featured in the Siemens presentation.
Siemens offers a future-proof platform based on high-performing software technologies aimed in particular at customers from the manufacturing industries under the title of ‘Digital Enterprise’, which will allow the extensive demands of Industrie 4.0 to be met over the coming years. “We already have the capability for full integration of the entire production and production lifecycle. This allows us to enhance the productivity and efficiency of our customers and so boost their business,” explains Huber. “The digital factory is no longer just a vision. We are already making a significant contribution to its achievement today. Our Teamcenter software solution functions as a central data backbone. A decisive factor for improved production with greater efficiency and a shorter time to market is the complete digital representation of a company’s entire value chain.”
Sustainable solutions for the process industry
Siemens is also breaking new ground in the process industry. “Current market trends are moving in the direction of modularisation, digital mapping of production steps and communication between the individual machines in the plant,” said Peter Herweck, CEO of the process industries and drives division. “With our portfolio for the process industry, we offer sustainable solutions from design and engineering to maintenance and modernisation.”
A key step toward the digital plant is simplified administration in industrial networks. Siemens presented a current project on this topic: ‘Effortless Communication’. Assignment of addresses from engineering is relocated to the automation devices. As a result, devices can automatically assign themselves unique addresses without the need for a central instance such as an address server. Moreover, the system simplifies the use of remote services and increases their security. The results from the project might be used to build and run future production networks.
Siemens also presented new drive technology components in the field of Integrated Drive Systems (IDS). Simotics reluctance motors offering maximum energy efficiency and dynamism, a new shaft height for the Simotics FD low-voltage motors, and the modular Simotics HV M high-voltage motors expand the extensive portfolio. Herweck notes: “Our customers from process industries now have to deal with a high degree of complexity yet strive for maximum energy efficiency. With IDS, we offer a comprehensive, end-to-end range of integrated drive systems: Almost any Siemens drive component can be integrated seamlessly into any drive system, any automation environment and the plant’s entire lifecycle. As a result, we improve the entire workflow across all the steps in the value chain.”
For more information contact Keshin Govender, Siemens Southern Africa, +27 (0)11 652 2412, [email protected], www.siemens.co.za
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