manufacturing | Industry 4.0 French robot maker Sepro also believes that
Industry 4.0 must be open and able to function with the equipment already in factories today – what it describes as a common sense view. “Industry 4.0 cannot be only about the future. It must connect to the machines we have in the plant now,” says CEO Jean-Michel Re- naudeau.
“The general assumption is that Industry 4.0 is an
Above: Piovan’s Winfactory 4.0 brings Industry 4.0 capabilities to existing processing plant
Ancillary developments Italian ancillary equipment firm Piovan is investing heavily in Industry 4.0, taking what can be described as a two-stage approach that recognises that processors are unlikely to be able to make an overnight conversion to fully smart production. Marketing Director Giorgio Santella says the company has many customers that want to move to smart manufacturing but have a big existing investment in plant. Santella says Piovan’s solution for these customers
Making
cyber-physical systems is not easy: Giorgio Santella, Piovan
is its Winfactory 4.0 production supervision system, which is designed to allow processors with existing equipment to make the move into an Industry 4.0 environment without the need to reinvest. It uses OPC UA interfacing to allow connection between Piovan and third party equipment, whether it be a moulding machine, robot or a smartphone. Further ahead, however, Santella sees Industry 4.0
requiring development of true “cyber-physical” equipment that can not only control its local processing but has the capability to evaluate and share data. “In the new Industry 4.0 you have to achieve horizontal integration. That means equipment that can share with systems from any supplier – it will have to communicate with injection machines, extruders and equipment from my competitors,” he says. The company showed its first fully Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 must connect to machines we have now: Jean-Michel Renaudeau, Sepro
46
capable equipment at K2016 – a Digitemp EVO thermo- chiller, Genesys high efficiency PET dryer, and Quantum E blender. Each features integrated OPC UA interfacing and enhanced on-board process evaluation and auto-adapt capabilities. This comes at a price that is only justifiable in a true Industry 4.0 production system. “To turn any equipment into a cyber-physical system is not easy. We have to rethink it and decide what is the benefit,” Santella explains. “To the user, the capability of communication alone does not add value. The value is that it truly cyber-physical – capable of auto adapting and then communicating. That is not simple.”
INJECTION WORLD | January/February 2017
evolution of technology. Many people think it is a feature or capability that is built into equipment they can buy. However, we believe that idea is too limiting. If you look at robots and injection moulding machines, Industry 4.0 is already here. Our equipment has been communicat- ing with moulding machines and human beings for years,” he says. “Of course, that communications technology will
become more advanced,” Renaudeau says. “However, we need to think of Industry 4.0 in broader terms. At Sepro, we believe the real Industry 4.0 will see commu- nication, integration and collaboration not only between machines, but also between people and between companies around the world. That is what will take industry to the next level. That is what will create the factories of the future.” The most important point to consider with Industry 4.0 is that it must add to what we already have, Renaudeau explains. To ensure it is possible to realise the opportunities that Industry 4.0 offers the company is working with the Carnegie Mellon University in the US to develop a next generation of robot and injection machine control that will feature smartphone-like ergonomics, the ability to ‘learn by doing’, support for 3D simulation to make programming easier, much improved customisation options, and integrated applications to facilitate routine functions such as main- tenance and troubleshooting. At Fakuma later this year, Sepro will also introduce a
new robot control technology – provisionally named OptiCycle – that will allow the robot to optimise the cycle automatically. “Optimisation of the cycle will be a huge tool for customers,” Renaudeau says. “Industry 4.0 in my view is probably less [hardware] and more software, more management of data, more sensors and more control.” Germany’s Motan Colortronic sees Industry 4.0 as
an extension of the networking capabilities that already form part of its ControlNet architecture for smart production. Through the implementation of the OPC UA interface, it claims to be among the first peripheral equipment suppliers to offer a fully platform independ- ent “Smart Factory” production system. A key element in such a solution, the company says, is that the material preparation and distribution system and
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